The magic of astrology can be seen in all things large and small. It’s a great lens to see and understand the world with, because it relates to an exact moment, in a precise place, for which a map or horoscope can be erected freezing that moment in time. That map shows exactly where we are in the world and when, and where the world is in relation to the moon and planets, and where the solar system is in relation to the galaxy. Just like when we used to write our address as a child:
Me, 12 London Road, Southport, Lancashire, England, the World, the Universe.
Past, Present and Future
There are other lenses through which we can see the world, but the beauty of astrology is that it recognizes the dynamic flow of time, and by tracing the movement of the planets, from the past to the present to the future, there is a sense of where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going to.
When we focus this lens on what is happening here and now, we cannot help but witness this dynamic movement, and if we can identify the planetary players in manifestation in the people and things within our field of perception, we have the ability to make predictions about outcomes. This is the principle with horary astrology, where people and influences are ascribed to planetary factors in the horoscope. A horoscope for any given place and time simply reflects everything going on around us.
Jupiter in Scorpio
The corollary of this is, of course, that by watching what is going on around us, we learn more about planetary influences. One way of doing this is to follow the news through any chosen medium, such as TV, the Internet or newspapers. What a feast of information this provides! Even trivial information acquires meaning, or adds to our understanding of astrology. At the time of writing this article, Jupiter has just entered Scorpio, and the big news story is the alleged and probable sexual harassment of aspiring actresses by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Who has now been fired from his job and is seeking counseling. Just what Jupiter in Scorpio would prescribe. Jupiter sets the ball rolling in relation to everything undercover, and has a mission to make secrets known.
The curious astrologer can then check out relevant charts to gain deeper insight. Looking at the horoscope for Harvey Weinstein (May 19, 1952, Flushing, NY. Time unknown but I like a 22.30 time) you can ask the question, “Is he a sexual predator or just a victim of sorts?” and the answers rings loud and clear. It’s true he has Mercury conjoining a Jupiter/Neptune opposition – the perfect Hollywood signature – and Venus conjoins the North Node in Pisces – all those starlets for the silver screen. But, wait a minute, Mars in Scorpio is exactly square Pluto, so OK he is most likely a sexual predator.
Harvey Weinstein: March 19, 1952. 22.30 (A guess) Flushing, New York
Lateral Logic
On quite another level, Jupiter is related to tin. But is this true? Looking at the news for Britain on March 6th, 1998, you could read that the last tin mine in Britain had closed. Jupiter at this time was at 7 Pisces and Pluto 8 Sagittarius, which clearly is the astrological epitaph for tin. Reading further in the same newspaper, a horse mysteriously died whilst grazing in a field. It turned out that it had been electrocuted by an underground cable. Jupiter of course also represents horses, and the underground is Pluto’s domain. This is the extraordinary lateral logic of astrology, where seemingly unrelated events are reflections of the same planetary patterns.
Looking at the unfolding of time through the news, astrology becomes vibrant and alive instead of something dogmatic, that seems to lock people into to a fated view of their future. It becomes a tool for living in the moment. Furthermore, at some point the greatest astrology teacher becomes life itself, always surprising with events which surpass what could have been imagined.
Planetary Ingresses – Chiron
The news can be trivial or deadly serious, but it is always a great teacher. One thing the astrologer can always look forward to is planetary ingresses, just like Jupiter entering Scorpio. You could for example ask yourself the question, “Does Chiron, which is so small, really have any astrological effect?”. Well, clearly it does. When Chiron made its ingress into Pisces and was at 0.02 degrees, the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded (April 20th, 2010, at 21.45 – 400 miles south of Houston) igniting a fireball visible for miles. It was the largest oil spill in US waters and the oil just kept on gushing. It took three months to stop this gaping wound in the sea bed. Chiron in Pisces, right? (Note 1)
Really it is not the physical planets themselves that exert this influence, but the orbital field they encompass. Size does not matter, and an argument can in fact be made for the further away a planet or body is, the more pervading its sphere of influence. Anything within the gravitational sphere of the Sun influences life on Earth.
Planetary Ingresses – Uranus
Astrologers will always be treated to something dramatic when there is a planetary ingress, but what can be more dramatic than Uranus, especially when it enters the first sign of the Zodiac – Aries? Outer planets will always ingress three times, and on March 11th, 2011, when Uranus entered Aries for the third time, the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered a tsunami that swept over coastal defenses and swamped the nuclear power station at Fukushima destroying four reactors. (Note 2.)
Uranus was at 29.57 Pisces, as the earthquake triggered the tsunami – and by the time Fukushima’s reactors exploded, it was at 0.00 Aries… Uranus swept in from the ocean to the land. As Uranus in Aries went on to square Pluto, Japan has had to deal with subsequent radioactive pollution for many years. About 20,000 people died in the tsunami and over 200,000 people had to be relocated because of radioactive pollution. This was how Uranus heralded its entry into Aries.
Planetary Ingresses – Pluto
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto may or may not announce their arrival in a sign with a dramatic event. What is more likely is that circumstances have been building up for some time, then a crisis evolves over a year. This was the case in 2008 as Pluto transitioned from Sagittarius into Capricorn, when the subprime mortgage crisis and leveraging of bad debt resulted in the world-shaking financial crash. This ingress showed the death of the irrational exuberance of Sagittarius as it hit the rocks of Capricorn reality. Similarly, when Pluto moved back and forth from Libra to Scorpio in 1983-1984, the world was faced with the threat of monumental destruction as negotiations to control nuclear missiles in Europe deadlocked.
Planetary Ingresses – Neptune
On the night of December 2nd – 3rd, 1984, a gas leak at an American pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, resulted in the deaths of an estimated 8000 Indian residents living locally, and over half a million injuries. Neptune had entered Capricorn just two weeks before. Of course, Neptune is related to gases, and Capricorn to boundaries, and what happened in Bhopal was the complete failure of the tank containing deadly methyl isocyanate. Mercury had also just entered Capricorn, where it conjoined Neptune at 0.23 degrees.
The Role of Mercury
Generally, it is Mercury that likes to make its presence known through the trivia of the daily news. Mercury is after all communication and information. It is always interesting when Mercury moves stationary retrograde, because at this point it will be backtracking and covering the same territory two more times. Therefore, it is a sure bet that if anything is concealed or just unknown at the station, then it will be revealed over the next five to six weeks as Mercury wanders back and forward, eventually reaching the same stationary position again.
The Journalist and the Submarine
The inventor and hobbyist Peter Madsen, well known in Denmark for his crowdfunded creations – rockets and submarines – was in the news on August 11th, 2017. On this evening, he took the 30-year old Swedish journalist Kim Wall for a trip in his home-built submarine. She disappeared, the submarine sank, and when questioned by the police, Mr. Madsen claimed he had put her ashore the night before. Unfortunately for him, the story did not hold water, and why should it, when on the night of this expedition, Mercury was stationary in Virgo opposite Neptune?
As Venus was at 17 degrees Cancer and Pluto 17 Capricorn on August 11th, things did not look good for the female journalist. This is very reminiscent of the Persephone myth, where the goddess Demeter (Ceres) was happily walking with her daughter Persephone (Venus) when suddenly the god of the Underworld, Hades (Pluto) dragged Persephone down into the Underworld, just as Madsen took Wall down to the sea bottom. Ceres was conjoining Venus at this time, and also opposing Pluto!
It’s worth looking at the horoscope for Peter Madsen, because it contains all the astrological signatures for the dark deed, which was subsequently to be revealed.
Peter Madsen January 12, 1971. Copenhagen. Time unknown.
Firstly, Mars is in Scorpio opposing Saturn, which shows a strong but frustrated sexuality. His computer was later found to contain sexually explicit videos in which women lost their lives. Mercury in exile at 29 Sagittarius was square Pluto at 29 Virgo – the mad genius inventor. Clearly this is someone with secrets, who knows how to cover his tracks. The submarine however left sonar tracks and police were able to search the ocean floor, eventually uncovering Kim Wall’s torso, then head, then limbs. Madsen, who changed his story repeatedly as new evidence came to light, had stabbed Kim Wall multiple times. Ultimately, he refused to speak to the police, and indeed, what was there to say? It was a tragic event, and he was a brutal killer.
Significant Degrees
This horoscope is interesting for another reason. Madsen’s Sun at 21 Capricorn is within the degree area 20-23 Cancer/Capricorn designated by the brilliant astrologer Dennis Elwell as degrees which under extreme circumstances can indicate murderers. (Note 3) These include Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper), Ian Brady (The Moors Murders), Montague John Druitt (the probable Jack the Ripper) and a lot of others. These degrees tend to indicate people who seem to be without a conventional moral compass, and quite famous people, like the Marquis de Sade, Baudelaire and Salvador Dali have significant planets here. I do not know why 20-23 degrees Cancer/Capricorn should have these associations, but clearly it was not a good sign when looking at Peter Madsen’s chart.
The Spruce Goose and Donald Trump
It is naturally possible to go back in time to study the news on an actual birthdate, because the events on this date (more likely reported the day after) will contain subtle messages regarding the forces at play when an individual comes into the world. Looking for example at the day after Donald Trump was born, I noticed that this was the date that billionaire Howard Hughes sent his enormous Hercules H-4 aircraft – the Spruce Goose – to the docks for launch at sea. This was astrologically appropriate because at this time Uranus was conjoining the Sun and trining Jupiter – the perfect signature for flight.
The Hercules H-4 was the largest aircraft ever built, with the longest wingspan. The biggest, longest, heaviest, widest – indeed the best aircraft ever – just like Donald Trump’s inauguration crowds. It flew once, for one mile. On this same date, the US government offered to destroy all their atomic bombs and share their nuclear secrets. They were obviously lying but I am sure it created the right effect.
Whilst watching the news is revealing and educational, it can also be a little depressing. But sometimes it seems as if the cosmos itself revels in revealing trivia, which serve as witness to planetary movement. Newspapers that cater for a mass readership are very good at capturing the zeitgeist of the moment in a pithy headline. At the time of writing, Mercury has just moved into Scorpio where it immediately conjoins Jupiter – and it seems that Larry Flint (of porn magazine The Hustler fame) has just taken a full-page advert in the Washington Post offering $10 million for information leading to the impeachment of Donald Trump. He forgot to add “Dead or Alive” perhaps, but he got the timing right with Mercury entering Scorpio.
In the last analysis, it is not the news that counts, it is simply awareness of what is going on around you. As you get up in the morning and look out the window, or as you walk down the street, or as you interact with people, the forces of the cosmos are constantly rearranging themselves in ways to teach you about how significant each moment is. All you have to do is to have all senses on the alert to pick up the signals, and to have a template like astrology to interpret their meaning.
Adrian Ross Duncan. October 17th, 2017.
- Thanks to US astrologer whose name escapes me right now, for pointing this out.
- The earthquake took place on March 11th, 2011 at 14.46 130 km offshore from the city of Sendai.
- Dennis Elwell: “The Cosmic Loom” (The Urania Trust 1999).