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Eclipse stories, part 2

For many of us, the notion that the “Great American Eclipse” (so named by NASA) would primarily be a seed-planting time (as per its connection to the New Moon as a cycle that begins in the dark) has been (temporarily) washed away by hurricane winds, floods, storm surges, or blown away and burnt up by raging fires and mandatory evacuations. (1)

As noted in our last blog, the eclipse degree was on the Midheaven in Houston where Harvey landed on August 25, the first national disaster in this current run.

Irma has now devastated Cuba and islands in the Caribbean and is whipping through Florida, where more than four million homes are without power and in the path of Irma’s wind and storm surges.

On September 2 at about 3:30 p.m., a few feckless young people threw a firecracker into the dry tinder on a well-used hiking trail near Portland, Oregon (which saw the solar eclipse at 99% visibility). The ensuing blaze jumped the river into Washington State and quickly became a 30,000-acre conflagration, tearing through the gorgeous Columbia Gorge. Transiting Mars was at 28º26′ Leo and Mercury was at 28º 52′ Leo, exact to the minute of arc to the August 21 solar eclipse degree.

Eagle Creek fire
The Eagle Creek Fire, which crossed the Columbia River to burn in two states. Photo from:
Oregon Department of Forestry

I am in southern Oregon, not in any path of fire, but surrounded by smoke from the multiple large fires in the region. (2) This morning there is a blue sky with “moderate” air quality, the first day in weeks that is not “unhealthy” or “hazardous.” Locals are temporarily venturing out to the land of the living without zombie masks (to protect the lungs). In this particular microcosm, it is a moment when we remember what normal felt like. May everyone in the lands impacted by the storms and fires also have a moment soon that feels like “normal.”

In a tweet that captures the moment — and echoes many conversations in these past days — writer John Scalzi wrote on September 8: “These aren’t the End Times, but it sure as hell feels like the End Times are getting in a few dress rehearsals right about now.”

A story from outside the realm of natural disaster — and certainly in the category of an event that will unfold over many months — is the Equifax security breach. “On September 7, 2017, Equifax announced a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million U.S. consumers.” (3) On September 7th, Mercury was direct and back exactly to the minute of arc of the eclipse degree (28º52′ Leo).

Although first reports of the actual potential damage are sketchy, the timing of this looks pretty bad. Whilst discussing the current air quality here in Oregon my friend, Jyotish astrologer Steve Stuckey, alerted me to the Equifax chart. He found the business formation date of December 20, 1913. (4)

The chart, set for 12 a.m., as stated on the government site, has 19º41′ Gemini at the MC; thus, 19º41′ Sagittarius at the IC, less than 2º from Saturn’s direct station on August 25.

Equifax, business formation
December 20, 1913
12 a.m.
Atlanta, GA

Equifax natal

The chart also has Saturn at 13º37′ Gemini and Mars and Neptune co-present at 20º and 27º Cancer. ” The company thinks the hack happened sometime between mid-May and the end of July, but has only now announced the breach. That’s all we know.” (5)

On May 10, transiting Mars was at 13º36′ Gemini, conjunct the company chart Saturn, with Neptune at 13º Pisces squaring the Equifax Saturn. (Transiting Neptune square Saturn was exact on April 27, August 6, and again on February 23, 2018. Fun fact: The transiting Moon will be at 13º40′ Gemini on February 23, too. More is bound to come on this story, but as the Moon represents the people, this must be a celestial heads-up to fix our cyber security pronto.)

Stay safe out there, dear readers. The outer events and personal awakenings following the solar eclipse are just beginning to show themselves. One simple aspiration: May the good people of the U.S. emerge with a clear commitment to the common good — and, bonus points in honor of the eclipse on our land — may climate deniers everywhere take another look at the evidence.

Footnotes:

 (1) This blog is centered on the U.S. — extreme weather and natural disasters are worldwide — i.e., a magnitude 8.2 earthquake (the strongest in 100 years) devastated southern Mexico, massive flooding in South Asia, etc. In the Guardian today, Bill McKibben wrote: “For the sake of keeping things manageable, let’s confine the discussion to a single continent and a single week: North America over the last seven days.”
The Guardian

(2) Oregon.gov

(3) Wikipedia:Equifax

(4) Georgia: business search

(5) Equifax data breach: How to find out if you were one of the 143 million hacked

 

6 Comments

  1. Thanks, Mary. Great blog!

  2. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we haven’t quite taken in the enormity of the Gorge Fire yet. This scenic wonder won’t be the same during our lifetime, of course.
    But it may set us on a path of better caring for the amazing temperate rainforest we live by. It’s so ubiquitous here that we can become unaware of the Great Green, and think it has no value. The corporate giant Nestle still flexes its greedy claws over a cheap water deal nearby. We still have to figure out how to best channel north/south travel across the Columbia River. And our population just keeps growing; new buildings sprout up seemingly overnight. Maybe the shock from this monster fire will wake up the general population to the need to plan well for the future.

  3. hi r8r,

    very good comments…thank you for bringing such a specific thought into the conversation..

    much appreciated..

    mary

  4. Enjoyed

  5. It is also of note that the epicentre of the recent Mexican earthquake was on the same meridian of longitude as the point of maximum duration of the eclipse (southern Illinois). Houston, Texas, is also on this line.

    • Thank you Anthony..I’m going to look at the maps..


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