The RSVP Cycles

The RSVP Cycles was a textbook I read for an experimental music class in college. Having grown up in Southern California in the 1960s in a town where 35 modernist architects lived, one of whom was my Father, I think I took this type of thinking for granted. The book was written by Lawrence Halprin, a landscape architect, (and innovator) and his wife, Anna Halprin, who is a dancer, choreographer (and healer and innovator). RSVP stands for "Resources" "Score" "Valuaction" and "Performance." There's a nice explanation on Wikipedia. These principles propose a new way of understanding how to create, sort in the way that John Cage's books do, but with more structure. For the music class it was a text on composition. It could just as easily be a text on design, or dance, or painting, or anything else. Beyond that, I have to say that I didn't really "get the whole idea." Lessons in those days were usually kept pretty vague as a way of avoiding any authoritarian set rules.

What attracts me now is the word "Cycles," especially connected with the word RSVP, since I'm so much into studying Return Cycles as points of development. Lawrence Halprin passed away last year in 2009 on October 25. There must have been a mention in a newspaper somewhere about this anniversary on Monday that caught the corner of my eye because I suddenly started thinking about that book.

So, I decided to take a look at Anna and Lawrence Halprin's charts. What I found is a really amazing pair of Sun-Venus conjunction people. Sun-Venus is related to both the Arts, Harmony, Balance and Beauty, and also Marriage Partners. I can't find astro data about their actual marriage and don't know if they remained married. It appears that they stayed together, but with Uranus leading both of their chart shapes they probably kept their relationship pretty loose.

Not only did they share the conjunction but they shared it in the same sign in Cancer. The sign of Cancer is really appropriate for people who are involved in environmental design. (Think Buckminster Fuller, Tesla, Viktor Schauberger). Water is an extremely important element in Lawrence Halprin's design. The idea of allowing things to evolve and to grow from a seed is also a Cancerian ideal.

What's even more interesting is that Lawrence Halprin, who was born first in 1916, had a natal Sun conjunct Venus Retrograde and Pluto in Cancer. Sun-Venus conjunction people sometimes follow a really interesting 8 year cycle of 5 which is related to the proportions of the Golden Mean. It appears that Sun-Venus Rx people follow a 4 year Return cycle as well. Lawrence was going through a Sun-Venus Return at Age 4 when his wife was born. Both even have the conjunction aspect connected with outer planets by conjunction, but not in major aspect to other planets. Lawrence had a huge stellium in Cancer with Pluto, Sun, Venus Rx, Lilith, Saturn and possibly Moon.

Anna's Sun-Venus conjunction is later on in the sign at 21-24 degrees. Her Pluto is 8 Cancer.

It's really fascinating to flip the animation wheel on the software program and watch how the Sun-Venus Rx conjunctions cycle back on through every year on Lawrence's Birthdays in childhood. I said before that Sun and Venus seem to have been in conjunction every four years (something I don't understand because I thought this occurred every 8 years). Lawrence also experienced really intense Sun-Pluto conjunctions every year on his Birthday for about the first 10 years of his life.

Because Pluto is placed farther apart from her Sun, Anna also would have had the same type of Solar Return aspect every year during her childhood starting from about Age 6 or 7 and lasting through High School. That explains their need to completely change and transform their environment and ways of healing. They shared a very deep emotional core, that's for sure. They must have been left alone a lot as kids.

Lawrence Halprin

b. July 1, 1916 Brooklyn, NY
d. Oct. 25, 2009

Sun 10 Cancer; Moon 24 Cancer; NN 1 Aquarius Rx

Anna Halprin

b. July 13, 1920 (Place?)

Sun 21 Cancer; Moon Gemini; NN 13 Scorpio Rx

Abducted Girl Is Found After 18 Years

EDIT; Thanks to California Girl for letting me know that I was calling Jaycee by the wrong name (I was using Kaycee). Also, found a birth date for Phillip Garrido: 4/5/1951. Both Victim and Victimizer have Saturn in Virgo and are going through Saturn Returns... Garrido's Saturn is in later degrees so his is still approaching, but Jaycee's is within a couple of degrees. Thanks again to California Girl for the correction.

I've been fearing the Grand Square that is in effect right now. It includes a Mars opposition to Pluto in Capricorn that just sort of barely squares the opposition of Saturn to Uranus. But here is a good story. Actually it's a miraculous story. Guess it helps to have Jupiter in conjunction with Neptune in Aquarius for all kinds of Miracles. I've said before that Uranus is somehow responsible for Returns.

A 29-year old woman has been found after being abducted 18 years ago from a bus stop in front of her home in South Lake Tahoe (California or Nevada side? I don't know). The man who abducted her is a convicted Sex Offender and Rapist who was acting funny in front of the Berkeley Campus police. (Everyone in Berkeley acts funny so I don't know how the Police could tell that this guy was special but that's another story). He, the abductor, Phillip Garrido, was hauled into the police station along with a woman and two children and his brilliant parole officer somehow got him to confess to the true identity of Jaycee Lee Dugard. I'm not sure about the details. Garrido, Age 58, and his wife, Nancy, Age 54, have been arrested.

Since Jaycee Dugard was abducted when she was 11 years old I was curious to see if her 1st Jupiter Return was in effect. It was approaching by about 20 degrees.

Natal Jupiter is at 1 Virgo and transiting Jupiter was 11 Leo at the time of her abduction. Transiting Mars and Venus were both conjunct t. Jupiter in Leo as a matter of fact. This echoes her natal Mars-Jupiter conjunction with natal North Node at 26 Leo. Jupiter could possibly be significant for Jaycee because it probably disposes her Moon in Sagittarius (not sure of Moon placement but there's a good chance she has a Sagittarius Moon).

It's important to notice that the Nodal Axis was crossing the Asc/Desc line when Jaycee was abducted. Chiron-SN was conjunct the Ascendant and the Mars-Venus-Jupiter conjunction was in the first house and opposed by Saturn in the 7th. Since the signs involved are Cancer/Capricorn there is some huge issue with parenting and children involved in the whole abduction.

Uranus and Neptune were conjunct the Capricorn North Node and Descendant showing some sort of super elevated mood in the abductors. They've been holding this woman through almost the entire mutual reception of those two planets, didn't kill her, and have now confessed to having abducted her all those years ago. Things like this just don't happen in reality. Since Cancer and Capricorn represent both parents and conditional and unconditional love there may have been really strange and contorted lessons that they were trying to act out. Both husband and wife apparently were involved in the abduction as Jaycee's Father said he saw a man and a woman in the car that drove off with her. It appears that they have stayed together in all of this. Libra rules the IC of the event chart so perhaps the Marriage was the motivating factor.

So Jaycee has been relocated almost exactly at the time of her 1st Saturn Return. Natal Saturn is at 21 Virgo Rx in her natal chart and transiting Saturn is at 23 Virgo right now. Perhaps, the fact that Saturn passing over Jupiter right before her Saturn Return somehow relates to her luck.

This Jupiter Return and Saturn Return coincidences are very interesting because Jaycee was abducted during a Jupiter-Saturn opposition. These two planets literally crossed the 1st and 7th Houses of the event chart, which typically shows abductors and abductee.

It's interesting that Saturn placements for Jaycee's natal chart and "release" dates are highly afflicted. Natal Saturn in Virgo is apex to a t-square of Venus in Gemini opposing Neptune in Sagittarius. Her natal Moon is probably in Sagittarius as well and possibly involved in this t-square. Transiting Saturn in Virgo in involved in the Grand square aspect (wide orbs) that I mentioned earlier.

This is truly a wonderful Grand Square, in this case. Not only is it returning Jaycee with her family, but it is giving many more parents hope that their children are still alive. Guess the "Hope" Factor shows up strongly now as Uranus, ruler of Hopes and Wishes is opposing Saturn (along with the mutual reception placement with Neptune which is conjunct Chiron and lucky Jupiter).

The day that Jaycee was abducted, there was an opposition between Moon and Pluto right over her Sun-Chiron conjunction in Taurus, with Pluto opposing from Scorpio (19 degrees). Pluto here is in its own sign which rules Abductions. Uranus (Shock, Unexpected Events) is also in Scorpio in her chart as well.

Jaycee has a conjunction of Sun to Chiron in Taurus natally which is exact to the degree and is trining both natal Saturn and transiting Saturn. This projects her Vitality (Sun) and (Wounding and ability to Heal Others) out into the world.

I'm just going to add some notes about Jaycee's Venus placements here because they are very interesting.

Natal Venus is at 26 Gemini and is in strong major aspect to 3 outer planets which hooks her female charms, especially as a child (Mercury) into the outer world in some way. As I said Venus is squaring her natal Saturn and opposing her Natal Neptune. Venus is also inconjunct natal Uranus 24 Scorpio.

If anybody bothers to have read this far, I'll get a lot of flack for saying this, but Sagittarius is probably pretty common in the charts of child molesters and that's where Neptune is placed. And, as I said, Venus is opposing Neptune (oppositions = relationships).

Jaycee was held against her will the entire time that Pluto was passing through Sagittarius (and then some) and over her Natal Neptune (jail) and Moon. On the day that she was abducted, Jaycee's progressed Venus was on the Cancer Point at 1 degree. This is one of the points that is said to make bring a person's personality out into the public. Perhaps it is prominent in charts of children who are abducted as they "stand out" in public situations.

Jaycee's Progressed Venus went Rx by Progression around 2002. That would indicate that perhaps her abductor was losing interest in her. During the current year, 2009, progressed Venus is back at the AP spot where it was when she was abducted and has been joined by her Progressed Mercury.

The transiting Mars-Pluto opposition is aspecting this conjunction (progressed Mercury-Venus 1 Cancer). This hooks into the transiting Grand Square that I talked about earlier.

Sure wish I could look at her birth chart with a time and place. It would be a great chart for anybody to study in trying to understand child abductions. The birth dates for her Abductors will probably be available soon. I'd really like to take a look at the Parole Officer's chart (I believe it was the Antioch Police Station but am not sure) who figured out this whole mess, what a genius.

This is the information I have so far.

Jaycee Lee Dugard
b. May 3, 1980

Sun 14 Taurus; Moon Sagittarius (maybe Capricorn); NN 26 Leo

Abducted June 10, 1991 between 8:05 and 8:15am South Lake Tahoe, standing at School Bus Stop about 150 yards from her home.

Sun 20 Gemini; ASC 22 Cancer; Moon 23 Taurus; MC 6 Aries; NN 21 Capricorn



Stepfather watched from inside the house and was unable to catch up with abductors. He had been living under suspicion for her abduction ever since so in now vindicated.

Source



http://www.myspace.com/jayceedugard

Abductors:

Phillip Garrido, Age 58

wife, Nancy Garrido, Age 54

Logging Off - World's Oldest Blogger

This past week the World's Oldest Blogger passed away. Maria Amelia Lopez was 97. On her 95th Birthday Mrs. Lopez' grandson set up a blog for her and it became an online sensation with her takes on Life and the world. Her blog gives her birth information and no surprise Mrs. Lopez was a Capricorn, the sign of old age. To make things just a teensy bit more interesting the Sun is on the Aries Point at 1 Capricorn meaning that Age could play a part in Lopez's ability to come before the public. She found blogging to help her with her loneliness and her illness.

Pluto's passage through Capricorn might confront the problems of old age. There have been several of the Pluto in Gemini generation who found one last moment of productivity through their Blogs while Pluto was passing through Sagittarius and who have recently passed. The Gemini/Sagittarius pole seems very significant in Lopez' chart, along with the Aries Points. A couple of the other bloggers are mentioned at the bottom of this post.

Maria Amelia Lopez (Solino?)
b. Dec. 23, 1911 La Coruna, Spain

Sun 1 Capricorn; Moon Capricorn or Aquarius; NN 28 Aries Rx

I took a quick look at how the planets were placed at Mrs. Lopez' 95th Birthday to see what might indicate this late success. Without a birth time we can't find the Midheaven which would certainly show a big part of the story.

Solino has that amazing Capricorn Sun. I looked up her chart curious to see how Capricorn and Saturn are placed in her chart. They represent Old Age and I expected them to be prominent. Capricorn as I said already is on the Aries Point which is supposed to mean that a person will come before the public. I never really believe that until I see this kind of thing. Saturn is at 14 Taurus Rx in Solino's natal chart and opposing Venus in Scorpio. She would have been shrewd and have had a reserve of energy which perhaps can hold out for a longer life.

Astrologers often say that Capricorn is associated with a late success in life. I have no idea if that is true or not. Solino was born with Mercury and Mars Retrograde in her chart. I don't think that has anything to do with a late success but I'm going to mention it here anyway. Both planets stationed direct while she was still young so I don't think this is important.

So, now for the Return Charts, really fun and possibly insightful. I looked up the Solar Return Chart for Lopez' 95th Birthday and mined some other significant Returns that were going on at the same time and could possibly indicate her new vocation.

Lopez' natal Sun is conjunct Mercury in Capricorn and opposing Pluto in Gemini. This shows a highly communicative person with higher than average intelligence which has deep insights into her generation. Her communications about relationships would be particularly shrewd. I don't understand Spanish so I can't read her blog but in the introduction she cracks a joke about how her Grandson is cheap for only setting up her blog for her on her birthday. That's Plutonian sense of humor.

First off, there was the Solar Return on the Aries Point in Capricorn. An older person coming before the public.

This also happens to the be the year that Lopez was going through a Pluto opposition from the signs of Gemini (natal) to Sagittarius (Transit). Most people don't make it to their Pluto opposition so this is a difficult transit to interpret. Gemini and Sagittarius rule Writing/Communication and Publishing/International Affairs/Opinions, respectively. The Pluto Opposition is also part of Lopez's Solar Return transit as her natal Pluto is opposing natal Sun and Mercury out of sign in Capricorn. Just for extra kickers, Mercury is conjunct Pluto in the Solar Return(transit) chart.

And to even further the punch, the Moon was in Capricorn and was enhancing the energy. Lunar Returns happen once a month which is very common. But, you've got to look at the Moon because it represents the Public and Emotional Reactions, something that I suppose a blogger wants. I've been finding the Moon to be important in blog popularity, at any rate in the few instances where I've looked). Without a birth time I can't say anything about her Moon placement (except that it may have been aspecting her natal Uranus-Neptune opposition which squares her North Node. That's a strong generational aspect which hooks into her personal destiny, but as I say, I can't say much about that.

Last but not least is the final Return that I noticed for this Birthday. As a matter of fact this would be most significant. Lopez's natal Jupiter in Sagittarius was going through a Return. Jupiter here is in its own sign and, as already stated, Sagittarius is the sign of Publishing, International Affairs, Opinions. Jupiter is also the planet of Luck.

One more thing I found that's interesting is in regards to Progressions in this chart. I've mentioned earlier that Lopez's natal chart has Retrograde Mercury and Mars. Both of these planets are making major hits in her chart while she is writing her blog. Progressed Mars is now conjunct her natal Pluto. Mars represents young men and it was her 35 year old grandson (that's not particularly young, am speaking from a 95 year old woman's point of view). Also, progressed Mercury (writing, communication, blogging) is at 26 Aries and is 2 degrees away from conjunction with the North Node in Aries (Destiny). Interesting how Aries disposits to Mars, which once again points to her Grandson as motivator in her life somehow.

So, after writing this I found that Lopez is one of a handful of amazing "Oldest Bloggers." There's a whole blog about them. Listed below are their names and birth dates (hopefully correct).


Ruth Hamilton, Died at Age 109 on Jan. 18, 2008
b. Apr. 21, 1898 Alta, Iowa

Olive Riley, died July 12, 2008
b. Oct. 20, 1899 Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia

There are more, probably some skate boarding blogs written by Octogenarians. That would be cool.

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6344077.ece

Birth and Death

No, this blog won't be some expose on the movies of Woody Allen. I just had a thought about yesterday's blog. The book that I'm looking at these days on the Body Clock. One of the bits of info I picked up on in yesterday's blog entry was that the most common time of day to die is around 6 am. That's vaguely around the time that the Sun Rises over the Ascendant.

While I was reading that Statistic I assumed, probably the way that most Doctors do, that the shock of waking up puts the extra added stress on the body and shocks the system, overloads the circuits, and turns the whole contraption off. Good Bye.

Then I remembered hearing from Astrologers that the Ascendant often describes the conditions of one's physical birth. Connection with physical death is just really interesting. And, while time marches on with the Sun rising over the Ascendant, the planets in the birth chart will progress in the opposite direction, counterclockwise. Is life a constant psychological progression of swimming up a stream against the natural flow of the current? Sure does feel like it.

The Ascendant represents the beginning of the Astrological Cycle just as it represents Spring, the beginnings of the Seasonal Cycle. It also represents the ending of the chart. Talk about a tough transition to make.

Cole Porter wrote about all this in his song: "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye."

Everytime we say goodbye, I die a little,
Everytime we say goodbye, I
wonder why a little,
Why the gods above me, who must be in the know.
Think
so little of me, they allow you to go.
When youre near, theres such an air of
spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about
it,
Theres no love song finer, but how strange the change from major
to
Minor,
Everytime we say goodbye.

Birthing is also represented by Cancer and the IC which represents the egg.
Scorpio and the 8th House. Very interesting that those houses are associated with Death also. The 1st House just represents the physical body part of Death.

(Interesting to look at Cole Porter's chart with regards to his Ascendant. He was a Double Gemini with a Cancer Moon. His Sun was conjunct the Ascendant from the 1st House while a conjunction of Neptune-Pluto was conjunct the Ascendant from the 12th House. So the midpoint between Sun and Neptune-Pluto would have been very close to his Ascendant. Also, in 1944 when he wrote "Evry time we say good-bye" Uranus was transiting over Neptune-Pluto. )

Cole Porter: b. June 9, 1891 4:00 am Peru, Indiana (astrotheme)

Johannes Mehserle, BART Police Shooter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ReCycling Harpists

Flipping through a New York Times that was lying around in the coffee house on Friday I saw a photograph of Columbian Latin Jazz Harpist Edmar Castaneda in the middle of what looked like a really intense performance. I ripped the picture out. Mine, all mine. It's been a while since anything fun has hit the harp scene so I had to check this guy out on the YouTube. And things went from there to the astroblab in no time flat.

In watching a couple of performances of Castaneda on YouTube I sort of wondered if he was an Aries. I'm not good at figuring out people's signs but his playing seems very Marsian. Fast, sharp, daring. And it's just plain awesome. Somebody evidently forgot to tell this guy that it's impossible to play Jazz on a harp, let alone a harp without pedals which can't control the half notes. It's totally unbelievable what he's doing.

I sort of wondered if Castaneda were the same sign as a French harpist who was born a little less than 100 years before him, Carlos Salzedo. Salzedo was probably the greatest innovator in harp who ever lived. He composed completely original music and invented new techniques and colors. He worked with Russian Dancer Nijinsky on trying to understand how to use the body to perform. He was Toscanni's first harpist. Harp has never been confused with piano music since he composed for it. He even designed an Art Deco style harp to advance it out of its Baroque stylings and into modern times.

If the birth date which is listed on Wikipedia is correct Castaneda has a remarkably similar chart with Salzedo.

Edmar Castaneda
b. Mar. 31, 1978 Bogota, Columbia

Sun 11 Aries; Moon Capricorn?; NN 6 Libra

Carlos Salzedo
b. Apr. 6, 1885 11:30am Arcachon, France (time from Astrotheme, don't know how they got it)

Sun 17 Aries: Moon 5 Capricorn; ASC 28 Cancer; MC 9 Aries ; NN 5 Libra

So, both Harpists are Aries Suns. Yay. Love it when that happens (I only write about the times that my guesses are right, of course). In addition to same Sun sign, these men share same Moon, Venus and Nodal Axis. Castaneda was born on Salzedo's Nodal Return within two degrees. And, of course, the Libra North Node disposits to Venus, ruler of beauty, art and music (and women and we don't want to go there because I know enough gossip about Salzedo to know that it's not worth it).

Castaneda has an opposition of Sun to Pluto widely crossing over his Nodal Axis, perhaps squared by his Moon. Salzedo had a conjunction of Sun-Venus-Mars opposing Uranus crossing over his Nodal Axis, and squaring his Moon.

Both have Capricorn Moons (Castaneda's is at 11 Capricorn in his noontime chart so there is a possibility that he has Sagittarius Moon).

Both men were also born on a Mercury Return although in different signs. (end of Aries, beginning of Taurus).

Both also have Venus in Aries. Salzedo's Venus is conjunct his Mars (to which it disposits) and is conjunct his South Node and his Sun and squaring his Moon. On the opposite end, his North Node is conjunct his Uranus which explains his originality. Castaneda's Venus is conjunct his Mercury and Chiron. It squares his Mars 27 Cancer, so both men share the Venus-Mars aspect.

Since Mars is the energy I picked up on here I think it's interesting that both men have Sun and Venus and South Node dispositing to this energy. Castaneda's Mars would even be conjunct Salzedo's Ascendant if the Astrotheme Cancer Rising chart is correct.

Another interesting comparison are their Jupiters and Saturns. Castaneda's Saturn in Gemini is conjunct Salzedo's Jupiter in Gemini. And Castaneda's Jupiter in Leo is conjunct Salzedo's Saturn in Leo. Gemini represents Mental agility and manual dexterity among other things, important for a harpist. Leo represents Performance and Romance and Drama. Both of these combined in a chart might potentially hook a person up in to the same type of social groups which are described by their placements.

Like the Jazz musicians, Neptune's not really strong in these charts which is totally unexpected for the instrument known for its glissandos and ruffles. The conjunction of Jupiter to Saturn in Leo that they share makes aspects to both men's Neptunes, although in different signs. Castaneda's Neptune is at 19 Sagittarius trining Saturn 25 Leo. Salzedo's Neptune is at 22 Taurus squaring his Jupiter 27 Leo.

(Of course, what really interests me is that I used to play harp and also have Nodal Axis at the same spot, and a Capricorn Moon. Oh well, the talent doesn't hit every pass of the Nodal Axis...)

So, here's a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAN8y-pcVH0

John McCain and Mercury Retrograde

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

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

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

From the newsletter:

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

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

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

Sincerely yours,
Pat Taglilatello

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

McDonald's Hamburger Has Its First Jupiter Return

Here's another incredible story I picked up from Kottke.org. A Nutritionist has written a blog post showing her 12 years old McDonald's Hamburger. It doesn't look a day over 3 seconds old.

http://bestwellnessconsultant.com/2008/09/23/1996-mcdonalds-hamburger-karen-hanrahan-best-of-mother-earth.aspx

12 years is slightly longer than a Jupiter Return. Wonder if the Burger is a Jupiter in Sagittarius Burger or a Jupiter in Capricorn Burger. I remember a Geriatics P.E. Instructor telling me that the Sadge's hold up really well. They have an amazing shelf life. Maybe there's the answer.

The Nutritionist has bought the Burger a 2008 Sibling. Doesn't look a day over 3 seconds as well. She assures us that this burger will look as good in 12 years as his older brother.

Baby's First Planetary Returns Via Art Class

Rita Young is an Art Teacher who has written a fascinating book called Teaching Art to Children the Marvegos Way. The book is fascinating not only because Young appears to be a very effective mentor for her little students but also because the way she explains the different stages of a child's creative development. And these stages correspond really well with the planetary cycles that children go through at the same ages. There's an especially an interesting sort of back and forth movement between Jupiter and Saturn Cycles.

In the book, explanations are given on how to teach kids at different ages. Young groups the kids by Age and encourages different approaches accordingly.

The first Age Group that Young teaches as a unit are Ages 4-1/2 to 7. She calls this the "Art Exploration" stage. Age 4 1/2 is an interesting age astrologically for a child as there is a whole slough of 1st time aspects. What Young says is what one would expect to hear about Moon, Ceres and Jupiter, especially. "Facilitating the art-making for this group involves encouragement, praise, and an "all's well" attitude." Interesting that around 4.5 years a child goes through the 1st Progressed Moon sextile, 1st Ceres Return (4.6 years), 1st Pallas Athene Return (4.61 years) and then 1st Nodal Square (4.8 years), and then 1st Saturn Sextile (4.8 years).

She says that art making at this age is about telling stories. Rather than illustrating the story, the child literally will create it while drawing or painting the picture. She says that kids at this age really don't have a sense of form, something which she says starts to show up around the time that amazingly corresponds with the first Saturn square, around Age 7 or 8. Young says that kids can show directions, a person facing you or to the side, and will enjoy counting things like legs and arms. She says that kids at this age are happiest when encouraged to play and take risks. Sounds like a lot of Mars influence as well. The Mars and Jupiter cycles sort of work together. By Age 4 a child has had 2 Mars Returns. The first Jupiter square occurs around Age 3 and the first Jupiter Return occurs around Age 4.Around this time all the asteroids in the Belt between them have their returns.

The Next Age Group described in the book is Age 7 to 11. This grouping starts around the time of the first big Saturn Aspect, the square and ends around the time of the first Jupiter Return. Young says that this age a child's art becomes more socialized and shows awareness of the outside world. It's just really interesting that when working together Jupiter and Saturn rule this process. Rita Young literally says that kids are "connecting who they are to their world." Their pictures develop realism as their observations become more accurate. They develop a sensitivity to shape and form and light and shadow. As they observe the outside world they can start to see how they are the same and or different. They develop their own style of mark making. At this age she stresses teaching a study of form and composition and also knowledge of media.

Saturn's influence is very strong here. Young says that it is most important to use Time to let kids at this age develop. The student needs encouragement to solve problems on his own time.

The last age group is Age 11 and Up. This is the Age of the 1st Jupiter Return. Young says that during this phase the best things to guide the kids with are learning to make decisions, i.e. developing own opinions about things. They must be helped to "define goals broadly." And they need to understand how to handle and make positive use of Accidents (accidents in art are often considered gateways to creativity, unlike most other academic studies). These are all Jupiter concepts! Jupiter equals Exploration! Young also says that through this age kids can create more happily when guided to understand Struggles and Plateaus in the creative process. This is sort of an understanding of using Saturn vibes with Jupiter vibes where "backsliding precedes leaps in growth." "All part of the process of making art and living life."

Excellent!!! This is probably not news to anyone who has kids but I don't so I'm totally blown away by this.

Attack of the Bigot Babies

According to an article over at Jason Kottke's blog (kottke.org),, Baby Researcher, Elizabeth Spelke, is finding that early on in life babies show a preference for people who speak their own language. This seems to be the strongest determinant for a baby's likes and dislikes in people at that age. The Researchers are saying that this language preference might be more at the root of Prejudices in people than visual factors like skin color.

Astrologically this means there might be some sort of a link with the sign of Gemini, 3d house, and the Mercury rulership. The Gemini traits seem to be the reason why humans see themselves as more intelligent than the other beasts: we can speak and we can use our opposable thumbs to build things (some of us can even knit with our opposable thumbs although I'm not one of them).

Since some of the Gemini Sun charts I've studied on this blog have been heavily involved in problems concerning Racism, like Paul Rusesabagena (the Hotel Rwanda Saint) and Geronimo (the Apache Hero) I tend to think that there might really be some connection between Bigotry and Gemini, but not necessarily on the wrong end of the thinking. Gemini is meant to observe and then communicate, sometimes there can be a complaint that there's not more factored in, no sensitivity or diplomacy.

On the other hand, in the spiritual sense, Gemini would be the first to be able to sit on both sides of the fence at the same time. At UAC, I attended a lecture with Karen Hamaker-Zondag who gave a really incredible lecture on the meaning behind the Eye of Horus in Ancient Egyptian Mythology which factored in the spiritual side of Gemini. (I was hoping to share what she said but I'm pretty certain I may butcher it, buy the CD.)

Very fascinating that Elizabeth Spelke, the researcher who is studying the babies has a very strong Gemini emphasis in her chart. Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus & Uranus all in Gemini. And Mercury is Retrograde!

Rex Bills doesn't offer a rulership for Racism & Bigotry. Last year a lot of questions were raised while Jupiter and Pluto were passing through Gemini's opposing sign of Sagittarius, the sign of Opinions. I've since seen that sign attributed to bigotry. Sagittarians are certainly very opinionated and outspoken and like to ruffle feathers, but this sign also rules higher Education and International Affairs. IThe sign is interested in knowing what and who is out there than to set up the types of barriers that come with Bigotry.

One might also want to suppose that signs related to Conservativism, Security and Boundaries might have something to do with this. The first signs of the Zodiac might be more inclined as they are connected with growth of the inner self rather than development of the social whole.

So, back to the babies. I wonder if it's not very important to attend to a baby's preferences and perhaps fears concerning these social factors very early in life. The first Return a Baby experiences is the Lunar Return and the next one will be the Mercury Return. These will be his/her first self identifying "events" from an astrological point of view. I seem to remember that Spelke's research shows that this preference might be innate. Her research shows that it is showing up as early as 3 months. Her findings are controversial as of now. Everyone knows that babies are sweet and innocent.

Here's a link to an interesting article about Elisabeth Spelke and her research center appropriately called "Spelkeland" at Harvard which specializes in learning about the minds of babe.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/04/30/sm_babies03.xml

"More fascinating still is that Spelke's lab has revealed a deep-seated prejudice, present in infants, that trumps racial bias: language. Dr Katherine Kinzler, though based in Harvard, spends much time running parallel studies in France. 'Five-month-old babies will look longer at somebody who spoke to them in their language. Older infants want to accept a toy from someone who has spoken their language,' Dr Kinzler says.

'They like toys more that are associated with someone who has spoken their language. They prefer to eat foods offered to them by a native speaker compared to a speaker of a foreign language. And older children say that they want to be friends with someone who speaks in their native accent.' Accents and vernacular, far more than race, seem to influence the people we like. 'Children would rather be friends with someone who is from a different race and speaks with a native accent versus somebody who is their own race but speaks with a foreign accent.'

Also interesting is the amount of software we are born with already loaded. (Too bad no warranties). We are born with all kinds of math skills. According to researcher Dr. Koleen McCrink, who works with Dr. Spelke, when we are born....

"We have got core systems for understanding the world,' which are not shaped by learning. What is striking, McCrink says, is how formal mathematics is such a slog. 'Babies can do all this complicated stuff, and yet it takes years to teach kids how to add and subtract precisely. It is so frustrating.'

Dr. Spelke's birth information is below. As I said already she's got Sun and Moon in Gemini along with Mercury, Venus and Uranus. And the Mercury Retrograde in Gemini must have a really interesting story in her life. It is in Gemini it is in its own rulership and is dispositor of the chart. Her Aries North Node seems such an excellent study for someone who works with babies. It's the Birth Point of the Zodiac.

Dr. Elizabeth Spelke
b. May 28, 1949 New York, NY

Sun 7 Gemini; Moon Gemini; NN 26 Aries

Link to Martin Bulgerin's Website on Cycles.

A great website describing planetary cycles written by Martin Bulgerin.

Here's a link to the section called "The "BIG" Planetary Aspects and Cycles."

http://www2.bitstream.net/~bunlion/bpi/BigAspRt.html#SaNe

Venus Inferior Conjunctions

Here's a link to some dates and articles written about Venus Inferior Conjunctions. The articles mostly relate the Inferior Conjunctions with Health Matters and the spread of germs.

http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/vel/1918ics.htm

Baby's First Synodic Years

All these current inner planet Retrogrades I guess have led me down a strange little path. I've found that there's more to the Retrogrades than just a slowing down movement. I've never understood the interpretations for Retrogrades so this is sort of exciting. During my study of Cycles research I came across the Synodic Years Cycles. I'm sort of wondering if a Baby is strongly affected by the Planetary Synodic Years during his first years. So I'm also looking at that idea briefly. Mercury is retrograde right now and Mars feels like it will never be out of retrograde ever again so this is sort of a mish mash I guess.

"Synodic" comes from the Greek word for Assembly or Meeting. Synodic can show a line up of any two or more planets. The Synodic Year as I'm using it here is the transit at which the Sun lines up with the Earth and the Sun.

The Tie-In to Retrogrades is that the Planet is always in the middle of its Retrograde Session when this happens. The cycle that this creates is called a Synodic Year by the astronomers. This shows up clearly in the planets whose orbits are outside of the Earth's orbit, Mars to Pluto. With Mercury and Venus there are Inferior and Superior Conjunctions. Inferior means that the planet lines up with the Earth in front of the Sun and the Superior Conjunction means that the Planet is farthest away from the Earth and is blocked from view by the Sun.

The astrological chart doesn't show the Earth so one must read these transits as oppositions between the Sun and the Planet.

I'm studying it as a way of trying to understand development in a Baby's first couple of years. The Sun, after all, shows the development of the Baby's Will, Ego and Creative Expression. Very important factors in understanding how his life will turn out. Interesting to check to see if these land on natal points as they will be significant to him. I'm thinking that these first Synodic Years are sort of the Baby's first viewing of how Ego relates to the energy of whatever planet is retrograding. The energy is enhanced because Retrogrades extend the time that the Planet will stay in one spot. Will have to research this as somebody has probably already written about it.

The slower moving planets actually experience slightly quicker Synodic Years than the faster transiting planets.

An interesting unfolding through time is involved as the slower moving planets actually have more Synodic Years than the quicker ones (except for inner planets Mercury and Venus). So the Neptunian Synodic Year happens sooner than the Uranian Synodic Year. Pluto's transit is so uneven that some generations will experience a lot more Plutonian Synodic Years than other generations.

I think these might be important to study for a baby just as he is developing his Ego (Sun) during the first couple of years. During these Retrogrades/Oppositions he is seeing how Ego works to balance out and relate to the energy of the planet in the real world. Of course, the most important Oppositions will be the ones that directly land on a natal planet.

The animation feature on Solar Fire is awesome for looking these up. The way my chart is set up there were no "Outer planet" Synodic Year transits (Mars - Pluto) until I was more than 6 months old. Then the Sun opposed Uranus Rx on my natal Mercury (and Uranus, since I have those two in conjunction natally). "The Shock of the New" was pretty much the theme of my childhood. This would have affected my whole expression as Gemini Rules my Ascendant and Uranus rules my Midheaven and I have them both in conjunction in my chart. I know that my one of my first words was "Don't do that!" just because my Mother had an abnormal fear of electricity. She said that she was constantly afraid that my brother and I would stick our fingers in the electrical sockets. What can I say? Some Mother's worry that their kids will poke their eyes out, others worry that strangers will abduct their kids. Mine panicked that the appliances would attack her kids.

I don't remember my life from that point, of course, but I do know that my Father's career as a modernistic, innovative architect was experiencing a meteoric rise. Uranus in my natal chart rules my Midheaven. Also, my Health suffered as I suffered from Bronchial Asthma attacks. This is indicated by my Cancer Sun and Gemini Rising overall (Chest, lungs, bronchials). But I also have a Yod that involves apex Moon to 3d house Uranus-Gemini Rising. Erratic breathing due to emotional shocks was definitely a major part of my existence at that point. As much as I'd like to blame the asthma on my parents 3 pack a day habits, my first attack came the first time they left me with a babysitter, a stranger I had never met. Kind of Uranian. So, I'm not saying there is anything to this, but this might be an interesting way to help a person try to remember that momentous first year. Most people, I'm sure couldn't care less.

Here's a list of how long Each Planet's Synodic Year happens. (from climate.qi.alaska.edu/Curtis/astrol.html).

Moon: Synodic Month: 29.53059 days (I'm listing this for the hell of it, Sun and Moon don't retrograde.

Mercury: Synodic Year: 105-129 days (is Rx for 22 days)

Venus Synodic Year: 1 yr. 6 month + 5-41 days (584 days, inferior conjunction) (is Rx for 40 days)

Mars Synodic Year: 2 years. + 1 - 2.5 months (779.7 days)

Jupiter's Synodic Year: 398.88 days (is Rx for 121 days)

Saturn's Synodic Year: 378 days (1 yr. 12-14 days) (is Rx for 138 days)

Uranus' Synodic Year: 369.7 days (1 yr. 4.5 days) (is Rx 5 mo's.)

Neptune's Synodic Year: 367 days (1 yr. 1.8 days) (is Rx 5 mo's)

Pluto: ????

Time Converter Calculator

Don't know how this thing works but I'm going to link to here for future reference, it's a Time Converter. Didn't there used to just be Minutes, Hours, Days, Years and Centuries? Wow.

http://www.csgnetwork.com/timemath.html

I sort of wonder if we aren't going to go through major changes with Time, Weights and Measurements now that Pluto is in Capricorn. We need Caesar to come along and change the Calendar again.

Theosophical Society's links to Articles about Cycles

Here's a link to a great list of articles about Cycles:

http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/cycles/cy-selec.htm

Bettye LaVette

Today on NPR's talk show Fresh Air Terry Gross was interviewing a singer named Bettye LaVette. LaVette is a Soul singer who has a long, irregular career and now at age 61 she's currently having a big comeback. I missed the beginning of the interview and tuned in as they were playing a really amazing Ballad, slow, raspy, great phrasing. That's the most important thing, of course, but then Bettye LaVette started telling her life story. She says she started singing at 18 months. This is the first leg of the five Sun-VenusRx conjunctions within an 8 year cycle so I made a note to try to check out her chart for this configuration later on. I've been dying to get hold of a clean chart that shows if this cycle works in someone's life, an artist would be a great example, especially a female singer. Next, LaVette said that she got her first record deal at Age 16. That's two Sun-Venus Rx cycles. I'm getting pretty excited.

Then Terry Gross asked about some strange circumstances with Managers, they were either killed or disappeared. Bettye LaVette said something like, "For every 5 years there's an interesting story." 5 year cycles = Nodal squares?

LaVette recorded her first album in 1962 and had a big hit off of it. Her career has been kind of erratic. She's got Sun, Venus and Mercury in a 10 degree stellium in Aquarius which doesn't mind sporadic experiences as much as some other signs. She recorded an album for Atlantic Records in 1972 that she thought was great but Atlantic shelved it and even claimed it was lost. For 6 years she toured on Broadway in the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar. In 1999 a French producer heard a tape of the lost album she had recorded for Atlantic and went looking for the original recording and found it and reissued it. The album was a hit and now, at age 61 LaVette is a comeback kid whose had multiple hit albums within the last 5 years or so.

I'm not sure of LaVette's true birthdate. I've found the dates Jan. 26 and Jan. 29 and am using Jan. 29 because it came up more often.

Bettye LaVette
b. Jan. 29, 1946, Muskegon, Michigan

Sun 10 Aquarius; Moon Sagittarius or Capricorn; NN 30 Gemini

Venus wasn't Retrograde when LaVette was born but it was conjunct her Sun. This conjunction is very strongly placed in a Kite in her chart. There's an opposition between Sun-Venus and Pluto in Leo and includes an outer planet Air Grand Trine between Pluto 11 Leo trine Uranus 14 Gemini trine Neptune 9 Libra. Almost all the major recording deals she talked about came when the Nodal Axis was conjunct her opposition in this Grand Trine.

1962 - Transiting Saturn c. t. SN is conjunct natal Sun-Venus with NN conjunct n. Pluto and with Neptune squaring from Scorpio.

1972 - Transiting NN conjunct natal Sun-Venus with t. SN c. natal Pluto. This would have been close to her first Progressed Moon Return. I don't have her Moon placement though. Her Moon may be conjunct her South Node.

1999 - t. NN c. n. Pluto opposite natal Sun-Venus (with long transits of Uranus and Neptune passing over). This was also would have been close to her 2d progressed Moon Return. At some point during the mid-90's her progressed Mercury went Retrograde. Sometimes when Mercury goes Retrograde by transit it is said to bring up one's past. Maybe this happens with Progressions as well.

At any rate, this shows this Sun-Venus connection but not as a Venus Rx cycle as I had hoped. She has a strong Kite Pattern which was heavily affected by Nodal transits along with the planets. The comment about how a strange thing happens every 5 years could also be attributed to the Nodes as transiting squares and oppositions. I don't have the circumstances in order to figure that out.

Whatcha Readin?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Mars Effect

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parallel Women in Power Struggles: Double Venus Cycle?

I found an amazing coincidental correspondence between the lives and charts of two female Political leaders who are currently in heavy power struggles to improve their countries. I hope to be able to communicate this information.

In the charts of the two women I'm going to discuss, both have Suns are in the last degrees of Gemini (on or damn close to the Aries Point of Cancer which equals home and homeland). Both have Libra Moons. Both have Venus in Taurus (within a degree of other). This means that both their Moon and Venus signs are ruled by Venus. Both have natal Venus square Pluto. the fact that both women and their countries are now in the news in very drastic situations might be an incredible example of how the Double Venus Return cycle works. (Please link on the "Venus" or "Returns" label down below to read my other blogs about this).

Transiting Pluto now opposes these women's Suns. Oppositions show, well, "opposition" and often indicate relationship struggles. Pluto and the Sun are all about power so they are currently in passionate, under-handed Plutonian struggles for power. Both women were elected Prime Ministers of their countries in 1988-89 as Uranus-Neptune and Saturn were opposing their Suns. It looked for a short whilelike both countries would open up to Democracy but both women were driven out by the old guard immediately. It's interesting to note that Neptune, Uranus and Saturn were just finished passing over the Galactic Center as the women won their elections and Pluto is in that position right now.

I'm still not saying who they are and if you scroll down you'll lose this next bit of information.

Saturn, Neptune, Uranus cycles are hooked into a larger 500 year cycle of planetary returns that has been studied for its affect on Civilizations across the World. In particular there is a correspondence between the Neptune-Uranus midpoint and Saturn that linked up in December, 1988. The previous one was in 1488. I'm going to try to blog about this cycle later. It's available in an old, probably out-of-print, pamphlet published by the American Federation of Astrologers c.1974, written by Everett Blackman called: "Astrology: Worlds Visible and Invisible." This cycle is reduced to smaller cycles of 13 years & 39 1/2 years. The women and their countries have struggled now for half of the latter of these cycles which is considered an important cut-off point. It's interesting that in these two charts, both women have a Saturn-Neptune aspect. Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, even has a natal conjunction of Saturn-Neptune squaring of Uranus. The other woman, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar has a Saturn-Neptune square. I blabbed their names.

Their charts aren't all they have in common, their stories are almost parallel. Both were raised in countries in political turmoil. Both born to important political families with Fathers who were leaders in their countries and who were executed. Both educated in Western traditions, both at Oxford University. Both married with children. Both elected as Prime Ministers in their countries and then jailed/exiled in 1989. Both back in the news right now as t. Pluto opposed their Suns, the political strife in their countries worse than ever. Both preach Love and Pacifism against brutal Military regimes that have managed to oppress them. Both are very popular with their people and with the International Community. (Well, Benazir Bhutto's has had problems with accusations of money embezzlement by the Europeans, her unaspected Jupiter may have gotten the best of her).

So remember, these women seem to be representing the Double Venus Return cycle which is said to perhaps bring Women into power. Also Pluto passing over the Galactic Center and opposing their Suns is bringing them back into power that they earned when Neptune, Uranus and Saturn were passing over that point. Plus, they seem to be hooked into the 500 year cycle that shows rise and fall of cultures across the Globe. They are both Pacifists trying to bring Democracy to their countries, fighting against old regimes. They were both elected by their people as Prime Ministers who are oppressed by great Militant anger, old regime and unrest in their countries. (well it sort of looks like Bhutto and her husband might be a little corrupt). At any rate, this really is amazing.

Myanmar:

Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister of Burma
b. June 19, 1945 Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar)

Sun 28 Gemini; Moon Libra; NN 10 Cancer

Sun conjunct Mercury over the Cancer AP. (Words gain into Public, famous speech: "Freedom from Fear")

Neptune squaring Saturn-NN in Cancer (Moon may be conjunct Neptune?) (loss, compassion)

Jupiter in Virgo square Uranus in Gemini (reformation)

Venus 13 Taurus-Mars 6 Taurus square Pluto in Leo (volatility, willfulness)

Suu Kyi has been held in house arrest off and on by the Myanmar (Burmese) militia since 1989. She has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her passive resistance (1991).

Suu Kyi's Father negotiated Burma's Independence in 1947 and was assassinated that year. Her Mother continued in Politics. She was educated at Oxford and University of London. Married with two children but husband died in 1999 in the UK. She did not go to be with him because she would not be allowed back into the country. She returned to Burma in 1988 to take care of her sick Mother and Military violence broke out. A Pacifist who follows the teachings of Ghandi, she was working to negotiate Peace she was put under House arrest on July 20, 1989. Her progressed Sun was conjunct her natal Pluto. She was elected Prime Minister in 1990 but couldn't act as such because of arrest. Was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Was due to be released in 2006 but still hasn't been released.

Pakistan:

Benazir Bhutto
b. June 21, 1953 Karachi, Pakistan

Sun 30 Gemini; Moon Libra; NN 6 Aquarius

Bhutto was schooled in the West, studying at Harvard and Oxford. Her Father was Prime Minister of Pakistan and was executed on Apr. 4, 1979 for allegedly conspiring to commit murder. She was elected as Prime Minister first in 1988 and removed after 20 months on corruption charges by the President (no trial). Elected again in 1996 and removed once again on corruption charges (no trial, but she has been tried in Switzerland and found guilty). She is married and has 3 children. Lived in exile in Dubai since 1996 and returned Oct. 17, 2007 to Pakistan. Last week, Oct. 17, she returned to Pakistan and was her life was immediately imperiled. A suicide bomber murdered 143 people and injuring more than 400 in an attempt to kill her. She says she won't let the Militants scare her off. She is currently going through a Mars Return and over the next year, Pluto is opposing her Sun-Mars conjunction on the Aries Point. Her progressed Sun is conjunct her natal Pluto to the degree (squaring natal Venus). She needs to be careful.

Sun c. Mars 5 Cancer, unaspected (Warrior qualities projected to Public over Aries Point, patriotism)

Jupiter unaspected in Gemini (international appeal, intellectually opinionated).

Venus 14 Taurus square Pluto 22 Leo (willfulness in relationships, strong emotional undercurrents)

Strong t-square: Apex is Saturn 21 Libra-Neptune 22 Libra-Moon in Libra squaring opposition of Uranus 18 Cancer-Mercury 25 Cancer opposite Chiron in Capricorn. (strong outer planet aspect conjunct inner planets. Saturn-Neptune same as Suu Kyi).

Moon maybe conjunct Saturn 21 Libra Rx and Neptune 22 Libra Rx

So there. I hope this makes sense. It's really remarkable.

More About the Double Transit of Venus

The Teaching Company publishes Brilliant College Lectures about all kinds of heady stuff. I've ordered a few of their lectures, listened to even fewer of the lectures, and hate to think how little I understood. This means that they send me their brochures which advertise all their other lectures. Today I received a Science and Mathematics catalog with an excerpt from the Series: "Understanding the Universe, 2d Ed." by Brilliant College Lecturer, Alex Filippenko. It discusses how Astronomers first learned to measure the Universe from observations made during the Double Venus Cycles in 1761 and 1769 when Venus passed in front of the Sun. Here's a quote:

"A key to getting the distance scale was a transit of Venus across the face of the Sun. This is kind of a rare event. It happens about eight years apart, and then not for over another century. It happened in 2004, and it'll happen again in 2012. But prior to that, it last happened in the late 19th century; and prior to that, it happened in 1761 and 1769. Those two transits provided a key to the determination of the physical length of the the astronomical unit." www.TEACH12.com (1-800-832-2412).

This is awesome. Venus is equated with methods of proportion, measurement, and scale. Her Cycle is 8 years long and is made of of 5 retrograde stations that repeat themselves on almost the same spots in every cycle. As I learned in the Abelard & Heloise blog, these double transits are sometimes thought to bring power to women in society. But Venus is also associated with the Golden Mean in Art and Balance and Harmony. It's so appropriate that this information about measuring distance in the Universe would come from observing her during one of these double whammy transits.

I took a look at the people who made these observations. They English Explorers who had to, of course, get the Hell out of England in order to see the sky. Both men responsible were born in 1728. That's interesting to look at for outer planet placements. They both had Neptune in Gemini. Captain Cook's Neptune was within orb of the Sun-Venus conjunction which he observed. Both men felt they hadn't found the information they were looking for at the time. Very Neptunian. Also interesting because many people feel that Neptune is the upper octave of Venus.

The first set was a pair of surveyors/astronomers (how appropriate for Venus):

Charles Mason
b. April, 1728 Gloucestershire, England

ARGGGHHHH! No DATE!!!! And a Mars in Virgo, fie!

Sun Aries or Taurus; Mercury Aries Rx or not; Venus Pisces or Aries; Mars Virgo; Jupiter Taurus or Gemini; Saturn 24-26 Aquarius; Uranus 22-21 Scorpio Rx; Neptune 7-8 Gemini; Pluto 7-6 LibraRx; NN 13-11 Pisces Rx; Chiron 17-19 Aries.

It would be interesting if Venus were conjunct Mason's Sun in his natal chart which reflects in the transits that he observed.

Jeremiah Dixon
b. July 27, 1733 Cockfield, County Durham, England

Sun 5 Leo; Moon Aquarius; NN 30 Scorpio

These are the actual Surveyors who measured out the Dixon-Mason line in the U.S. that separates the Red Coats from the Blue Coats in the U.S. Dixon worked as an assistant to Mason on the Venus observation thing. They both observed the first pass of Venus in front of the Sun in 1761 down in Cape Town, Africa. Then they buzzed up to the States, measured off the land. Charles Mason worked alone from an Observatory set up in Caran, County Donegal, Ireland in 1769. They/he spent months observing the sky before and after the transit.

According to Richard Nolle's site (www. astropro.com/features/tables), these are the dates for the conjunctions: Notice that Pluto is in Sagittarius and then Capricorn. Pluto is having a return for this Double Venus transit as well!!!!!! (I'm stoked.)

June 6, 1761 5:39 AM GMT? 15 GE 36 Venus Rx

Stellium in Gemini of NN-Mars-Mercury-Sun-Venus (1-17 Gemini) as Apex of a small triangle to Moon in Leo trine amazing conjunction in Aries of Jupiter 1 Aries-Uranus 9 Aries-Saturn 10 Aries. Pluto in Sagittarius.

June 3, 1769 10:02 PM GMT? 13 GE 27 Venus Rx

Applying New Moon! Moon 8 Gemini, Venus and Sun at 14 Gemini
Pluto in Capricorn opposite Saturn in Cancer.
Jupiter in Scorpio opposite Uranus in Taurus.

The other explorer was the famous explorer/navigator/cartographer Captain Cook who observed the 2d pass from Tahiti:

Captain James Cook
b. Oct. 27, 1728 11:27am Marton, England (from Astrotheme)

Sun 5 Scorpio; ASC 24 Sagittarius; Moon 22 Leo; MC 30 Libra; NN 30 Aquarius Rx

This is an exciting chart. I was hoping Venus would be prominent in these charts and this one certainly is. It is conjunct Mercury and Uranus in Scorpio to the Degree. This conjunction is apex to a t-square, squaring Moon opposite Saturn in Aquarius and is sesqui-square Jupiter in Cancer. In 1769, Jupiter was passing through Scorpio and was widely within orb of conjunction with natal Venus-Mercury-Uranus.