Sarah Palin & the Eclipse

On July 3, in case you haven’t heard, Sarah Palin made her surprise announcement that she is stepping down as the governor of Alaska.

Her announcement shocked, apparently, even her closest advisors. (1) There is a Full Moon eclipse on July 7 at 2:21 a.m. PDT, at 15°24′ Cancer/Capricorn The approach to an eclipse is always a bit of a wild time, as energy builds to be released in often surprising and unexpected ways.

In her natal horoscope, Palin has Jupiter at 16°43’ Aries, square the nodal axis at 10°40′ Cancer/Capricorn. Sarah Palin natal

This Full Moon eclipse is square the natal Jupiter. (It’s also obviously quite close to the natal nodes; there is another Full Moon eclipse on Dec 31, 2009 at 10°21’ Cancer/Capricorn, exactly on her nodal axis. More to come from Ms Palin.)

For now, I’m looking at Jupiter. As a planet square the nodal axis, it is know as a planet “at the bending” and has special prominence. Kathy Allan, in her article “Re-Visioning the Lunar Nodes” (TMA, Feb./March 2009), writes: “The bending of the nodes may be the most overlooked feature of the horoscope.”

And Kevin Burk, in The Complete Node Book (2003), says: “…. a planet that is ‘at the bending’ must be given careful consideration, because that planet, and the issues associated with it, will tend to take center stage repeatedly in the individual’s life.”

So, here we have an eclipse on the planet in Palin’s horoscope that will “tend to take center stage.” Can there be any doubt that Palin is back on center stage in a very big (Jupiter) way?

As a further refinement to “the bending,” the planet can be either at the North or South Bending. Jupiter in Aries is on Palin’s South Bending, which Allan describes as resembling “the South Node; planets here have difficulty in outer expression and are best used subjectively, spiritually, or give away to the collective.” Lee Lehman, in Classical Astrology for Modern Living (1996), calls the South Bending the “scapegoat position.”

I think these are fascinating ideas, given the tone of Palin’s announcement, and her Facebook entry the next day, in which she wrote that she is free now to pursue “a higher calling.”

Another significant marker for Sarah Palin is the progressed Full Moon that was exact on March 15, 2009.

Sarah Palin, progressed Full Moon

The Sun at 7°29′ Aries, and the Moon at 7°29′ Libra, is squaring the progressed nodes at 6°32′ Cancer. She is at a culmination point for the cycle which began at her progressed New Moon in March 1995 at 23°32′ Pisces. (Palin was also in her Saturn return then.) She began serving as mayor or Wasilla in 1996. Perhaps she is complete with state politics now, having begun as mayor at the New Moon, she’s gone as far as can and is ready to leave at the Full Moon.

On the day of the announcement, the transiting Sun was at 12° Cancer, conjunct her natal North Node.  The transiting North Node was at 0°18′ Aquarius, within a degree of her natal Mercury (1°37’ Aquarius).

Sarah Palin's resignation

Palin seemed as self-confident and feisty as ever at the news conference; transiting Mars at 24° Taurus was squaring her natal Sun-Mars-Saturn conjunction at 23° – 26° Aquarius.

Transiting Chiron-Jupiter-Neptune is within orb of her Sun-Mars-Saturn conjunction until early 2010 (when Neptune crosses Saturn for the last time), so we might expect the scandals, or rumors of scandals, to keep coming for a while. And, with Jupiter and Chiron present, the impact of her actions has yet to be revealed. (Is she a brilliant political maverick? Is she permanently and inexorably damaging her reputation?)

As a final note (for now!), Sarah Palin’s natal Sun-Uranus midpoint is at 0°31′ Sagittarius. This is semi-square (45°) to this week’s Full Moon eclipse at 15° Capricorn, which suggests a powerful triggering of the midpoint.

In Midpoints, Don Mc Broom describes the Sun-Uranus combination: “Illumination of individuality in an innovative or eccentric approach to life purpose; revolutionary spirit; possibly feeling above the rules.”

When connected to the Moon (as is the case here), Ebertin calls the combination, “Emotional excitability, impulsiveness, rashness. A nervous and agitated woman.”

Now I do sympathize with Sarah Palin’s quirky demeanor as a demonstration of Aquarius. (Mark McKinnon, who worked with her, wrote: “She crackles with energy like a live electrical wire.”) (2)

She did seem a bit agitated at her news conference. But then, what’s a person (with an Aquarius stellium) to do when a Full Moon eclipse hits her Sun-Uranus midpoint, and her most elevated and at-the-bending Jupiter, while she’s also at a progressed Full Moon, and transiting Mars squares a Sun-Mars-Saturn conjunction? In the words of one blogger: “Palin’s week culminated, of course, in a strange, twitchy, impulsive announcement from her home on the shore of Lake Lucille, that she would be stepping down from office, and resigning.” (3)

Footnote:

(1) “Palin explodes a nuclear device by announcing she’s stepping down as governor of Alaska.” The Daily Beast

(2) The Daily Beast

(3) Huffington Post

Blogs on Michael Jackson

Good Monday to one and all. This entry is a short list of some early blogs on Michael Jackson. I’ll add my thoughts in the next few days. May he rest in peace.

A few preliminary comments: He was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana. There’s no confirmed birth time for him, but the Sun is in Virgo is conjunct Pluto, Mercury, Venus and Uranus are in Leo,  and Mars is in Taurus. The pre-natal solar eclipse (PNSE) degree is 28°34′ Aries. This is 14 South in the Saros Series, about which Bernadette Brady writes: “This eclipse family will tend to bring success.”

Matthew Currie uses the sidereal zodiac and techniques from the late Richard Houck’s The Astrology of Death, a rather infamous (that is, known for its accuracy) book in considering Mr. Jackson’s death.

Eric Francis looks at the time of death chart and says, “The story is not as simple as we are being told.”

Nick Dagan Best has a long, serious article about Mr Jackson’s life and death at his celebrity blog.

More to come. Your comments are welcome. May Michael Jackson rest in peace.

Disputed Presidential Election in Iran

On June 12 Iran held presidential elections with a record number of voters participating. Within hours after the polls closed the Iranian government dubiously declared a re-election victory for incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming he had won with 24 million votes. Main opposition leader Mir Hosein Mousavi was declared the loser with 13 million votes. Immediately, supporters of Mr. Mousavi began questioning the suspicious vote count and by June 15, over a million Iranians took to the streets of Tehran to protest what was believed to be a rigged election.

Islamic Republic Tri-Wheel

The Islamic Republic came into existence in February 1979 during Iran’s upheaval and revolution coinciding with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returning from exile in France, just after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had fled the country.

Astrologers observe that Pluto is transiting the Midheaven of the Iranian mundane horoscope and the theocratic regime is facing the greatest threat to its power and control in 30 years. Iran has also just had its first Saturn return since its 1979 revolution, and the extent of the challenge to the authority of its ruling clerics is seen in its progressed Sun applying to an opposition with Saturn.

Will protests over the disputed presidential election continue to intensify and is another revolution fomenting in Iran? The progressed Venus-Jupiter opposition shows the women of Iran as being pivotal in this political process and evidence points to unrest continuing to escalate as the Iranian progressed Moon applies to an opposition with its national Uranus, becoming exact on August 31, just days before the Sun perfects its progressed opposition to Saturn on September 4.

Iran: progressed & SE

Theocratic regimes are ruled by Jupiter and remarkably, the total solar eclipse of July 22 in 29° Cancer will exactly conjoin the Iranian progressed Jupiter. This will be the longest total eclipse of the 21st century and coinciding with this powerful event is the ingress of the Iranian progressed ruler, Venus, into 00°00 Aquarius, right as the North Node also transits that degree. With Venus ingressing into the zodiacal sign of “people power,” it appears the clerical regime will now fall.

After several violent demonstrations in the streets of Tehran and other cities in which the police and militia forces loyal to the government have used guns, batons, tear gas and water cannons to quell the protestors, resulting in the deaths of 13 Iranians on Saturday alone, now the daughter of former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been arrested for supporting Mr. Mousavi. A rift has also been exposed in the inner circle of the ruling clerics, further weakening the grip on power of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has declared the protests illegal.

Mousavi Tri-wheel

Mr. Mousavi appears to be a man of destiny as Saturn conjoins his progressed North Node right as the July 22 solar eclipse conjoins the Iranian progressed Jupiter. In a remarkable display of individual alignment with a larger political movement, his progressed Venus has also just ingressed into Aquarius and the transit North Node will conjoin it on the day of the total eclipse.

When the time of birth is unknown, your correspondent uses a noon nativity for politicians and world leaders. The progressed angles of these 12:00 p.m. horoscopes never cease to amaze him and this is the case with Mr. Mousavi. Astrologers will observe that his progressed Ascendant is in 26°Aquarius, the exact degree of the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune conjunction in late May. As if that was not enough to make the soft-spoken former prime minister the leader of a revolution, the direct station of Uranus on December 1 in 22°42′ Pisces will fall precisely on his South Node.
Mousavi PNSE

With Mr. Mousavi’s pre-natal solar eclipse exactly conjunct his Neptune, it is unknown at this time whether he will become a martyr for the freedom movement in Iran or if he will get to live and go on to become installed as an inspirational president after a new election takes place. Saturn transits his pre-natal solar eclipse degree on October 10 and astrologers will wait and watch for further developments to unfold in Iran during this turbulent chapter of the country’s history.

© 2009 Robert P. Blaschke

Jupiter waits for the Sun

Today the Sun is still in Gemini, the last quarter Moon is in Pisces, and Jupiter is stationary retrograde at 27° Aquarius. This weekend my mind was all over the place about writing this blog. I settled on a toast to the Sun in Gemini – as it not only gathers information, but also applies to trine the one and only Jupiter in Aquarius (this perfects on Wednesday). I decided to collect a few astrology blogs on different subjects for you all to enjoy.

San Francisco astrologer Jessica Murray has a riveting blog, Boom, that looks at the state of California chart. (Hint: transiting Saturn is conjunct the Sun.) California is “epitomizing the country’s outsized economic problems,” and “Schwarzenegger is presiding over a financial meltdown of Armageddon-like proportions.”

Dharmaruci, writing from Glastonbury, U.K., has a great entry, Zeitgiest Update, which has an international scope. He looks, in part, at the Saturn Uranus oppositions, the stellium in Aquarius, the Pluto into Capricorn ingress chart (and how western economies are responding) and why he is “economically optimistic.”

Jude Cowell’s Stars Over Washington looks at transits to Iran’s national horoscope. One specific point she notes: transiting Uranus is now at the nation’s Mars/Mercury midpoint. The chart for the Islamic Republic (April 1, 1979) also has Jupiter at 29° Cancer, the degree of the July 22 total solar eclipse.

On a more personal note, Robert Wilkinson’s very active site has an article on the ongoing Chiron, Jupiter and Neptune connection and the impact on each of the signs. He also writes about Sonia Sotomayor in relationship to longer planetary cycles, including minor aspect.

I hope you have fun enjoying these writer’s ideas from far and wide.

On the day of its station (in Saturn’s sign), I’d like to acknowledge Jupiter in one of its finest roles: promoting breadth of view and tolerance for each and every one of the diverse manifestations possible in this best of all possible worlds. I think as
Jupiter pauses, I am wanting to capture all of its best possibilities and draw that into the heart of all the very important matters of the day. (Dear readers, please excuse the hyperbole; stationary Jupiter made me do it.)

Sonia Sotomayor

On May 26, 2009 President Obama introduced his choice for Supreme Court Justice. Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954 in New York City. (1) Her birth time is unknown, but we can look at the noon chart for the day she was born, as well as her connections to the U.S. horoscope.

Sonia Sotomayor & U.S. Sibly

Like the U.S. Sibly horoscope, Sotomayor has the Sun conjunct Jupiter in Cancer. The South Node, Mercury and Uranus are also in Cancer in her natal horoscope.

On the day of her nomination Sotomayor said: “For as long as I can remember, I have been inspired by the achievement of our founding fathers. They set forth principles that have endured for more than two centuries. Those principles are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before.” (2) This strong connection to the founding fathers echoes Cancer’s respect for the past and tradition.

Sotomayor’s natal Mercury (18° Cancer) is conjunct Uranus (22° Cancer), which is also conjunct the Sibly Mercury (24° Cancer). Although most assessments of her record thus far indicate that she will be a moderate voice on the Court, perhaps she will surprise with a more radical view than her history suggests.

In her natal horoscope, Mercury is conjunct the South Node and had just stationed retrograde two days before she was born. (It went direct by progression when she was 21 or 22 years old.) The very slowly moving Mercury at birth shows a deliberate turn of mind. The Sibly chart also has Mercury retrograde in Cancer. Perhaps the judge’s Mercury retrograde with the South Node is echoed in her statement: “I chose to be a lawyer and ultimately a judge because I find endless challenge in the complexities of the law.” (3)

The Cancer stellium also speaks to her interest in supporting families and the much discussed “empathy” factor. If confirmed, she will be the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and the first Latina justice.

Sotomayor has an exact natal sextile between Saturn at 2° Scorpio and Mars at 2° Capricorn. This indication of success through hard work and focused effort gains even more strength due to the mutual reception between the two planets. They not only have the opportunity to act together (being in aspect), but the strong inclination to do so (mutual reception). (Born into a modest background, Sotomayor was the first person in her family to go to college; she graduated at the top of her class from Princeton. Her father died when she was nine — at the half-nodal return — and she was raised by her mother.)

Sotomayor’s prominence in the U.S. is also indicated by her natal Sun at 3° Cancer, a partile conjunction with the U.S. Venus at 3°06′ Cancer. The judge’s natal Venus is at 9° Leo, quite close to the U.S. North Node at 6°36′ Leo.

Confirmation of her nomination is expected within the next several months. Since transiting Pluto is conjunct her natal Mars and opposing her Sun, I think she is ready and willing to stand up to any potential derailments in the confirmation proceedings.

The upcoming lunar eclipse (July 7 at 14°32′ Capricorn) exactly conjuncts her nodal axis, showing an important moment in the unfolding of her life path (natal North Node is at 14° Capricorn.)

The asteroid Astraea, a goddess of justice, is at 17°53′ Virgo in Sotomayor’s natal horoscope. Transiting Saturn was at 15° on May 26. By mid-July, Saturn will make its third and final passage to her natal Astraea, surely a nice signature for her recognition as the Supreme Court’s newest member.

Notes:

(1) Wikipedia

(2) CNN

(3) CNN

Tension Mounts on the Korean Peninsula

On May 25 North Korea conducted its second underground nuclear test and the next day, in addition to test firing short-range ballistic missiles, the isolated regime and international pariah unilaterally withdrew from its 1953 armistice treaty with South Korea.

Astrologers will observe that the June 1950 outbreak of the Korean War has now had its second Saturn return. Will hostilities continue to escalate?

Your correspondent has rectified the mundane horoscope for the outbreak of the Korean War. According to military records, hostilities commenced in the pre-dawn hours of June 25, 1950 when the North Korean army crossed the DMZ,  invaded the South, and wound up occupying Seoul in just three days.

Rectifying the war chart to 04:29:10 AM local time places the Ascendant at 21°22′ Gemini, which is precisely conjunct the U.S. Sibly Mars (exact to the degree and minute of arc). Progressing this war chart diurnally (using 19:29:10 GMT of the previous evening – the equivalent to 04:29:10 AM local time the next morning) to North Korea’s unilateral withdrawal from its armistice with the South on May 26 (May 25 GMT), one finds transit Mars in an exact-to-the-minute-of-arc conjunction with the war chart’s progressed MC. (1) The Sun in the war chart has also progressed to a conjunction with the IC (end of matter), exact to 03′ of arc.

With so much bellicose rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang, and the nullification of the truce ending the Korean War, it is no wonder that the retrograde station of Uranus in 26° Pisces is exactly opposite the progressed Mercury in the 1950 war chart. North Korea’s arrogant and cocky flexing of its military muscle can also be clearly seen in the progressed Mars of the war chart now applying to a trine with Jupiter (exact to 02′).

It has been this writer’s experience that the Galactic Center degree of 26° Sagittarius is highly malefic and here we find the war chart’s current secondary progressed Moon. In December 1941, for example, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and brought the United States into World War II, the U.S. Sibly progressed Sun had just entered 26° Sagittarius the month before. In April 1865, the month that President Lincoln was assassinated, the U.S. Sibly Midheaven was also in 26° Sagittarius.

Korean War Tri-Wheel

Indications of severe international condemnation for this unpredictable and isolated country are also evident in the mundane horoscope for North Korea. Saturn is transiting its national Sun three times, with the final pass becoming exact on June 27. What is quite disturbing, and a troubling indication of the possibility for a violent outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula, is the direct station of Pluto in 00°39′ Capricorn on September 11, of all days, in exact opposition to the North Korean Uranus. These planets, with their rulerships of plutonium and uranium, can be associated with the potential for the usage of nuclear weapons.

Sober astrologers will take no heart in the progressed Sun-Pluto square in the North Korean horoscope nearing exactitude. The nearly exact progressed trine of Mars and Pluto (2) is a further indication that the North now has the technology mastered in order to put a nuclear warhead onto a ballistic missile. Japan is in range of the nuclear capabilities of North Korea and with the progressed Mars in the 1950 war chart in the same degree as the progressed MC in the North Korean horoscope, one should not expect U.N. Security Council sanctions to do anything other than to prod this regime to pull the trigger on the South or to engage in naval warfare with the United States if interdiction of its vessels is attempted.

Kim Jong-il Tri-Wheel

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, at an annual meeting of defense and security officials in Singapore, recently stated that North Korea’s progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is “a harbinger of a dark future” and he also said that “We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia – or on us.”

In order to properly assess the mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the likelihood of war breaking out, astrologers should also examine the nativity and progressed horoscope of Kim Jong-il, the eccentric and despotic leader of the North Korean people. (3)

Remarkably, the retrograde station of Jupiter in 27°01′ Aquarius precisely conjoins his Sun. As transit Pluto forms a cardinal t-cross with his lunar nodes in 02° Aries–Libra, he has arrived at his “life-purpose moment.” Will the irrational hubris of Jupiter further delude him into launching a nuclear war? Or will the planet signifying one’s guardian angels whisper into his ear and tell him that he cannot unleash the violent destruction that an ill-thought-out commencement of war with the U.S. would bring to earth.

His erratic and unpredictable behavior can be seen in the Aquarius Sun in square to Uranus. He was born at the Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 9° Taurus in 1941 and his natal Uranus is in the exact degree of the May 2000 Jupiter-Saturn alignment. In addition, his progressed Jupiter is also passing through the 23rd degree of Taurus over a four-year period. The direct station of Mercury on May 30 occurred in 22°52′ Taurus.

Much has been written about his love of cognac and Hollywood films, his fear of flying, and a penchant for beautiful women. Astrologers see that he is highly intelligent, as he possesses one of C.E.O. Carter’s six aspects of raw brainpower – a sextile of the Sun and Mars (sextiles and trines of the Sun to Mars, Jupiter or Uranus make up this category of “mensa aspects”).

It is distressing to speculate that during the month of June, the future of the world hinges on the decision of one isolated world leader who with the push of a button could unleash unspeakable devastation upon humanity. One must have faith that the upcoming conjunction of Venus and Mars in the power degree of 15° Taurus at the Cancer ingress on June 21 will favor peace over war. Venus is in dignity while Mars is in detriment, and one prays that another page of world history will be turned without a chapter of war again having to be written.

References:

(1) Using solar arc in longitude progression of the MC.

(2) Both of these are progressed-to-progressed aspects.

(3) Kim Jong-il; Feb 16 1941; Vyatskoye, Soviet Union (48°N16′ 135°E06′); 12:00 PM UZ9. Source: Wikipedia, noon chart used.

© 2009 Robert P. Blaschke

Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron

We’ve been watching Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron move closer to one another for several weeks. Jupiter and Neptune are exactly conjunct for the first time on Wednesday at 26° Aquarius, and shape-shifting Chiron, the wise teacher from outside of our solar system, is also at this degree. Since both Chiron and Neptune station in the next few days, and Jupiter stations in mid-June, these three continue to stay close all year, with another peak period in December.

Mars is now at 26° Aries; in these immediate few days the qualities of these three bodies coming together, their alchemical possibilities, gain encouragement, warmth and guidance through the easy support of the sextile aspect.

The New Moon yesterday was at 3°28′ Gemini (and a happy lunar return to the president, whose natal Moon is 3°21′ Gemini). President Obama, of course, has the North Node at 27° Leo (conjunct Uranus at 25° Leo) and the South Node at 27° Aquarius, also the degree of the U.S. Sibly Moon. (This is also the degree of his pre-natal solar eclipse, February 15, 1961.) The convergence of Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron this week activates all of these points.

The Moon in the chart of a country represents ordinary people and the general populace, the “little” people as opposed to the rulers. One aspect in the political debate this week is the focus on the president’s nomination for Chief Justice. Obama made the shocking-to-some admission that he is looking for the quality of “empathy” in his choice. As Mercury retrograde is bound to do (accompanied in this case, by a square to Neptune), the word has been reframed and dissected throughout the media this week. In some contexts a discussion of empathy vs. compassion and sympathy might be relevant. But, for now, I’m going to imagine that “empathy” is a quality that the union of Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron could well pull off, if not specifically in our next Chief Justice, then perhaps in our own ordinary/extraordinary human consciousness.

Since the Moon in a country’s horoscope shows the mood of the people, maybe we are confused (e.g., is anyone telling the truth?), yet optimistic and idealistic. The planets that bring the greatest benefit (Jupiter) in the best possible ways (Neptune) to the human community (Aquarius) are speaking to the people of the nation. With Chiron there as well, there’s an even more translucent quality to this time in which the invisible worlds are opened up and teaching us a lot. Increasing our spiritual sensitivity has many methods and means, of course. Whether through devotion to religious or artistic practices, a meditative or contemplative path, or a more secular inquiry into issues of human rights and justice, we certainly see a deep reorganizing of priorities as people grapple with huge unemployment numbers, unending wars, an upended economy, global warming, etc.

These are strong days for our most expansive ideals, demonstrations of faith and generosity, and raucous nothing-to-lose interconnectedness and service to the highest good.

If we consider transits to your personal horoscope, the natal house where this conjunction falls is of primary focus. At least as significant, however, is the house with Pisces on the cusp. Herein is the domain in your inner/outer life where the experience of sublime transcendence and dissolution of self-centered fixations can be directly felt  (and may, for some of us, require guidance – remembering Saturn’s place in keeping us tethered in reality).

In a display of Gemini’s capacity to gather information, here is a brief offering of ideas and experiences that I think suggest this current alchemy between Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron. Please add your suggestions to advance the collective endeavor offered by these planetary archetypes towards more (Jupiter) love (Neptune) and healing (Chiron) for us all (Aquarius)!

Many readers may be familiar with the teaching of Gangaji, a spiritual teacher in the lineage of Ramana Maharshi. She’s now blogging on one the most visible sites: Huffington Post. Her first entry is a clear and simple commentary on the meditative state.

Environmental activist Paul Hawken gave a superb commencement speech earlier this month at the University of Portland. If you haven’t already, do read it now, with the words charged by the potency of this moment. Hawken’s words are infused with “a deep sense of connectedness to the living world.” He says: “Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider.”

Musician John Legend also gave a commencement speech this week at the University of Pennsylvania. Legend considers the reality of poverty and the politics of war, as well as the necessity for a “politics of empathy” and the quality of soulfulness. (Musicians, sensitive to the muses, are ruled by Neptune whose dreams are furthered spectacularly now by Jupiter’s expansive view and Chiron’s body/mind wisdom.)

Your Practice Site for Gratefulness is a lovely stopping point. It is the site of an international nonprofit organization that “provides resources for living in the gentle power of gratefulness, which restores courage, reconciles relationships, and heals our Earth.” There are meditative and prayerful experiences herein, including a labyrinth walk and the Angel of the Hour The angel hours are accompanied by bells and chants for each of the traditional eight hours of the day (e.g., Vigils, The Night Watch, “before the day’s noises begin and it is still perfectly quiet”; Terce, The Joy of Living, a “mid-morning prayer break” and Compline, Completing the Circle, at night, just before going to bed.

And, of course, Susan Boyle sang to the world again on Friday night. One of the British TV host’s spoke of how the world going through a very difficult time was looking for a “bit of hope and inspiration” and found it in Ms. Boyle. TV reviewer Ken Tucker writes: “Wearing a glittery brown dress, standing behind a backdrop of clouds with a spotlight behind her head making it look as though her face was emanating from heaven, Boyle pulled off her second major public appearance with ease.” As Robert Blaschke noted in an earlier blog, she has the prenatal solar eclipse at 26° Aquarius (like President Obama). If you’re not already one of the 60 million viewers who have seen it thus far, take delight in Susan Boyle’s singing (and notice the supreme confidence in her face and voice while singing the lines “a new day will begin.”)

On this Memorial Day, thank you to all who have served, who are serving and who will serve our country in the days ahead.

The Troubled U.S. Automobile Industry: Another Giant About to Fall

With Saturn turning direct in 14° Virgo and holding a stationary conjunction to the General Motors Corporation progressed ruler, Jupiter, it has become increasingly clear that this once formidable auto manufacturer will not be able to restructure itself by the June 1st deadline imposed by the U.S. government and GM will have to enter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

GM Tri Wheel

Astrologers understand that a progressed opposition of the Sun and a retrograde superior planet is the most karmic point in that planet’s synodic cycle, as it is nearest to Earth at that point in its orbit and is exerting maximum influence.

One sees that the General Motors horoscope has arrived at its progressed Full Moon and at a progressed opposition of the Sun and Neptune, underpinning the dissolution of a once great company whose business has become completely undermined by the recession and its distorted financial obligations to its unionized retirees.

With progressed Saturn in a partile (exact to the degree and minute of arc) opposition with the GM Sun, the company’s day of reckoning has come. According to news reports, General Motors will send termination notices to 1,100 of its car dealers, about 20% of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships. The transit of Pluto in 2010 in square to the GM Sun will allow the company to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and to rebuild and reinvent itself.

Since the U.S. progressed Mercury stationed retrograde in 1994, it has been only a matter of time for the relentless decline in the American auto industry to reach its critical juncture. The station of Neptune in 24° Aquarius in 2008, exactly on the U.S. Sibly horoscope’s third cusp, and the transit of Neptune over the U.S. progressed Mercury have been the astrological underpinnings for this current crisis.

Astrologers can hope that by the third Jupiter-Saturn opposition of late March 2011, which falls in 14° of Aries and Libra and coincides with the U.S. Saturn return, the American automobile industry will be on the rebound. Saturn rules the Sibly third house and its return will mark a new 30-year era in Detroit.

Another of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, Chrysler Motors, filed for bankruptcy on April 30th exactly at its Uranus return, 84 years after its incorporation in June 1925. Its ruler, Mercury, progressed into retrograde motion some years ago and is now about to receive the transit opposition of Neptune as the company dissolves and closes about 790 of its 3,189 U.S. dealerships.

With a retrograde Mercury in opposition to Pluto in the U.S. horoscope, it is no wonder that the American automobile industry has a historical pattern of repeating crisis and transformation.

Notes

1 The GM progressed Saturn stationed direct in November 1978. That month, a 1973 Monte Carlo Chevrolet, burst into flames after it was struck by a pickup truck that crossed the median of the Kansas Turnpike and six people were killed. Attorneys for Ulysses Betts, 10 years old, the sole survivor, and other relatives held that GM had been negligent in placing the fuel tank under the trunk and asked $45 million in damages. In 1983, a jury cleared the General Motors Corporation of responsibility for the automobile crash.

In 1947, when the GM progressed Saturn, in retrograde motion, made its first exact opposition to the Sun, the founder of General Motors, William C. Durant, died.

© 2009 Robert P. Blaschke

Merriman’s New Article

There is a letter in the new (June/July) issue of TMA from a reader requesting more articles with an in-depth analysis of planetary cycles and financial information. Ray Merriman’s article, Is It Camelot or an Economic Armageddon?, in the new issue, (which subscribers will have any day, if it’s not there yet) addresses that request in his article.

Merriman coined the term “Cardinal Climax” in 1999, and much has been written on Saturn, Uranus and Pluto all entering cardinal signs in hard aspect to each other. Pluto in Capricorn is the harbinger, followed by Saturn moving into Libra this fall, and Uranus into Aries in May 2010. The impact of the Cardinal Climax is from 2008-2015.

This configuration is currently joined by the rare (i.e., in 3,000 years it has occurred only once – in 1843) mutual reception between Uranus in Pisces and Jupiter and Neptune in Aquarius. Merriman relates the 1843 mutual reception to events surrounding Andrew Jackson’s abolishing the Second U.S. National Bank and what is happening now with our current private bank, the Federal Reserve.

The charts of the current key players are discussed in the article – the U.S. national chart, Obama, the Federal Reserve, Robert Gates, Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke (all with planets in early degrees of cardinal signs).

For readers who may not be familiar with Ray Merriman, he is a financial astrologer with a keen understanding of long-term cycles. Even if you’re one of the lucky ones and financial matters are not of interest to you, Ray’s descriptions of the psychological implications of these transits are invaluable.

A brilliant point he elaborates on, for example: Once Saturn is past its last opposition to Uranus (in July 2010), that planet will be in waning phase with all the outer planets. Saturn is fearful, and the last square is fretful. He writes: “With the waning square, the light is on the decrease: The future seems more and more uncertain.” However, the longer cycles of the outer planets (i.e., Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are in waxing squares to one another, implying a time of growth. ”In the waxing square, the light is still on the increase: The future is brighter.”

I thought Ray’s article was a riveting overview of the great issues that are keeping some awake at night. (Lest this sounds like TMA bragging, I personally had nothing to do with the editing, etc. I read the article along with many of you as it arrived in my mailbox.)

This blog is merely a hint of what he’s written about. Once you’ve read it, come back and let’s talk about it.

Rachel Corrie

Rachel Corrie was an American activist who died in Gaza in the Palestinian Territories in March 2003. She was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Corrie was acting as a human shield to protect the home of a Palestinian family when she was killed by a bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Although the events surrounding her death are in dispute  — her actions are seen as heroic by some, and as reckless and provocative by others — she has gained admiration in many quarters for the bravery of her actions, as well as for her eloquent writings.

There has been extensive international media coverage of her story, “in part because she was an American, and in part because of the highly politicized nature of the conflict itself.” (1)

Her journals and e-mails have been made public and her views on the situation in Gaza have been noted for the compassion with which she viewed the Palestinian’s plight.

Since I don’t have a birth time for Rachel Corrie, I am herein looking at a sunrise chart. I will only mention those things that were in place for the entire day and not speculate on the Ascendant or Moon sign (it did change from Virgo to Libra on the afternoon she was born).

Rachel  was born on a Tuesday (Mars’s day) with the Sun, Mars and Juno in Aries, the sign of the warrior. The Sun is in exaltation and Mars is in rulership in Aries. Juno is sensitive to those who are powerless; in Aries she will act bravely (or heedlessly?) for balance of power.

She also had Mercury, Venus and the South Node in Pisces, a signature of her ability to empathize deeply with, and write sensitively about, the conditions in Gaza. The Pisces fish swim in many directions. She has both “been praised as a heroic martyr and denounced as a misguided, ill-informed naïf.” (2)

Rachel was born with the Sun in Aries opposite to Pluto, so being drawn to dangerous situations and events of great magnitude was natural for her. Uranus at 20° Scorpio is exactly inconjunct the Sun as well; aside from the ability to see things in a radical way, this can also be seen as a signature of the sudden and abrupt end of her life.

The Sun at 20° Aries is also trine Neptune at 20°24’ Sagittarius in the natal chart. At her death, on March 16, 2003, transiting Pluto at 19°56’ Sagittarius was conjunct Neptune and trine the natal Sun. We might see this as an indication of a life infused by idealism to a larger cause (Sun trine Neptune) that nevertheless ended tragically and with significant implications (Pluto).

Since there is no time for her birth, let’s look at the prenatal solar eclipse degree. The eclipse was on February 26, 1979 at 8:45 am PST set for her birthplace in Olympia, Washington.

Prenatal Solar Eclipse

Although I have other degree symbols on hand, I find the Sabian symbol as recorded by Marc Edmund Jones to be the most relevant:

The degree of the eclipse is:
“Pisces 8. A girl blowing a bugle. Keyword: Summons
Theme: A Call to Action” (3)

Corrie’s natal Saturn was at 8° Virgo; she was literally displaying the Call to Action when she died.

Transiting Mercury was at 20° Pisces on the day she died. In the prenatal solar eclipse chart, the South Node at 17° Pisces was conjunct Juno (19°) and Mercury at (22°). Mercury is a teller of tales and Pisces, of course, favors the underdog and the disenfranchised. Along with her own journals there have been many songs written about Rachel Corrie, as well as a controversial play (“My Name is Rachel Corrie”) that was performed in London and New York. This week a documentary film about her premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. The film, “Rachel,” (which is apparently sympathetic to Rachel and her activist friends) was made by a Moroccan-born Jewish filmmaker. (4)

Transiting Pluto was prominent at her death, as it conjoined natal Neptune.  But the less personal side of Neptune seems also to have been strengthened as her story is being told again and again in different venues and from different perspectives.

It is also interesting to see that Rachel’s Sun in Aries is in aspect to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto — she was pulled by the collective issues of the time. She was in a dangerous situation when events moved quickly and her life ended suddenly. Her story, however, continues to be told and her work continues. Her parents have set up foundations and launched projects in memory of their daughter and to continue her work.  In an interview soon after Rachel died, her mother said:
“She wanted to open our eyes to this side of the conflict, that Americans, in general, do not understand. She felt that this is an unbalanced conflict between a powerful military force that has the support of the U.S. and people who have no power. She was for all humanity, against the suffering of the Israelis and against the suicide attacks. But she felt the Palestinian side is invisible and that’s why she chose to be there.”  (5)

Footnotes:
(1) wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie

(2) boston.com/ae/theater_arts

(3) The Sabian Symbols by Diana E. Roche, Trafford Publishing, 1998.

(4) www.salon.com

(5) www.haaretz.com