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Shootings in Arizona

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.

22 Comments

  1. Mary,

    Thanks for giving us so much info surrounding this tragic event and how it relates to the country as a whole. Learning that the progressed U.S. chart has the same degree on the 8th house cusp as the Uranus-Jupiter exact conjunction stunned me.

    I too found the chart for today’s “Moment of Silence” very revealing and would mention two aspects in particular. That Mercury in the 9th house conjunct the Galactic Center and aspecting the Neptune-Chiron conjunction by sextile, and the Uranus-Jupiter conjunction by square, seemed to be communicating, at this moment in time, to the American people through the U.S. Moon (transiting Neptune, Chiron conjunct) and to the disenfranchised (12th house) or those living abroad (Jupiter) who feel alienated from their homeland and family(transiting Moon conjunct at Aries Point).

    The ceremony was a call for unity in feeling and thought for this country’s wounding and echoes the north node (opportunity) conjunct the midheaven (government) and the south node (release) at the nadir (home). Uranus (and the Moon on Aries Point) making the connections via television coverage and through the internet via blogs like this one brought people together instantly and all at the same time.

    I re-read your previous article on the nodes “in the bending” research as the Moon in today’s 11 AM chart is located there. This would be the north bending if I’m correct, and you said this position is where energy comes in, and “events and experiences will manifest in the outer world.” How true this was today! You also remarked that the Moon in this position would involve “family concerns and integration of the emotional function” in natal charts. It appears it would also apply to today’s event led by the President and his wife.

  2. Great post, Mary.

    Per Wikipedia, Gabrielle Giffords was born June 8, 1970. Her very tight natal Mars-Uranus square (within 1/2 degree and applying) at 4 Can/Lib was being triggered (by opposition and square) by transiting Pluto at 5 Cap.

    • Also per Wikipedia, the shooter’s birthdate is Sept. 10, 1988, which gives him Mars in Aries, about 9 degrees; it stationed retrograde by secondary progression early in his life and is now at about 3-4 Aries, making a Cardinal Cross of the T-square created by Giffords’ Mars-Uranus square and transiting Pluto.

      • Hi, I am new to this page and I am loving it. The other day I was looking back on eclipses in my solar fire program – I think I ran into an eclipse near the 9/11 date in the late eighties. Interesting. I have been very interested in eclipses of late noting that they spark public events. I have studied astrology for thirty years and I can never get enough and I am so impressed by the great astrologers that exist on thsi planet and a little in awe. Now, I could be wrong about the 9/11 eclipse; but I need to keep reading on this site and cannot divert my attention. Sincerely and thank you.
        Mary Lou

  3. Very nicely said, Mary. Thank you for your insight and sharing. I think we are all grappling for some sort of answers or understanding as to the deeper picture on this incident. I appreciate you study of the event. FYI, I live down the street from where the shootings occurred.
    Blessings,
    Jane

  4. Thank you for your Superb work, Mary!

    I’d like to speak to the 14th Capricorn Sabian Symbol degree of the recent (partial) Solar Eclipse and the prenatal Lunar Eclipse of the late 9 year old Christine Green and of the 9/11/2001 event. As the degree opposite to the Sun in any 7/4/1776 chart, such eclipses correspond to a serious direct challenge to the security (Cancer Sun) orientation of the American public. The Sabian Symbol degree image (from M.E. Jones’ notes via Lynda Hill’s book) is “An ancient bas-relief carved in granite remains a witness to a long-forgotten culture.” I see this degree image related to that which leaves a LASTING IMPRESSION. Any eclipses on this degree correspond to something that leaves a lasting impression that threatens the basic security of the American people as a nation (any 7/4/1776 chart). “9-11: Never forget” will likely share company in the American people’s memory of the tragedy in Tucson, 2011.

    As Jane can probably confirm, formerly “Mellow” Tucson has been described as a “Blue City in a Red State.” If such horrid tragedy happened here, as it did, it as if nowhere in the U.S. is immune from the possibility of sudden tragic violence.

    Dale

  5. i like the potusa – 1 chart for making connections to events in the usa… it is new york april 30 1789 1245pm – 28 leo 40 rising..
    if you look at the solar eclipse for new york, the solar eclipse at 13 cap 38, is 2′ off exact to 135 ascendant in this chart… 13 cap 38 is 7′ out of exactitude to natal 8th house mars at 13 aries 31 as well… the usa has a thing for war and guns and i think it is partly captured in the close natal 135 between mars-ascendant in the potusa-1 chart…
    it’s a really tragic event to be making astro connections to but i thought i’d share mine..

  6. EVENT CHART

    The shooting took place at 10:10 a.m. At 10:11 a.m. the 911 call was made, as a woman there took the shooter’s ammo clip, then two men restrained him. At 10:10, the Moon was exactly rising. The Sabian Symbol degree image (Jones’ notes via Lynda Hill’s book): “A girl blowing a bugle.” We could say that it was a Luna-tic’s moment of “awakening all to action” (to quote Lynda regarding this degree. By 10:11:21, the M.C. Sabian Symbol degree image became “An Easter sunrise service draws a large crowd.” Lynda: “….The community gathering for a common purpose. resurrections and rebirths….The need for faith in a bright future….” After the initial shock and fear, people there went into cooperative positive action. This image, at last so far, also fits Congresswoman Giffords’ “resurrection” miracle survival.

  7. I would expect the President’s words tonight in Tucson to be galvanizing in that transiting Mars will be conjunct the U.S Sibly Pluto at 27 Capricorn 33 rx, and of course, the transiting Neptune in a near perfect conjunction to the U.S. Moon (and Pallas Athene), along with transiting Chiron.

    To compound the extraordinary energy of the moment, transiting Neptune at 27 Aquarius 06 is also conjunct the President’s natal south node, a release point for him.

    With transiting Mars midway between, and only hours of separation from, the sextile to transiting Uranus and Jupiter in Pisces, I’m less inclined to fear for the President’s safety and want to believe these powerful energies will be discharged through his words and presence. Still, my prayers will be with him.

    In addition, the transiting asteroid goddess Juno, representing equality and partnership, will be in Virgo and in a trine aspect to trans. Mars and the U.S. Pluto (with the President’s natal Saturn less than 3 degrees of orb away from them). She will be stationing for a retrograde and therefore a very powerful influence as she will be located at the midheaven of the U.S. chart.

    Transiting Mercury will be square Juno, and square Jupiter and Uranus, and near the Galactic Center, forming a mutable t-square. This will create a tension even tv viewers will probably note. But the Sun will be trine the U.S. Neptune, also located near the U.S. midheaven, and, hopefully, call forth a practical balance between dignity, respect and freedom of speech.

    All this while transiting Pluto opposes the U.S Jupiter (and Venus). God Bless America.

  8. Asteroids are really significant in this chart; I just did an intensive analysis for http://www.daykeeperjournal.com (which will be posted shortly – currently server difficulties delay this), and there are asteroids for most of the principals. Gabriella (#355) and Gifford (#4819) appear at 28 and 24 Libra respectively, with Gifford exactly square Mars (the fact that Giffords has done as well as she has with recovery from this attack may be related to having both these points conjunct her natal Jupiter at 26 Libra). Asteroid Lee (#3155), for Jared Lee Loughner, is exactly opposed Jupiter(politician, judge)/Uranus(shooting) from 27 Virgo, where it conjoins both asteroid Christine (#628, for Christina Green)at 0 Libra and Nemesis at 4 Libra. Asteroid Arizona (#793) is exactly on Pluto at 5 Cap. Asteroid Tucson (#2224)at 14 Cancer opposes the Sun and squares Saturn, and Giffords’ natal Tucson lies at 18 Aries, which is exactly squared the transit Sun. That Sun is further inconjunct her natal Sun at 17 Gemini (which was exactly opposed by TNO Ixion, named for Greek mythology’s first murderer), and exactly trine Loughner’s natal Sun. Transit Ixion was on the MC at the shooting, and the Moon was exactly sextile Loughner’s natal Neptune (victims, martyrs, insanity, paranoia, delusions) at 7 Cap, to which Pluto is applying for a conjunction in station this April.

    SO much more; too much to go into here, but there are asteroid referents for 5 of the 6 dead, and all tie to the charts directly. Hopefully Daykeeper can post the article soon.

    • alex,

      This is absolutely fascinating, as your analysis’ always are. I’m especially impressed with the connection between asteroids Gabriella and Gifford in this chart conjunct Gabby’s natal Jupiter. I wonder if Jupiter could be the (1st house) ruler of her natal chart.

      I assume asteroid Tucson is opposed the Sun in the Solar Eclipse chart as it squares Saturn, and remarkably, it conjuncts the U.S. Sibly chart Sun (and squares Saturn here also), but it is close also in the event chart. Mind-boggling any way you look at it!

      As always, the patterns astrology reveals tell a complex story of an event, in this case, how the energies represented by the astral bodies link an individual(s) to a country and to a period of tremendous transformation. I look forward to reading the whole article at Daykeeper.

      • Dear Intelligent Posters, I am indeed impressed by the asteroids and find that they tell a story and can stand by themselves! It could open up a whole “world” (asteroid world) of interpretation. I am seriously looking for an excellent site of asteroids and their placements. I use the centaur ephemeris and true-node.com. However, I know there are many other sites and I would love in depth interpretations for all of them.
        God Bless and have him hold dear all who perished in this calamity.
        Mary Lou
        PS – By the way, my chart 7/20/47 Boston at 4:30 am is very connected to the chart of America. My 7th house was eclipsed on January 4th.

  9. Mary, Alex, others,

    Nice work, pertinent charts, good comments all. While I have some
    comfort comparing two charts, anything more than that, and my brain begins to….well, you know what I mean. In recent years I’ve been pondering the growing ‘impoverishment of truth’ in our national discourse, which by itself, has contributed to the wounding of our nation (and the world for that matter), especially since the years leading up to & including the events of 9/11/01. While time and lack of serious expertise, disallows my concise astrological examination of the horrors perpetrated on the collective psyche during that period & since, I have long ago realized, that this nation can not possibly heal those wounds, without the necessary revelation of truth. To this end, in recent years, I would occasionally look ahead for developing allignments that might help in this process. Over the weekend I looked at the Jupiter/Saturn cycle in light of their upcoming opposition on 3/28/11 @ 14deg 21min Aries/Libra, the degree of which, rang a bell. Since this degree squares my natal horizon, I registered a small ‘aha’ and returned to the task at hand. Later on, this degree kept flashing in my mind, so I searched my charts file and uncovered the event chart for 9/11/01 (8:46 AM NYC) and realized that the Jup/Sat opp. would culminate on the horizon (Placidus) of that chart within 2 or 3 arc min’s of exactitude. With G W Bush a prominent player during those events, I retrieved his chart as well and quickly noticed the considerable strength of connection underlying all of these charts. Considering the Jup/Sat cycle as portent for significant socio/ political change, could this indicate (finally) theunravelling of truth underlying one of the deepest wounds suffered in the modern era? Could it be, that those of us already aware of some measure of that truth, will have reached critical mass in the greater collective, as this opposition peaks? Will Jupiter (justice) and Saturn (karma) deliver in this Plutonian era of transformation? Are we ready to peel the scales from our eyes?….or will the world turn over and go back to sleep, or turn on the tv and grab another beer? I think not, not
    with Jupiter & Uranus in Aries racing headlong into battle with Pluto. Are there real connections between between all 5 of
    these charts or are they coincidental? Any thoughts?
    Yours truely, David.

  10. Mary & Fellow Astrologers,

    My sympathy and blessings for healing go out to all who were harmed in this shocking tragedy – the injured and the ones we lost, their families and friends, and the community at large.

    Also, for those working with eclipses, I’d like to add that President Obama’s responsiveness to the December 21, 2010 Lunar Eclipse (conjunct his natal 5th House Venus) is connected to this discussion.

    Although he and his party were ‘shellacked’ in the November midterm elections, his astrologer might have anticipated a boost (show) in his personal presentation, public relations, and popularity. The astrology potential reflected, for example, on:

    Wednesday, Dec. 22 – He finished the lame duck session of Congress on a high note, in a presidential press conference, listing the major legislation passed: Tax Cuts; Repeal of Don’t ask, Don’t tell; Nuclear Arms treaty with Russia.

    Wednesday, January 12, 2011 — just two days away from T Mercury conjunct the Dec. 21 eclipse degree (Mercury, the Dec. 21 eclipse ruler, was retrograde at the eclipse) — President Obama gave a high profile speech at the memorial for the shooting victims in Tucson.

    Note: The Jan. 4, 2011 Solar Eclipse in his 11th House, a general accent on group fellowship, did not contact planets in his natal chart.

  11. Dear Posters, I checked my solar fire and found that there was a solar annular eclipse on September 11, 1988, which was the day after the shooter was born. These eclipses are so powerful. I am not really able to interpret what I have found; however, it is interesting, after the fact.
    Mary Lou

  12. Hi Mary, Thank you for this wonderful article that is helping me come to terms with the aftermath of the tragedy of last Saturday.

    I would like to throw out an observation of the speech your President gave on Wednesday. I am a new student of astrology so I hope what I offer here is astrologically correct. I was keen to understand more about the *cheering* from the younger members of the audience at what was a memorial service and I will admit to finding it quite jarring initially, but as Obama seemed to roll with it I followed his example. In the usual dissecting of the speech afterwards, several media pundits said they too were put off by the cheering, but I listened to John King on CNN who give a very reasonable explanation in that the people of Tuscon were so shell shocked by the tragedy, happening in their particular neck of the woods, that to have Obama come to the service gave them a much needed boost and more importantly a channel to express pent up emotions that craved something hopeful and positive to believe in.

    So thinking further on this expression of pure youthful exuberance, I was curious to check on the position of the asteroid Hebe (this asteroid was introduced to me recently by the wonderful Barbara Koehler here, at another site — PlanetWaves –; Hey Be I followed you over!) I hope I am right in thinking that during his speech Hebe was at Aries 14 degrees and that the Sabian Symbol for that degree is “A Serpent Coiling Near a Man and a Woman” If this is so, what I take from this is the sign that there is a breaking down of the walls that divide us and that as Dane Rudhyar explains it: “we are confronted with an image suggesting the transpersonal way to the “cosmification” of desire and the conscious acceptance of polarization as the solution of the problems generated by individualization. But this need not mean what is currently meant by “sex” and the glorification of the orgasm. It implies rather the RITUALIZATION OF RELATIONSHIP.” Might this meaning that we can really concentrate on that which unites us from here on in and forget about what divides and alienates us from each other?

    I take a lot of hope from how the memorial service played out last Wednesday and continue to be mesmerised by the archetypal layers to last week’s tragedy. It was so gut wrenching but something extraordinarily hopeful seems to be rising from its ashes. In the words of that amazing speech from Obama, referring to the memory of Christina ” I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us — we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.”

    Hand on my heart, opening my heart chakra to the memory of Christina and all the others who perished last Saturday, along with its courageous survivors, Gabrielle Giffords, Daniel Hernandez, Patricia Maisch, I dedicate my life to doing just that, build a better democracy in every way possible.

    • Excellent post Anita, i have been following the Judge Roll assassination and it sure does seem peculiar…
      Also when viewed in context of Army officer Wheeler’s new years eve debacle (who was present during the rogue B52 and missing nuke incident involving the Cheney cabal of August 2007), the letter bombs in Maryland (one to Governor taking stand against Fraudclosures), the sentencing of Tom DeLay to three years in prison- a message to Boehner and other house leaders who are all wrapped up with Tom in his shenanigans,, and strange death of mrs Ashley Turton in a car/chemical fire in her garage and her coincidental marriage to the interface between the Obama administration and the House of Representatives…A group of violent incidents meant to chill the incoming 110 neophytes into congress and set the parameters of how this will go and whose really in charge.. All this with transiting Chiron (wounding, mentoring) and Neptune(deception, illusion, Understanding of the big picture) conjunct the US Sibly moon (public)

  13. Hello Ursula,

    Glad to see you found your way to Mt. Astrologer! Regarding Hebe in the Tucson Memorial event chart, it may have been Eric at PlanetWaves who found a connection between them. I attributed the cheering/applause to the square between Mercury and the Uranus-Jupiter conjunction, which was compounded by Juno in opposition to Jupiter (& Uranus), and Hades opposite Mercury, creating a mutable grand cross.

    However, I am so thrilled that you brought it to our attention that Hebe was at 14 Aries (13+) at that time, because David Bitgood’s incredible discovery of the linking of the last Jupiter/Saturn opposition at 14 deg 21 min Aries/Libra, to the 9/11 chart and the G W Bush chart, as well as the January Solar Eclipse and U.S. charts is extraordinary synchronicity!

    Even before the Jup/Sat opposition on March 28, Saturn will be there in the Spring Equinox chart too (3/20). Also, for the ingress chart of Neptune into Pisces, the Sun will be at 14 Aries 27 (4/4) and with Neptune now clear of the U.S. (Sibly) Moon (and Uranus at the Aries Point), it could mean that the citizens of the USA, represented by the Sibly Moon will finally be awake and ready to “peel the scales from our eyes” and able to hear the truth about 9/11.

    Thank you so much David for your research, and shebear Ursula for your impececcable timing!

  14. Goodness Be, the significance of that degree is remarkable! To read your response here is thrilling.

    I was led to exploring the unusual energy of the Tucson Memorial Service because I sensed quite strongly that the youth of America (and the world over really) don’t adhere to traditions anymore, especially ones that tend to mask deeper, truer feelings. They demand freedom of expression and I find that refreshing. I agree wholeheartedly that “scales *are* being peeled away from our eyes”. I actually sense that the younger generations never actually had scales covering their eyes from the get go — thank the heavens for that.

    To stare down the truth of what *really* happened on 9/11 would herald an enormously powerful time in your country and by turn, the rest of the world. What is already happening in Tunisia these days gives me goosebumps every time I think on it.

    “Hope *springs* eternal in the human breast;
    Man never Is, but always To be blest:
    The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
    Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”

    -Alexander Pope,
    An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

  15. Hello Adam, Hello All,

    Adam, I appreciate what you wrote in your post. I’d like to comment on Chiron and Neptune conjunct The Moon in the “Sibly” 7/4/1776 chart, but first, I’d like to put things in context. For some time now, I’ve found it instructive to use TWO charts for the U.S.A. One chart would be one for 7/4/1776, a chart for the “American” people. “We the people….” is how the document associated with that day began. The other chart, 11/15/1777, York, PA, historically, sometime between 11 a.m. and before 1:01 p.m., is the chart of the Elite who really run America. This was the date of the verbal agreement of the elite to accept the Articles of Confederation without seeking the expressed approval of their constituencies. I prefer a time of 1:00:30 p.m. for this Elitist America chart. [Note utilizing that time, Chiron recently came to conjunction with that ascendant, and Neptune is there now….]

    That said, in mundane astrology, The Moon is said to be the indicator of “the people.” Therefore, transiting and/or progressed aspects to The Moon in any 7/4/1776 chart should reflect how the American people are “feeling.” Transits to this Natal Moon should tell us how the American people feel about what has befallen them recently. If one uses an earlier in the day chart, as history implies (I prefer 11:18 a.m. on 7/4/1776), then the Chiron and Neptune conjunctions to the 7/4/1776 Moon occurred about a year ago, with the Sibly chart, they are more recent. Ultimately, it does not matter. Regardless, already under the Obama administration the American people have undergone a severe change of mood.
    In my years of mythological and charts research involving Chiron to the Moon, this aspect is associated with a sense of ABANDONMENT. In other words, the U.S. government has seemingly abandoned the American people. If we use an earlier chart, this abandonment would have corresponded to the January 2010 Supreme Court decision that allowed illusionary (Neptune) corporate “persons” to exercise their “rights” as persons to spend as much as they wish on elections. If we use the Sibly chart, this sense of ABANDONMENT occurred even more recently, in line with Obama’s State of the Union speech favoring corporate tax cuts and slashing federal human services programs.

    Dale O’Brien


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