Wellington Burt's "Spite Claus"

Well, in the mind of good children of Christian decent there is the wonderful image of Santa Claus. A strange old man who is chronically jolly and brings secret presents on Christmas Eve. A Jupiterian?

And, I guess sort of to make up for Santa, many good children of White decent at least, also grow up to learn about another Claus, I have just found something called the "Spite Claus" in parents' wills. This is from the resentful, competitive, angry parent. Maybe should be spelled "claws" instead of "claus" for the long lasting bitterness that one's last word of rejection can have. This is probably most understood by those of us who come from divorced families with remarriages, etc. where loyalties are all screwed up. Narcissism is such a common personality trait among the divorced that the parents often seem to delight in screwing up their kids long after they die even.

God, starting off with a little rant here.

Article today about a mean rich old white guy, twice divorced, with 7 kids who totally messed with his heirs' heads through his will. This guy, Wellington Burt, was worth between 60 and 80 million dollars when he died in 1919. And he stipulated in his will that his children and grandchildren would receive nothing. Well, I guess they were bequeathed small annuities of amounts mostly below the amounts he left his employees. He even stipulated that the great-grandchildren, etc. would have to wait 21 years until after the last grandchild had died. This occurred in November 1989.

Burt's astrology chart is pretty amazing to look at. I wanted to look at Burt's chart to understand why he was such a MoFo, and I'll get to that somewhere in there, trust me.

Wellington Burt
b.July 26, 1831 Pike, NY

Sun 3 Leo; Moon Aquarius or Pisces; NN 23 Leo

Burt was a Leo Sun born on or soon after a Full Moon in Aquarius. His chart shape actually emphasizes the opposition between the Sun and Moon and is basically a SeeSaw shape chart layered very close to that Full Moon in the last degrees of Leo/Aquarius.

Funny how his name even seems to be like a seesaw with a typical last name, Wellington, placed first and typical first name, Burt, named last.

Bob Marks has written really great descriptions of chart shapes which I'm too lazy to look up right now (www.bobmarksastrologer.com look in the lessons section).

Burt was strongly Leo/Aquarius. He had Sun at 3 Leo in wide conjunction with Mercury 11 Leo, but otherwise unaspected. Right there we see why he was such an SOB. His ego didn't work with the rest of his chart, let alone with his family or friends.

In addition to Sun-Mercury, there's a conjunction of NN 22 Leo-Mars 23 Leo-Saturn 2 Virgo. This opposes a conjunction of Uranus 13 Aquarius Rx-Jupiter 20 Aquarius Rx-SN 23 Aquarius and possibly Moon in Aquarius.

This means that Burt had Sun in its own sign and Uranus in its own sign, both strong and Fixed, and in a very wide opposition contact with each other of 10 degrees. That's pretty interesting to interpret in terms of describing somebody who wanted to leave everything to relatives of the future. Strangers belong to Uranus and Aquarius, as does all things Futuristic as does weirdness and eccentricity. Adding Jupiter in there describes "lucky" strangers! The part where they are connected with his South Node and possibly Moon sort of casts a long dark shadow on his soul path. Something related to clinging to deep insecurities. Pluto represents resentments and is over at 11 Aries in a sextile to Uranus and trine to Mercury. I ought to like this guy. I have Mercury and Mars in the same sign.

Wellsy well, all is good since the poor kids that this guy spawned are now long dead and released from rejection from their father. Maybe they made the best of it and followed the living well is the best revenge motto.

Right now interestingly enough, Burt's progressed Sun is opposite his natal Sun at 1 Aquarius. And there was a big conjunction of Jupiter-Uranus at the beginning of Aries which sextiles/trines the opposition. The transiting Jupiter-Uranus conjunction mirrors the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in his natal chart. And, as I pointed out, that seems to literally write out the words "Lucky Strangers" which is what his descendants are, except for their genetics. Maybe he did this in order to ensure his blood line? (I doubt it, but nice try).

His big Solar Ego has cast as big a shadow as it possibly could and has redeemed itself. Wish I knew more about that SeeSaw chart shape but I suppose an unaspected Leo sun would be enough to become a big successful industrialist and to have the most patronizing personality in U.S. history.

It's even interesting also that there was a wait of 21 years from the time after the last grandchild died. That's the time it takes for Uranus to square itself from that grandchild's death. He did manage to live long enough to experience a full Uranus Return - 87 years old, died March, 1919. He apparently lived in isolation for his last 30 or so years. And there is other stuff in his chart to show that he might use the Uranian energy in a crueler way than some may prefer: conjunction of Mars-Saturn to NN and absence of water in the chart.

Uranus rules not only strangers, but divorce. I suspect that Burt's bitterness is best explained by his attitudes towards his marriages/divorces. His whole life is interesting to observe through the Retrogrades of his progressions. He divorced his first wife and I'm unclear what happened to his second wife who he married in 1869. He lived alone in his final years. His progressed Venus stationed Retrograde at 23 Libra in 1884 and didn't come out of Retrograde until 1926 after he had died. That would affect his feelings of being loveable (I picked that up from Noel Tyl, hopefully I got it right).

Burt was born with all the outer planets except Saturn in Retrograde. They have now all stationed Direct. That lucky Jupiter-Uranus conjunction stationed direct very close in time relatively speaking for how slowly these things move. Jupiter SD around 1906 when his wealth was at a peak. Uranus SD around 1917 a couple of years before he died. He was apparently senile when he died, perhaps as a result of stomach surgery at Age 80.

Burt's Progressed Pluto (Wills, etc.) Stationed Direct in 1980 at 9 Aries. His progressed Saturn Stationed Rx at 16 Virgo in 1983-84. Then his last granddaughter died Nov. 1989 so that's a pretty interesting comment on the Saturn-Pluto energy regarding loss and selfishness. As someone who went through similar inheritance issues as the kids with my father I know the weirdness of the type of pain that one feels as a result. And I also know the spiteful looks of glee in other's faces when they hear that you've been screwed. And I also know, but don't understand, how creepy and greedy step-parents and siblings can be.

Since Taurus rules money I'll just add that Burt had Chiron (wounded healer) in that sign. Pluto was opposing it when his last granddaughter died.

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.

Some Notes about California's Budget Crisis and Progressed Chart

I just noticed some interesting dates that surround the Progressions in California's chart so I'll note them here along with some other observations about the current Budget crisis which is unbelievably huge.

California
Sept. 9, 1850 San Jose, CA (I think it was San Jose???)

Sun 17 Virgo; Moon Libra or Scorpio; NN 15 Leo

A couple of key indications for the Budget Crisis.

First off, the Saturn-Uranus opposition is transiting over California's Sun. I've mentioned before that I've noticed that this is connected with Depressions. Although these aren't usually planets connected straight off with money in astrology, they are connected to handling of large sums of money because Saturn rules Government and Corporate Business (along with Pluto) and Uranus rules Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Opening Bell Charts of the Stock Market each and every day in the United States. The California Sun is therefore strongly hooked in to this Global phenomenon. It is also connected because its Pluto squares the U.S. Pluto. Pluto rules Taxes, Investments, Bankruptcy.

California's Sun (Ego, Vitality, Will) is very prominently placed in Virgo. One never really thinks of anything in Virgo being prominently placed because Virgo is sort of an "anti-prominence" sign, sort of low key and reserved. Virgo celebrities tend to try to fake humility more than the other signs because there is always that discerning critical nature which can't handle being seen as a jerk. Anyway, back to money. The Sun naturally rules Leo so Virgo is Leo's 2d House. One might imagine that when a Virgo Sun is under stress it will express itself through 2d House issues like Money and Values and Worth perhaps more than the other signs (but that is only a theory, nothing that I've heard from astrologers).

The Sun in California's chart is unaspected so doesn't flow well with the other planets in the chart. That means when it receives a major long-term transit like this Saturn-Uranus opposition, it can't pass on any of the tensions to other planets.

The Sun is also the dispositor of the Leo North Node. Right now Saturn is passing over the Sun which is a time for budgets and management and constriction. And Saturn is opposed by Uranus which I've noted before can be connected with major money crises. Even Leo Sun/Capricorn Moon Ahrnold S., patronizing as he is, can't balance the budget. He's also facing a California crowd of people. This is certainly a case of Uranian people rebelling against & opposing everything that a Saturnian figure wants to get done.

Another problematic transit is that California is going through a Nodal Opposition. This is a a time of confusion (from Komilla Sutton), especially when the planet of confusion, Neptune, is conjunct the t.North Node and natal South Node. Additionally, California's natal Neptune is at 6 Pisces so California is inching its way towards a Neptune Return. As the natal Neptune is trining Venus this could indicate a financial boom or bubble coming up, but that would still be about 10 years down the road. Neptune, along with Mercury (Bills), rule Bubbles. Venus in mythology was born from Bubbles. California is full of bubbly blonds, or at least the Hollywood part is. This could explain the crazy, wild "Rushes" that affect California's economy, especially in combination with the Dynamic & Creative but crisis oriented Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Aries.

I also looked at the Secondary Progressions for possible Retrogrades that would bring about a financial budget crisis. Didn't see any concerning inner planets which should be a good sign as far as getting the economy going. Overall, I didn't see anything in connection, but did notice some interesting progression events with the Outer Planets. California has natal Saturn, Uranus and Pluto in Aries. And all three of these planets are Retrograde in the "birth" chart. Progressed Saturn came out of Retrograde around 1948 at 15 Aries. I'm not sure if this is connected with anything special in her history that would be connected with Saturnian types of activities.

I did notice that progressed Uranus came out of Rx at 28 Aries in 1966-67 right when Haight Ashbury exploded into Wavy Gravy. Prog. Pluto came out of Rx shortly after in 1973-74 at 28 Aries so these two planets really like to work together in this chart. These two planets were in conjunction by transit in Virgo in the mid-60s just as they were coming out of Retrograde. This would have happened while the two planets were just passing over the natal California Sun (at about 20 Virgo). So these planets really like to play around with California's Sun. That does explain the need for experimentation in California, especially in fields that are natural for Virgo like Health and Technology. Even the Blond ideal "California" woman is Virgonian with the emphasis on baby like virginal features (well, in the facial features, not in the bust and hip line.)

While looking up California's history on Wikipedia I noticed that during the natal Uranus-Pluto conjunction in the years between 1845 and 1850 right as California was being "born" was very active. The Settlers rebelled against Mexico, Mexico ceded the territory, the Gold Rush began and California joined the union. That's a whole lot of turmoil in a short amount of time and it certainly sounds like a Uranus-Pluto conjunction. And in Aries, what a combination! Talk about Crisis oriented. It's very interesting that Uranus-Pluto transits don't seem to be connected with earthquakes in California. There was a big earthquake in the L.A. area in the late 60s (Chatta-something, can't remember the name of the town) but it wasn't as big as the later ones that came during the Uranus-Neptune in Capricorn earthquakes. But I have noticed that the Months of October and Aries seem to bring on the Big ones which would hook in to all those Aries planets in the natal chart. Since I know that there would have been huge earthquakes in California prior to its becoming a State, it's almost as if the Earthquakes chose California's birthdate. (that statement probably won't make sense to anyone).

California has been growing and growing in population and economy, probably more than any other state. The dislodging of all these outer planet progression by Retrograde in the sign of Aries since 1948 could certainly be a big growth factor. Interesting that California's Uranus-Pluto conjunction is squaring the U.S. Pluto but I suppose several other states share that aspect as well.

Money is indicated by Venus, Pluto, Jupiter and the Sun in a chart. California's Progressed Jupiter might be an indicator in the money problems as it (prog. Jupiter) turned Retrograde around 2000 at 24 Libra. This opposes the natal Uranus-Pluto conjunction and is a strong indicator for Crises for anything having to do with expansion and over optimism. Jupiter rules Higher Education, Lawyers and Law, International Affairs, and Immigration. There is a huge problem with large amounts of illegal immigrants who don't pay anything into the system but are having large amounts of kids who have to be taken care of. Few people seem interested in granting immunity as was done back in the 80s. I heard on the radio the other day that polls show that less than thirty percent favor this. Meanwhile many of the immigrants are voicing a lot of anger over the situation. This is perhaps a sign of the Jupiter Rx opposing Uranus-Pluto. California's progressed Mars is at 6 Aquarius. I didn't see any tense aspects but Mars and Uranus together can be a rebellious situation. Progressed Mercury is at 30 Capricorn and is squaring that Uranus-Pluto conjunction. It is also within conjunction of Progressed Mars which is a sign of alot of "discussion."

The California Venus is at 14 Libra and is at 10 Capricorn by progression so she is squaring herself by Progression. As one of Venus' rulerships is Banking and Money and Cash on Hand I guess it makes sense that this square proves to be a time of challenge in that direction. The Progressed Sun would be at 26 Aquarius which is just past a quincunx aspect with its natal spot. That aspect shows a time of "adjustment" in the State's vitality. Aquarius and Virgo working together would be very good for technology and innovation and also for bringing people together but these signs otherwise struggle to work on common ground as they don't share common traits by quality or element. Huge hoards (Uranus-Pluto) of needy, poor, uneducated people is not really healthy (Virgo) for the community overall. Meanwhile, all the rich Liberals and the Governor are oblivious to these people and are trying to take away funding from the schools.... and the High School drop out rate is somewhere near 40 percent in many of the poorer public shcool systems. Errrrrrrr.

Progressed U.S. Chart and Financial Crisis

I want to point out some aspects related to the Progressions in the United States Chart with regards to the last few weeks' Collapse of the U.S. Economy.

Before that, I'd like to point out that, along with a number of other transits, the Financial Crisis may somehow be related to the Saturn-Uranus opposition that is coming up. In earlier research I found that the U.S. has a natal Pluto Retrograde at 28 Capricorn. The year that prog. Pluto (1872-73) stationed Direct the U.S. entered a more than 20 year long Depression known as the Long Depression. This was preceded by a collapse of the Viennese Financial System which happened in May, 1873 and was indicated in the Chart for the day of the Collapse by an opposition of Saturn in Aquarius to Uranus in Leo. Saturn-Uranus oppositions don't seem to coincide with Financial Collapses but we now have two solid examples that when they do the effects are Global and very serious.

It is interesting that Pluto came out of Retrograde just as the U.S. dropped into the "Long Depression" in 1873. This depression was Worldwide and lasted more than 20 years. Even though the financial markets were messed up, production world-wide sped up. Perhaps the U.S. Leadership in this area could be attributed to Pluto's extended stay in Capricorn and sudden direct motion by progression? Say what you want about Saturn and Pluto working together, but they are workaholics and they do like to be productive.

In the Progressed Chart for the United States, the planets are so strongly aspected with regards to the financial crisis that I'm not using progressed ASC, MC and Moon right now. It would be great to look at them in order to understand how the U.S. is handling the Crisis but since there is no real consensus about accuracy of any of the U.S. charts I'll leave that to someone else.

It's interesting to notice how many planets are in moving Retrograde in the current progressed Chart. The U.S. has 2 natal Retrograde planets, Mercury and Pluto, and they are in opposition to each other in the chart. Both planets have come out of Retrograde since 1776 and Mercury has again progressed back into Retrograde.

Right now the progressed U.S. chart has 5 planets in Retrograde: Mercury 24 Aquarius Rx; Mars 19 Libra Rx; Jupiter 16 Cancer Rx; Saturn 4 Scorpio Rx; and Neptune 27 Virgo Rx.

The Progressed U.S. Sun is in early degrees of Pisces which shows that it is going through a transition phase. As with any of the signs this could show both positive and negative reactions to the new energy which it must adjust to as it emerges out of the Aquarian energy and into the Piscean energy. It is in the learning phase of this transition and can exhibit some of the pains associated with adapting to a new energy. The positive side of the new Pisces Progression is an increased sensitivity and compassion to suffering of those less fortunate. The negative side is a fatalistic, self-destructive streak that comes with such awareness. Hopefully, the U.S. won't begin to plant opium fields out in Utah and form huge crime syndicates. (Well, the Crime is already there it will just get worse and the jails will get even worse also.) These represent some cliche ways that Neptune deals with loss of psychic boundaries due to absorption of all the energies around its self. The U.S. Sun should eventually gain some increased Vitality from this progression as it is a Water Sign and will receive a trine contact in about years.

I'm using the Sibley Chart for the United States with Sagittarius Rising, (July 4, 1776 5:10pm Philadelphia, PA) but, as I said, I'm only showing the planetary progressions and not dealing with House placements.

First I'd like to mention how the transiting Mercury Retrograde is super strong with regards to contacts to making stressful contacts with both the U.S. natal chart and the U.S. Secondary Progressed Chart. It is making 3 passes over the United States' natal Saturn at 15 Libra. As Saturn is involved in a t-square formation opposing Chiron in Aries and squaring the U.S. Sun at 14 Cancer this is a major sore spot dealing with Vitality, Will, Fear, Government and Woundings. This could account for the extra anxiety and mental stress as Mercury and Saturn together are major rulers for Anxiety (from Rex Bills). Whether the U.S. has a Gemini or a Sagittarius Chart, Saturn still rules a financial house because Capricorn will be either on the 2d or 8th House cusps.

In addition to that stress one should notice that the Progressed U.S. Mars is now moving in Retrograde Motion at 19 Libra and so is within 4 degrees conjunction with the U.S. Saturn and subsequently is in contact with the natal t-square with Sun and Chiron. Mars will continue to move in Retrograde Motion closer to Saturn over many years. Mars and Saturn don't work well together. I'm not sure of the source of this imagery but I've heard of them described as "Driving With the Brakes On" aspect. Both want to act but Mars wants to act impulsively and Saturn wants to proceed cautiously and with a plan. In Libra one can only imagine how much vacillation this involves.

These aren't financial indicators necessarily except that progressed Venus, ruler of Banking, Money and Material Possessions is conjunct Chiron! This brings into the game the ruler of Money, Finances, Material Possessions, Banking. She is conjunct Chiron to the degree at 18 Aries and disposits to Mars. She happens to be in conjunction with the "Healer" who can't heal his own wound. Sounds a bit like the U.S. and World Governments at this point.

There's one more progressed Planet in strong conjunction with this natal U.S. t-square. Progressed Retrograde Jupiter is also Retrograde and so in a long conjunction with the U.S. Sun at 16 Cancer. Both Jupiter and Cancer are associated with consumption and the extended retrograde can show all the problems that uncontrollable consumption can cause.

So, all the planets that rule money are in a stress contact with the natal U.S. Chart through progression. They all seem to be pointing to the empty leg of the t-square. This is the missing element which the t-square needs in order to resolve its problems. This is the middle degrees of Capricorn. Interesting how Pluto is about to permanently enter Capricorn by transit while it is on the last degree by progression. It is experiencing both the Anticipation Anxiety of entering the sign and the Anticipation Anxiety of leaving the sign.

So, now I'll mention Pluto because his Progression is extremely important right now. Pluto rules Investments, Loans, Debt, Bankruptcy, Insurance. The United States was formed while Pluto was at the end of Capricorn at 28 degrees Rx. He opposes Mercury at 25 Cancer Rx. Commerce wouldn't happen without Mercury and his Communications. Right now this opposition is being hit by the progressed Nodal Axis at 27 Cancer/Capricorn. The South Node is within a degree conjunction of Pluto. Along with all the financial indicators mentioned above Pluto rules Crisis and Disaster on a Massive Scale, and together with the Nodes sort of acts like a Big Machete in the Sky.

Progressed Pluto must really be stressed out right now as he is perhaps tired of all things Capricorn and fearful of entering into Aquarius. Plus he has to face transiting Pluto retracing all those Capricorn steps. I haven't checked to see when the Pluto Return for the U.S. will be in order to compare when it with when Progressed Pluto finally moves into Aquarius. It would be interesting to see if these dates coincide. Interesting that productivity in the U.S. is at such a low point already. We are really experiencing a major lesson in dealing with materialism. One thing that Saturn and Pluto like to do when working together is to create loss. Hopefully there will be a transition to detachment, energy efficiency and innovation as Aquarius rules electricity, invention and circulatory systems. This could be the beginnings of a powerful new identity which will be embraced on a Global Scale. This won't happen for years so we have to be able to learn to handle the anxiety of this transitional time and use the energy for preparation and planning for the future.

The U.S. Pluto and its Progression in the U.S. Economy

Today's Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross sent me off on a meandering path concerning the U.S. Pluto in history. As mentioned in my last post, Terry interviewed NY Times writer Gretchen Morgenson about the U.S. Bailout of the Banks and Mortgage Companies.

The 1776 chart for the U.S. gives a natal Pluto which is Retrograde at the end of Capricorn at 28 Degrees. Progressed Pluto doesn't move very much at all so most Astrologers ignore it in people. But in Countries which have a longer lifespan it's movement can be better detected. Changes of Direction, either Direct or Retrograde can show big Changes. This change is very prominent in influence in the U.S. economic situation regarding investments.

The Federal Reserve Bank was created while Pluto was in the opposing Sign of Cancer so Pluto's Movement into a Cardinal Sign is going to be a big influence in the Country's economic situation. The Great Depression happened as Pluto was going through its opposition.

There are some theories that when a planet is placed at the end of a sign, it is essentially tired of the energy of that sign and just wants to move on. Being Retrograde, the U.S. natal Pluto has been in Capricorn at the end of that sign ever sincethe country was created in 1776. That's some pretty tired stuff as Capricorn already represents an old man. If you look on Wikipedia at the history of Recessions in the U.S. you sort of get the idea that the U.S. has a problem with money flow. Capricorn is wise, but it is cautious and generally afraid of falling down and breaking its hip.

I looked a little closer at the Retrograde Motion of Pluto for the July 4, 1776 chart of the U.S. First I looked at the transit. Pluto went Direct by transit on Oct. 8, 1776. This shows nothing very stand outish but I'm not knowledgeable about American History. I'm just noting the date for future reference. I found two letters reproduced on the Internet written on this date. One is by George Washington and one is by John Adams. Both were struggling with the Revolution, of course. And in particular they were struggling with money.

Next I looked at the year for when Pluto stationed Direct in the U.S. chart around 1872-73. Boy, was this a history lesson in Stock Market crashes. I don't have the exact date because of computer problems but there was a huge International Stock Market crash which began with the Viennese Stock Exchange on May 9, 1873. This lasted more than 20 years and is known as the "Victorian Depression." By coincidence I found this short article written by a Canadian Economist, Stephen S. Poloz, called "Remembering the Victorian Depression." Poloz was wondering if the U.S. was headed for another version of this depression. He doesn't think so. And, being Canadian, he was able to ask this question way back in May when the U.S. guys didn't have a clue we were even already in a recession: http://www.edc.ca/english/docs/ereports/commentary/publications_14616.htm.

This chart (Viennese Exchange Crash) has an outer planet t-square of an almost exact opposition between Saturn at 3 Aquarius and Uranus at 3 Leo. Neptune at 27 Aries is the apex planet. This t-square was made into a Grand Square opposing Mars 4 Scorpio Rx on the date of the crash. Sun, Pluto, and Venus Rx were all in conjunction to the Taurus North Node (25 Taurus). It's a very difficult chart to say the least. This crash obviously isn't related to the U.S. Pluto progression. I'm just adding this information because it's a huge crash which the U.S. Market followed later that year.

The United States depression, which is called "The Long Depression", followed on Sept. 18, 1873. At this point, the Railroad Industry ground to a halt after a long boom period precipitated by the end of the Civil War. A Pennsylvania banker, Jay Cooke & Company, went bankrupt on that date. On Sept. 20, the Stock Market was shut down and stayed shut for 10 days. This Depression is given an ending date of 1877.

There were several problems that occurred at once to cause the problems. The Coinage Act of 1873 turned the U.S. to the Gold Standard. This meant that Silver wasn't used anymore on the markets and this had a depressing effect on the Silver/Mining Industry. There was also a huge epidemic of disease in Horses in the year before which wiped out a lot of the Horse population. This affected transportation as well as the army who was fighting the Indians on foot. (Why didn't the Indians just win at that point, really...). I do remember reading Terry Lamb's prediction that the Saturn-Uranus opposition this year could bring a bad influenza so this could be problematic for us.

The chart for this date shows that Saturn was at 27 Capricorn Rx and was squaring Neptune at 28 Aries. This means that it was conjunct the U.S. natal Pluto. It was also one degree past and approaching the spot where Progressed Pluto was stationing direct.

There are some similarities to today's charts. Jupiter and Saturn were in reversed spots in Virgo and Capricorn. Pluto-NN of the 1873 chart are squaring the spot where Neptune-NN are today.

It's interesting that the 1870s were the point when the United States economy began to take off. This corresponds to the idea of a planet turning in direct motion. Worldwide, industrial production did really well. In the U.S. it increased fourfold. (I think my source for this is Wikipedia, sorry can't really remember). In the current U.S. production has dropped probably to almost nothing so we're definitely not on that same cycle.

So this Pluto spot is a sensitive point for any planet to hit. Jupiter will conjunct the U.S. Pluto in late December, 2008 into January, 2009. It doesn't appear that that Jupiter-Pluto connections are the best thing for the U.S. Economy but what do I know?

Uranus passed over natal Pluto in 1994-5 and Neptune passed over it in 1996. I'm probably the only to remember this but there had been a serious Real Estate bust from between 1990 and 1995 in California. The drop in home values was more extreme then than it is now. The Technology Boom began around that time as well. The passage of Uranus and Neptune over the U.S. Pluto was a good thing in these instances. The U.S. Savings & Loan crisis happened as these two were in conjunction around 1989-90.

The U.S. Pluto Return will be sometime around 2022.

No Growth in U.S. Economy

Ben Bernanke has now made a statement that he doesn't see any growth for the U.S. Economy in the near future. I decided to take a look at some things which represent Growth in the U.S. Chart. I use the Sagittarius Rising Chart. This one has 13 degree on the Ascendant, I think that's Sibley.

First off I looked at the Planets. Jupiter. Doi. Jupiter expands. The Moon rules Fertility. The Sun creates. Venus impels toward growth or destruction. Then I looked at the Progressions to see what kinds of stunted Retrogrades might be jamming the works.

The United States has Sun, Venus, and Jupiter in Cancer. That's a growth oriented situation.

Right now the Progressed Sun for the U.S. is at 4 Pisces trining the natal Venus and Jupiter at 4 and 6 Cancer respectively. Transiting Jupiter is in Capricorn opposing the United States Sun. And Progressed Jupiter has been Retrograde in Cancer since around 1905-6. If the U.S. has a Sagittarius Rising this is very important to look at because Jupiter is then the Chart Ruler. The timing of the Retrograde coincides with the 1907 Crash. Although there were many before it, that was the Crash that was the reason for the creation of the Federal Reserve Board as I was reminded yesterday by reading Monica's blog "Astrology Mundo." So this looks indicates heavy duty growth aspects. Of course, disease enjoys Growth as well.

So, then I thought what rules productivity because in my opinion the problem is not Growth but Productivity. We have turned into a Nation of Sheep. Not that there's anything wrong with Sheep, I just tried to make a dishcloth that had a sheep on it (didn't turn out) but they tend to follow along and graze all day. So I looked at Mars and Saturn. The U.S. has a conjunction of these two planets. The only thing these two might like is productivity. The conjunction is at the beginning of Virgo so the Country just had a Saturn Return. That can be a time of deep reckoning and being faced with big decisions.

Progressed Mars also moved into Retrograde around 2005-6 in Libra. Right now it is at 19 Libra Retrograde. That will eventually lead to great creativity but also heightened violence. On a current level this means that it's been hanging out on the Ascendant of the Opening Bell Chart for the NYSE. It has also been conjunct the Mercury-Venus-Mars conjunction in Libra. I was wondering how such a potentially nice aspect could have turned so much to its worst side. Maybe this is a reason, especially as its all been on the Ascendant of the Opening Bell Charts for the last couple of weeks.

The Progressions for the U.S. are actually pretty intense. The only planets that aren't Retrograde are Venus and Uranus. And Progressed Venus is conjunct (within 3 degrees) to Chiron in Aries at 18 Aries. That's opposing Progressed Mars Rx plus the Mercury-Venus-Mars conjunction.

The U.S. is born with a Mercury Retrograde and is now going through another Mercury Rx by Progression. This started sometime around 1993-94. Progressed Mercury is at 24 Aquarius. The extended trip through Aquarius was certainly good for becoming the center of the Technology Boom. Now prog. Mercury is being hit by the Neptune-Chiron-NN conjunction and is in the 4th House (Real Estate, Security, Mortgage) at Opening Bell.

So, here's the clinker, unrelated to what I've said so far. The natal U.S. Chart has a Mercury-Pluto opposition. Both planets are Retrograde. Mercury is at 25 Cancer Rx. Pluto is at 28 Capricorn Rx. Retrogrades make you really look deeply into whatever sign they're in. Cancer rules Real Estate and Capricorn rules Government. Mercury - Pluto is pretty sharp but also pretty paranoid and crisis oriented. And...

The Progressed Nodal Axis is now right on top of this opposition with 27 Cancer North Node. This means that Pluto is conjunct the South Node. Destiny come calling. Time of Trouble. Pluto represents crisis. But it also prunes and strips away dead weight so that all may prosper in the future. In gardening that's a good thing. In Economics I don't know why it can't be seen as a good thing. Tightening our big fat Sun-Venus-Jupiter in Cancer belts. At any rate transiting Jupiter will hit the Pluto-SN combination soon. As a Jupiter-Pluto conjunction (by transit) was involved in Cancer during the Great Depression this could certainly echo that energy.

If the Sagittarius Rising Chart were to be used one could see that the Progressed Moon and Progressed Ascendant are both at 1 Virgo. Virgo is another pruner. Don't get me going about how awful the transition is from Leo to Virgo in Progressions. I'm spending a lifetime finding this out. Leo just loves. Leo wants to create. All is well and simple. Then suddenly Leo realizes that his audience is snoring. That's when you know something's progressed into Virgo. And the lessons, although healthy, totally suck for the first 10 degrees.

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.

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.

Painkillers Kill More Americans Than Guns

Over-dosing and over-prescribing; more Americans are now dying from Prescription Pain Killers than from Guns.

from: http://wvgazette.com/New/Prescription+for_an_Epidemic/200711040016.

For the first time in modern American history, drug overdoses and other types of poisonings now kill more people than guns.

Such deaths more than doubled between 1994 and 2004, according to data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics in a joint Sunday Gazette-Mail/West Virginia Public Broadcasting investigation.

The fastest-growing killers aren’t heroin and cocaine. They’re prescription painkillers.

Researchers were shocked when they saw the new numbers, said Lois Fingerhut, special assistant for injury epidemiology at NCHS.

“My God — Who would ever have thought that poisoning would have risen that quickly to surpass firearms?” she said.

West Virginians are more likely to die of drug overdoses than people from any other state. Poisonings — mostly overdoses — killed 20 times more West Virginians last year than they did in 1998 (see accompanying story).

Nationally, more than 30,000 people died from poisoning in 2004, the most recent year for which nationwide data is available.

When most people hear of poisoning, they don’t think of drug overdoses.

“What most people think of ... is a child getting into the Drano under the sink, but that’s the smallest part of poisoning deaths,” Fingerhut said.

“By far, the largest number of poisoning deaths are attributed to drugs. Nine out of 10 poisoning deaths in 2004 were drug-related.”

Prescription drugs are responsible for most of that increase in overdose deaths. Heroin deaths fell slightly between 1999 and 2004, while cocaine deaths rose 43 percent.

Drug Addiction is ruled by Neptune.

Rex Bills says that "Medicines" are ruled by Neptune, Saturn and Virgo.

"Pain" is ruled by Mars and Saturn. The opposite of Mars would be Venus. Perhaps this is a sign of a Peace Loving Nation? Mars has progressed into Libra which is ruled by Venus and it is Retrograde.

I looked up the Progressions for the Sibley Chart, July 4, 1776, 5:10pm, Philadelphia, PA. Wouldn't ya know? The U.S. Sun has progressed into Pisces, one of the signatures for Drugs and Addiction.

Progressed Sun is currently at 4 Pisces so it is still trying to get used to the Pisces vibe. P.Sun is also very significant in the Progressed Chart as it is in aspect to both of the planets that Bills gives to rulership of Pain. It is trining Saturn at 4 Scorpio and inconjunct to Mars 19 Libra Rx.

This is maybe telling us to take a look at the natal Mars-Saturn trine in the U.S. Chart. Progressed Mars is echoing the progressed Sun's aspect as it is moving back into a conjunction with n. Saturn and is trining n. Mars. I read this as meaning that we really don't know how to use Force right now and we are reexaminig what Strength really is (hopefully). That's why we're acting like Bam-Bam over in Iraq!

Confused? Bring in the CandyMan. Neptune, ruler of Drugs and Addiction is in Virgo, sign of Medicines. It has been Retrograde since about 1952. That timing seems to match up with the time in America when all the Household Moms starting turning to booze and tranquilizers. (Allopathic Medicine is so brilliant for treating Crises and Emergencies, but so bad at treating most chronic illnesses, ruled by 12th House & Neptune.)

Prog. Mercury is also Retrograde right now as well so our brains ain't working too good. Mercury is Retrograde in both the natal chart and the progressed Chart and they are in an inconjunct aspect right now. Inconjuncts are said to be related to health problems, so it makes sense that we are more mentally ill now than during most times. It's in Aquarius so this should give us extra opportunities to innovate new technologies to fix the world -- as long as we just keep attending the 12 step meetings, that is.

On a different note, it's interesting that in the Sibley Chart the Progressed Moon is so strong in the Progressed Chart. It is conjunct the Progressed Ascendant, both at 28 Leo. The natal Moon is at 28 Aquarius right on the Descendant. I suppose I would assume that Hillary Clinton would win the Presidency due to Moon's relationship with Women. Perhaps this isn't the correct chart after all.

Oliver Sacks - Prog. Mercury gone Rx and Back in Early Life

Oliver Sacks is the famous Neurologist who initially became famous for his book Awakenings in which he describes how early on in his career he brought a group of patients suffering from sleeping sickness up out of their coma like states. This post will focus on how the Mercury progression seems to have played out in Sacks' life. As Mercury rules the nerves and communication it's interesting to see how a neurologist who writes about his work has experienced Mercury progressions.

I keep finding that the progressions show a person's psychological status much better than other factors in the chart. The Progressed Rxs seem to show the really difficult to understand psychological problems. This is probably more because they last so damn long. I sort of would like to find the "Rainbow way" to read them so that I don't panic whenever I see one in a chart. The Mercury Retrogrades take 20 years but Venus and Mars Rx's can last for the rest of the person's life. From what I've seen they also seem to offer a really nasty undertow or drag to the person's ability to function in whatever area indicated by the planet affected.

I've mentioned it before but Robert Blaschke has written a really great book on Progressions. Unfortunately I don't have my copy available to refer to right now. He offers ways to discuss the Retrogrades that don't show the level of direness that I'm currently communicating when I see them.

I'm looking at famous people who thrive in spite of these Rx's right now. I've already discussed the effect of the Mercury Rx's that came late in the lives of Federico Fellini and Ernest Hemingway both at the times that they seem to have developed mental blocks in their creativity. Sacks experienced his when he was a child and it's interesting to see how the Mercury Rx Prog. played out in his life. (Short Answer: he's been in psychotherapy ever since it went direct, lol).

Oliver Sacks
b. July 9, 1933 London, England

Sun 17 Cancer; Moon Aquarius; NN 30 Aquarius; Mercury Rx 12 Leo

As the Nerves are ruled by Mercury and Uranus rules the neurological system in the body I was surprised to see that a Doctor so reknowned for expertise in this area of human physiology would have gone through a Mercury Retrograde progression in his life, but it seems to have actually helped. He probably developed his empathetic nature and mental depth through the early knowledge that communication can be very difficult. His Leo Mercury probably sees himself in his patients and really wants to "coach" them out of their situations.

I first looked up Sacks' chart when I heard him in a radio interview saying that his childhood was marked when at Age 6 he was sent away to boarding school in England during the war. He went in 1939 and stayed for 4 years.

Sacks' p. Mercury went Retrograde in September, 1940, the year after he went to boarding school. It remained in Retrograde during his entire Education years and turned direct in Nov-Dec. 1964 at 3 Leo. According to Wikipedia, Sacks moved to New York in 1965 and had a banner year in 1966 when he began working for the Hospital in the Bronx where he had his first major success with the encephalitis lethargica patients. This is also the year when he began his twice weekly psychotherapy sessions; something which he has had ever since.

Of course there are a whole bunch more transits, etc. which can be discussed but this alone seems so significant. Mercury rules early education, communication, siblings, cousins, neighborhoods, books, libraries etc. In Sacks' chart natal Mercury is at 12 Leo conjunct Venus and opposing Saturn in Aquarius. If it weren't for the introversion and self-doubt that can come with a progressed Retrograde period, Oliver Sacks probably would have tried to become a professional musician! Instead, this progression triggered the deeper parts of his soul as indicated in his chart by his Sun-Pluto conjunction in Cancer and Chiron square Nodes. Also, his Mercury-Venus conjunction is opposed by Saturn (maybe c. Moon) which has a serious, disciplining effect on the joy that the Mercury-Venus in Leo desires.

The effect of this very long Mercury in Leo seems to be that Sacks can really speak to the lay public. Sacks can explain what he does to ordinary people in an entertaining way. He is brilliant at treating each of his patients individually and as special people. He is constantly commenting on how he would feel if he were in their shoes. He can shine that Leo light, something which most Drs. can't do at all -- er, at least the ones available on my health plans. One can see the effects of the Leo Mercury written in the following Wikipedia article"

Sacks describes his cases with little clinical detail, concentrating on the experiences of the patient (in the case of his A Leg to Stand On, the patient was himself). The patients he describes are often able to adapt to their situation in different ways despite the fact that their neurological conditions are usually considered incurable.^[6]

The D.C. Madam

The D.C. Madam, Deborah Palfrey, hanged herself at her Mother's house in Flordia yesterday. She had been convicted of racketeering and money laundering after running a call girl business in Washington, DC for 13 years without a hitch. Here is a link to an interview with her taken by Susie Bright: http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/08/27/the-dc-madam-speaks/.

Deborah Palfrey, alias D.C. Madam
b. Mar. 18, 1956 North Charleroi, PA

Sun 29 Pisces; Moon Gemini; NN 11 Sagittarius

Palfrey had attended Law School for a while and then had dropped out. She started working as a Prostitute while living in San Diego. She was arrested in 1990 and spent 18 months in Jail. When she got out of Jail she started her own business in Washington, DC and eventually ran it from her home in Vallejo, California. She says in the interview mentioned above that the Government had begun following her in March, 2003. The Saturn-Pluto opposition was just separating from off her Nodal Axis which squares natal Mercury in Pisces (spies, paranoia, government, reality).

Palfrey shut down her business in August, 2006 and was preparing to sell her home and move to Germany. She obviously knew something was up. The Government used a wire transfer made on Sept. 28, 2006 as an excuse to send some agents in undercover as potential buyers for her house in order to search her house without a warrant. They confiscated papers and froze her assets.

This all made me want to look at Palfrey's Mercury. It's not Retrograde but it's under stress in every other way. It's placed in its Fall in Pisces and is squaring her Nodes; NN 11 Sagittarius, SN 11 Gemini.

It's interesting that when the Government finally moved in, her transiting Mercury was passing over her natal Neptune in Libra. They caught her in her blind-spot. They literally sent in Postal Agents (Mercury) to do the sting and they did it without legal permission.

There are some very big transits going on in at this time which would have played a part. First is that Saturn was passing over Palfrey's natal Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Leo. Saturn will catch you at everything you do that's not on the up and up. At this point Saturn was opposed by t. Neptune and squared by Jupiter in Scorpio so was predicting a big event of some sort.

Also, Palfrey was entering into her Chiron Return in Aquarius. Chiron's big stand out aspect natally is a square to Venus. Palfrey perhaps had a Victim mentality/wounding around men?

Venus and Mars are both well aspected in Palfrey's chart. Mars is in Capricorn in Exhaltation. Venus is in its own sign of Taurus and they are trining each other. This seems like a good business person, especially one who is involved in the business of love.

Venus is also the final dispositor of Palfrey's chart. Rex Bills says that Prostitution is ruled by Pluto (H12, Pisces, Mars). Venus isn't mentioned. Interesting. Natally she has no out-of-bounds planets but Palfrey's progressed Venus was out-of-bounds at 27 degrees, 28' as she was caught. It was placed at 1 Cancer right on the Aries Point and was in difficult minor aspect to both p.Mars and p. Saturn. The day of the Wire transfer it was conjunct the transiting Virgo South Node within a degree and was squaring a conjunction of the Moon to Pluto.

Deborah Palfrey said she would commit Suicide before going to Prison and she wasn't kidding. Pisces don't kid about these things. Especially the Pisces whose Suns are apexes to Yods binding a Neptune-Pluto sextile. Her Death was on May 1, 2008 in Tarpon Springs, FL. It was almost her Venus Return with a conjunction of Sun to Venus in Taurus. Transiting Mars was at 26 Cancer conjunct Palfrey's natal Uranus at 29 Cancer. The recent Mars Retrograde that was opposing t.Pluto in what seemed to take forever was happening right on top of Palfrey's Progressed Venus.

Palfrey ended up vilifying her clientele by publishing their names and was further humiliated when only a couple of people on the list were of any interest to media harassment. In honor of Palfrey I would like to take a look at one of these men, David Vitter, the Senator from Louisiana who became known among the girls as "Vitter the Shitter" for his diaper fetish. Vitter is publicly humiliated, the rest of the men on the list are outed and no doubt in trouble with their families. And, since it's Washington, who cares?

I wanted to know, what in Vitter's chart would indicate a Diaper Fetish? Vitter continues to this day to lead an abnormally hypocritical life. He wants to abolish all sex education from the schools except for abstinence training along with a whole list of reprehensible ideas.

I personally prefer recommending that women take the high road in life, one that builds self esteem, but I know that there aren't too many corners out there for many of us that offer a better life. I'm also not a very practical person. So, Deborah, this is for you.

David Vitter
b. May 3, 1961 New Orleans, LA

Sun 14 Taurus; Moon in Sagittarius?; NN 4 Virgo

Okay, Senator Punkin Pants, calm down, the the Statute of Limitations has run out on your Crime, You're Safe. You have Pluto at 6 Virgo conjunct the North Node at 4 Virgo opposite Chiron in Pisces. This shows a guy who's fascinated by his intestinal tract, maybe even obsessed with it. What are the Diapers for anyway? Spanking? Wiping? Were you one of the kids whose Mothers tied them to the pot?

Venus in your chart is so unaspected it didn't even come up on the list on my computer program. No parallels, no minor aspects, no nothings. And it's in Aries. You like your ladies Fun, Bold, Brassy, Pushy, you probably like Bald Women. I wouldn't be surprised if you liked Men with your Women. Women in your life take the lead, though, or is it leash? No. Wait. I forgot. You like Diapers. You like women who will clean (Virgo) up the messes you make in your pants...

Mars in Cancer, Baby. Love it or leave it, you've got it. Your Mother probably did leave you on the pot. That's the sign of the Baby. You're the Pampers Prince. Your Mars is special too, because it's opposite your conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius and Capricorn. You know how to excel, you can keep this other stuff separate from your Social Face.

But, don't worry, Senator. Your progressed Venus, remember that energy that sort of just works on its own, doesn't flow with the rest of the planets in your Natal Chart, the one that keeps you up late at night doin it into a dishrag while on the Internet? It's been approaching your Natal Taurus Sun and is now within a degree of conjunction. Often this is a very happy transit indicating marriage and fidelity. When that doesn't happen, many people commit Suicide. This should have been Deborah Palfry's Progression! You've projected it, you Lucky John! Her natal Venus was conjunct your Sun. While talking out the wrong side of your stinky ass, you've left entrails of pain on society's heals.

Man, I hate Politics. Where do these creeps come from?

Brother Eliot Rides Rough on the Mayflower

Okay, this is going to be a Quickie. Yes, that's right, it's about Eliot Spitzer. It appears from the headlines that he has indeed resigned from his "Position" as Governor of New York. I think it was because he was from so much pressure from the Late Night Comics. Spitzer had to quit because he got caught renting hookers from a House of Ill Repute. As Governor all his finances are inspected and once his tab ran up into the $80,000's bracket the FBI walked in. Gemini's aren't usually this dumb, wonder what happened.

I don't know what kinds of moralistic things Spitzer tried to fix in his short term as Governor but I'm pretty sure his fall isn't about Morals. I also live on the West Coast in the Land where Anything Goes so I wouldn't know how to play the game out in sophisticated New York. But Morals? The Bush Administration would have been long gone if this were a problem.

Spitzer hired a Brunette, 5'4", 105 lb. Commodity to take a train to Washington DC and book a room in the Mayflower Hotel so that he could beg her to do it without a condom. I think I read that he paid for 4 hours from 10:00pm on Feb. 13 to 2 am on Feb. 14. But Spitzer only used her for 2. I told you this was all about Quickies. I've also warned to never even think of trying to find Love on Valentine's Day. It never ever works.

Eliot "Client 9" Spitzer
b. June 10, 1959 Bronx, NY

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a Gemini. They're polygamous. I forgot to write down his chart stuff down. Where's his Moon? Oh yeah, that symbolizes his Wife and she's

Silda "First Wife" Spitzer
b. Dec. 10, 1957 Chapel Hill, NC

Comparing charts here gets interesting.

Mr. and Mrs. Spitzer have Suns which exactly oppose each other. Eliot's is 19 Gemini and Silda's is 19 Sagittarius.

Their Venus's (Her Planet) also oppose each other. Eliot's at 4 Leo (conjunct his Mars 6 Leo) and Silda's at 3 Leo.

The couple's Mars's (His Planet) are in squaring signs. Mars in the charts does throw some klinkers in the nuptial bliss with its intensity. Squaring Signs challenge each other, for one. But, these challenging aspects between Venus and Mars really increase the sexual attraction.

Eliot's Mars is conjunct his Venus and Uranus and possibly his Moon which is a fairly kinky aspect. He's got quite a Sex drive going there. This combination also makes for a really nice person but in Leo the Hubris thing I guess got the better of him.

Silda's Mars is in Scorpio is unaspected. Unaspected planets, in Noel Tyl's terms, "runs away with the chart." So she likes a guy with a long whip. Probably she likes his ambition and is willing to give up a little in favor of success. Maybe less so now that her Sun has long progressed out of Capricorn.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Spitzer have the Moon at 3-4 degrees Leo in the Noontime charts. So that means they have either Cancer or Leo Moon. They really are in sync with each other for Better or, um, Worse. There's a problem with some squares between Mars and Neptune. On the positive side I think this makes a couple want to help others. On the negative side it makes them do weird, creepy things. This square is in Elliot's natal chart but also in their Marriage chart (along with a conjunction of Venus-Pluto-Mercury, ooo boy).

Example of a Marriage Chart that Leads to Great Political Success and Fall through a Hooker named Kristen who was Rented from the Emperor's Club:

Oct. 17, 1987 (place? New York)

Sun 25 Libra; Moon Leo? (Moon conjunct their natal Moons?); NN 3 Aries (no shit)
Mars conjunct Libra South Node squaring Neptune

The Most interesting part of this story are the Progressed Retrogrades that have occurred in this couple's lives so far. Thank God there are only two.

The first is, this isn't a surprise, Silda's Venus. Silda is a people pleasing Sagittarius. The women are people pleasers, but they are also freedom loving. They attract marriage like flies but can really struggle with the confines of boring old same old, same old. Silda's first marriage failed. She was married in 1982 for 29 days. So years later, she met Eliot and they decided to give it a go. Silda's Venus went Retrograde by Progression the Month after they got married. She's really been sticking this one out. Robert Blaschke's book on Progressions would have a great description for what prog.Venus Rx means. I don't have it nearby. Noel Tyl has described natal Venus Rx succinctly as the person develops Loveability issues. Their entire Libra (Venus) marriage has been ruled by Silda's feeling unloveable (deep down, of course). She's so pretty and intelligent. It would be interesting to look at her Juno placement. Maybe later.

The second Rx Progression is Eliot's Mercury. His P.Mercury went Retrograde in 2001-2. It's really interesting that his political career really took off at that point and has suffered from his overly Mercurial personality. Spitzer's Mercury went Retrograde while conjunct his natal Uranus in Leo. This doesn't imbue a sublte, sweet communication style. He became a Crusader and Truth Teller for all kinds of Noble Causes. Unfortunately he began to yell at everyone and brag about what a Steamroller he was. It's very appropriate that Spitzer was caught through Mercury-Uranus means, through surveillance on his electronic accounts. Spitzer's Progressed Sun is moving into conjunction with p.Mercury and progressed and Natal Uranus so work-wise he may really take on even more of a crusade. I'm not sure, I think prog. Sun might just be finishing up with the conjunction to his Venus and Mars so he may be spent in those departments. It's not worth it if you have to use a condom.

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.

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.

Holocaust Story

While casually researching my Ancient Ancestors last year I came across a book which claimed that in the 19th century Prussia (country sandwiched between Poland, Russia and Germany) the Jews were given some options. As the Poles, the Russians and many of the Germans did not like them 1/3 were allowed to stay in the country if they would convert to Christianity, 1/3 were allowed to emigrate, mostly to the United States, and 1/3 were allowed to starve to death. I haven't been able to find that book in the library ever since so I can't verify that I read this correctly and I'm not sure if this is true or one of the fairytales of my mind. Prussia doesn't exist anymore, I vaguely remember that the assassination of its leader was the cause of the beginning of the First World War, and I guess its history has been forgotten.

Either way, before that I was always just relieved that this quarter of my family had not had to experience the Holocaust first hand. It turns out that the Holocaust was the tip of the Iceberg for what had been going on for centuries. These Riots in Europe and Russia were especially strong in the 1880s.

Last night I once again started Googling about my Dead Relatives and found out more about these "Incidents", or Progroms. And I found an exact date with an exact time and of course had to pull up the chart. What is, after all, a good date and place for harassing a Jew? I came up with a really interesting one especially if one keeps in mind the chart of Adolf Hitler. The indcident is talked about here: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1881JC-pogroms.html.

In Elizabethgrad, Russia on April 28, 1881 at around 4 pm a fight broke out between the Christians and the Jews. Some Jews fired guns from inside their homes and the Christians retaliated by destroying more than half of the homes and businesses in town that were owned by Jews. The destruction and rioting went on through the next day and another one broke out in Prussia.

There is a huge Taurus stellium in this chart marked by strong outer planet presence as Pluto, Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter were all in Taurus during this year. These were joined by and no doubt set off by the New Moon along with Taurus's ruler, Venus (plus Chiron). And at the beginning of this rioting the entire stellium was in the 8th House. Libra was Rising so Venus also ruled the chart for the beginning of the fighting. (Moon 2 Taurus, Saturn 3 Taurus, Jupiter 4 Taurus, Sun 8 Taurus, Neptune 14 Taurus, Venus 17 Taurus, Chiron 17 Taurus, Pluto 23 Taurus). (Remember that back on May 3, 2000, there was another grand line-up of planets in Taurus: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In the United States this was equated with the bust of the Stock Market, especially in Technology.)

Mercury was in Aries, an impulsive sign that could indicate an argument.

Mars was in Pisces squaring the Sagittarius North Node. Mars here is a singleton in Water and the Node was the only element in the chart in Fire which emphasizes their influence in the chart. Mars is aggression and Sagittarius is strong opinions; usually broad minded opinions but if based on Religious differences maybe bent a little too much toward outspokenness. This is actually the only Square in the chart so evidently that makes its influence more prominent.

Uranus in Virgo is trining many of the Taurus planets. I'm beginning to think that Uranus energy is more damaging when in a trine than in a hard aspect. (Another example: I pulled up the charts of the recent oil spills and all of them have a strong trine aspect from Uranus to Mars, mostly even Grand Trines.) I think Uranus behaves better when challenged, the detached mental need for reform just goes bezerk when things are going well. Mars likes to rumble no matter what, especially in an event chart.

It's really incredible to match the progressed Chart of this 1881 Incident in Russia in relation to the events of the German Holocaust. The Jews had rights taken away due to the Nuremburg Laws of Nov. 9, 1935. They were forced to move into Ghettos after the War broke out in 1939. Then they were herded into Death Camps beginning in June, 1941.

• In 1939, when the Jews were herded into the Ghettos, the Progressed Moon (Home) was coming into conjunction with the Gemini South Node (Communications as weakness) and the Progressed Sun was coming into conjunction with the Cancer Midheaven.

• In 1941, when the first Victims were herded into the Death Camps the Progressed Sun was conjunct the Midheaven to the Degree. This Progressed New Moon on the Midheaven repeats that theme of the New Moon of the 1881 riot. (Prog. Moon was at 7 Cancer c. p. Sun and n.MC).

It's also striking how Hitler's chart compares with this 1881 incident (actually there were other incidents in other places). Hitler was a Taurus Sun with Libra Rising which echoes this chart. He had Venus in Taurus in his eighth house same as this chart. And Hitler's Mercury in Aries is the same as this chart. Hitler's North Node was at 17 Cancer which puts it in the 10th house of the 1881 event chart. The Moon signs are different. The 1881 Riot had a Taurus Moon and the Riot seems to have gone on as the Moon was passing over all the Taurus planets in the 8th house. Maybe the Rioting stopped when the Moon hit the Gemini South Node. Hitler had Moon in Capricorn in the 3d House conjunct Jupiter.

Girl 27 - Patricia Douglas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Case dismissed by Court Feb. 9, 1938

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

Vanity Fair Article published: April 2003

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

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