Saturday’s tragic event in Tucson occurred just days after the solar eclipse on January 4 at 13°39′ Capricorn. This eclipse is opposite the U.S. Sun at 13°19′ Cancer, which is square to natal Saturn at 14°48′ Libra. The solar eclipse chart also has the Sun square Saturn, as, of course, the U.S. is in the midst of a Saturn return.
The event chart has the at Sun at 18°04′ Capricorn square U.S. progressed Mars retrograde at 18°35′ Libra. The event Moon is 7° Pisces square the U.S. progressed Uranus and conjunct the progressed Sun at 6° Pisces. The event MC is 13°22′ Sagittarius conjunct the U.S. Ascendant.
Although lethal violence occurs everyday in this country and there are countless anonymous victims, when an event is so connected to the nation’s horoscope, it can suggest something of importance for the direction (i.e., the Sun) of the country as a whole.
I know we are all moved by the nine-year-old girl who died in the event, born on September 11, 2001. The prenatal eclipse for the child (as well as the eclipse that preceded the events of 911) was a lunar elipse at 13°34′ Capricorn on July 5, also on the U.S. Sun at 13°19′ Cancer. Nine years later, a solar eclipse occurred at this degree.
Another key feature of the January 4 solar eclipse was the appearance of the last exact conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus at 27° Pisces. The U.S. progressed 8th-house cusp is 27° Pisces. The 8th house can be seen as “public death” in a mundane chart; Uranus shows the shock and suddenness of the event and Jupiter magnifies its implications.
At the event in Tucson, transiting Mars was at 24° Capricorn, triggering the nation’s Mercury (24°12′ Cancer) Pluto (27°33′ Capricorn) opposition. The public debate is heated now about violence in our culture; easy access to weapons and inflamed and divisive political rhetoric are some of the obvious manifestations that fall under the rulership of this combination of planets ( i.e., Mercury opposite Pluto, joined by transiting Mars).
In respect for those who lost their lives, and the other victims who remain gravely injured, President Obama announced a moment of silence at 11 a.m. EST today. The Moon is at 0° Aries square the nodal axis.
In Washington, the North Node is conjunct the MC. The Moon, ruler of Monday, on the Aries Point square the nodes suggests a moment in time that will be keenly felt by the general public.
Mary Plumb is TMA’s Book and Web Editor. She is available for tutoring and personal astrology sessions. Please go to maryplumb.com for more information, or email mary@maryplumb.com. Thanks for stopping by.