Astro Blog
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2002 | Adrian’s Articles 2002
It is unlikely than anyone can rise through the political ranks without a strongly placed Saturn. Access to this planet’s energies gives the tenacity and determination to win through against the odds, and to work for long-term goals. Coupled with Jupiter, Saturn keys into social forces which are the building blocks of society, particular law and government. At its finest, the politically-expressed Saturn represents a sense of responsibility and duty towards society, and a selfless dedication to government. However, on a personal level Saturn often evokes a sense of inferiority, lack of self-esteem and a feeling of not reaching the summit. To some extent this feeling is the driving force of ambition: the need to achieve something for society also rests on the need to prove oneself and gain recognition. Fear of failure leads to great efforts to succeed.
Ambitious Drives
If fears of insufficiency dominate behind the driving force of ambition, then it can be very difficult for the person in question to recognise when goals have been achieved. The force which drove them to achieve high position, still drives them when this position is reached. Ultimately there is the danger that ambition becomes overweening, and leads to fixed ideas about how success should be administered, and struggle when struggle is no longer needed. Thus overwork and over-control undermine health, popularity and success in the later stages of the career. Stressful aspects of the Sun to Saturn, particularly the square, and Saturn in the 10 th house have all acquired a reputation for fall from power, with Napoleon and Hitler often being cited as examples. The picture is however far more nuanced than this. Hitler’s Saturn in Leo in the 10 th was in detriment, so it was extra important for him to compensate for inferiority feelings by being leader of the 3 rd Reich. And Saturn was square a retrograde Venus in Taurus conjoining a debilitated Mars at the same degree. Even half a million people simultaneously rising their right arm in military salute could not quite convince him that he was loved. With no mitigating aspects to Saturn in the 10 th , it is hardly any wonder that it expressed itself appallingly.
Mitterand – see chart of Francois Mitterand
Francois Mitterand (Note 1.) had Saturn in the 10 th also in square to the Sun, yet he acquitted himself rather well as President of France from 1981 to 1994, being its first socialist president… much to the alarm of the USA at the time. Born at the time of a Saturn/Neptune conjunction, he has a typical “socialist” astrological signature. He was also imprisoned by the Germans during WW2 – another expression of Saturn/Neptune squaring the Sun. Although dogged by rumours of collaboration with the Vichy government, this never seriously affected his government, and neither did his womanising. (Probably seen as a plus-factor in France). His ability to handle presidential power is probably shown by the Pluto/MC conjunction trining his Sun. This may also explain why he was so keen on building up France’s nuclear deterrent. (Their intercontinental missile was called “Pluton”.) In Mitterand’s case, his Sun is also opposing Jupiter, which probably counteracts the negativity of the Sun/Saturn square, and Mars trines Saturn and Neptune from the 3 rd house, giving him the ability to fight for his case in a very convincing way.
Kohl – see chart of Helmut Kohl
Another great European leader, Helmut Kohl (Note 2) had Saturn in the 10 th also square the Sun, which makes quite a convincing case for political success – and success which is long term – as Kohl was Chancellor of Germany for 16 years until 1998. His success was even more marked than Mitterand’s, with the unification of East and West Germany as the crowning point of his career. The point is, that in Kohl’s case, Saturn is extremely well-placed in its own sign, and it is square to an exalted Sun in Aries. Furthermore, Kohl’s Sun/Uranus conjunction is exactly sextile Jupiter, though it is also tied in to a T-square with Pluto. It was at the time of the Saturn/Neptune conjunction at 10 Capricorn – right on Kohl’s MC – on Kohl’s 2 nd Saturn return, that the Berlin wall dissolved and the two Germanyy subsequently unified. He was certainly the right man in the right place at the right time. His departure as leader of the German conservative party was marred by a scandal concerning the misuse of party funds, presaged no doubt my his 2 nd House Gemini Moon exactly squaring Neptune.
Chiang Kai-Shek – see chart of Chiang Kai-Shek
The Saturn/Sun/Jupiter theme continues for another long-term leader, Chiang Kai-Shek, (Note 3) who led China from 1928 to 1949, where he retreated to Formosa, later Taiwan, which he governed until his death in 1975. The iron hand of a general can clearly be seen in the fixed sign square between Sun in Scorpio and Saturn in Leo, and his ruthlessness in the Pluto square Mars in the 8 th house. His fate as leader of a “second” China, which was eventually to be disowned by the international community can perhaps be seen in the conjunction of Neptune and Pluto in the 4 th house, opposing Mercury in “exile” in Sagittarius. He personally felt that the hand of fate had been against him, and that Taiwan was small compensation for China. It is said he died a disappointed man.
Milosevic – see chart of Slobodan Milosevic
One man currently in the news with a Saturn/Sun square is Slobodan Milosevic. (Note 4) With Sun in Leo and in the 5 th he dreamed of being acclaimed leader of a “Greater Serbia”. Adulation was probably very important for him. The trine from Mars in Aries gave him military tendencies, though the 12 th house position showed him manipulating events more behind the scenes. His tragic childhood, indicated by a Moon/Pluto/Chiron conjunction in the 4 th house, meant that he played out early trauma on a national and international stage. Both parents committed suicide, his father in 1962, and mother in 1972, and his own subsequent behaviour as Serbia’s strongman turned out to be equally suicidal for his home country. His fall from power in 2000 and his incarceration as a war criminal in The Hague coincided with Neptune’s transit opposing his Moon. His war trial in 2002 coincides with the transit of Uranus in opposition to Sun and Mercury, and square Saturn, guaranteeing him media attention. Perhaps he still has a few surprises up his sleeve. As transiting Saturn sextiles his Sun from the 3 rd house cusp from August 2002 to May 2003 we can expect him to put up a stubborn defence, making a successful prosecution difficult.
Cheney – see chart of Dick Cheney
Even more relevant for the present period is the Sun/Saturn square in the Vice President of America, Dick Cheney’s, horoscope, (Note 5) which is now receiving a transit from Neptune. Again we can see the powerful configuration of Jupiter conjoining Saturn in aspect to the Sun, propelling him into an ambitious career as an arch conservative: pro-gun, anti-abortion, pro-death penalty pro-oil and anti environment. With three fixed planets in the 9 th house, he is unlikely to change his views in this life, and he undoubtedly does not believe in the next. His 6 th house Aquarian Sun shows him as a loyal servant of the Republicans in general and the Bush family in particular. His notoriously weak heart is probably also shown by his afflicted Sun in detriment here.
Enron
Whilst his career boost predictably took place with the repeat of the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction on his Midheaven in 2000 – exactly like Helmut Kohl – he is surely heading for disgrace and obscurity now. Neptune triggers his Sun from May 2002 to November 2003, and Pluto triggers first his Mars in the Spring of 2002 (whilst Saturn opposes – he is under tremendous stress), and later his Moon. It’s difficult to believe he will see out his term, and it may be scandal rather than health which beats him. What obviously springs to mind is Cheney’s involvement with the energy giant Enron, which collapsed with catastrophic results at the end of last year. Fortunately for both Bush and Cheney, the current terrorist war has kept the public’s minds off this crisis, but it is now seeping back into the public’s consciousness. Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force met six times with Enron officials last year, and Enron’s Chairman Ken Lay personally met Cheney on April 17 th . As Enron was Bush’s largest campaign contributor, questions are being asked about how much Cheney used his influence to help Enron. At present nobody knows because Cheney refused to disclose details of meetings on February 2, 2002, invoking “executive privilege”.
Oil Secrets
With Neptune on his 2 nd house cusp, opposing the Moon in Pisces, it is naive to believe that Cheney does not have hidden links with energy companies, particular as regards oil. In 1993 Cheney left politics and entered the private sector, serving as chairman and CEO of Dallas-Based Halliburton Corporation, specialising in the development of oil and gas production around the world, particularly the new emerging Caspian Sea area. For his Neptune in the 2nd, oil is where the money is, as shown by its links to Venus in Capricorn. It’s difficult not to raise questions about the present US Afghanistan policy, when the enormous oil reserves of Central Asia are considered. With US interests firmly entrenched in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea area they are reluctant to empower Russia or Iran by leading pipelines through their countries, and it is common knowledge that they wish for access to the South East Asian market via pipelines through Afghanistan. Obviously the desire to fight terrorism in Afghanistan was a major factor for Bush and Cheney, but it will be interesting to see how they consolidate their influence in this country once Al Quaeda is pacified. We can expect to read of a growing scandal involving Cheney peaking in May 2003, as a transiting retrograde Mercury in Taurus squares a Mars/Neptune conjunction. This precisely activates Cheney’s Sun/Saturn – a situation he is unlikely to survive, though it could drag on for some time.
Danish Downfall
Closer to my own home base in Denmark, inhabitants have been treated to the spectacle of the imminent downfall of a well-known mayor who also sports an interesting Sun/Saturn square. He has had a high profile for many years because of unconventional and pronounced right-wing methods, but he went too far when it was discovered he had been indulging in exclusive dinners (with exclusive wines at $1000 a go) with his cronies, paid for courtesy of his electorate. Subsequent investigations in February 2002 showed that he had manipulated with enormous sums of money channelling them into pet projects like sports stadiums and the like, quite unbeknownst to the council commute. Too much power for too many years had led the man, Peter Brixtofte, into believing that the city he controlled was his own personal fiefdom.
See chart of Peter Brixtofte
Looking at Brixtofte’s horoscope (Note 6) it’s easy to see that he is an extremely hard-working person, (with a Mars/Saturn conjunction in Virgo, as well as the Moon) and that his Jupiter/Venus on the MC shows a love of his political duties and the people he represents… as well as the fact that he has been popular for many years. At the present time he is fighting for his political life, as the council has taken the extraordinary and perhaps unconstitutional step of relieving him of his duties. A canny interviewer on TV (Michael Meyerheim) asked him “Do you think you may have difficulty admitting that you are wrong?” That’s the right question to put to a Sagittarian! His answer, initially, was naturally that he hadn’t done anything wrong. Brixtofte is fighting like a fish on a hook.
Dead Man Walking
He believes he still has a future. But the transit of Pluto to conjoin his Sun and square his Saturn shows that his career as mayor is definitively finished. He will not survive, but he is at present unaware of this. The last transit of Pluto to the Sun comes in November 2003, but the coup-de-grace will probably come quickly with the Saturn opposition in June, and the eclipse of the Sun at 19.54 Gemini on June 10 th . His star goes out, and he would be well-advised to seek new pastures, perhaps in federal Europe. It remains to be seen what the consequences will be for the present right-wing Danish government, with whom Brixtofte has such strong links. It is significant that the Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has Sun 6 Aquarius square Jupiter 12 Taurus – echoing the chart of Dick Cheney. Here too it is likely that government power is dissolved by escalating financial scandal.
Judging from these high-profile examples, it would seem that a strong Saturn and a strong Jupiter configured with the Sun is an excellent tool if you are seeking influence in society. Ignominy and fall only come when the complexes associated with Saturn obscure the nobility of the Sun, and this is by no means a foregone conclusion. Difficult Saturn aspects may bring setbacks, but they also bring determination and resilience. There is no guarantee that they bring self-knowledge however, although a downfall or two certainly gives rise to lonely periods of introspection.
© Adrian Ross Duncan 15 Mar 2002
Thanks to astrodatabank.com for birth data.
1. Francois Mitterand: Gauquelin Vol 5/1504. AA data.
2. Helmut Kohl: Alexander Von Pronay from birth certificate. AA data.
3. Chiang Kai-Shek: Blackwell quotes Soong Dynasty (Harper & Row, 1985, p.152) “At precisely noon.” B data.
4. Data from Stjernerne .
5. Dick Cheney: Stephen Przybylowski quotes data read from the birth certificate.
6. Data from Jørn Nielsen, source unknown.
by Adrian Duncan | Oct 16, 2001 | Adrian's Articles 2000
En hel verden elsker Leonard Cohens sange – ikke mindst i Danmark, hvor han har haft et meget trofast publikum gennem flere årtier. Leonard Cohen er manden, der gennem mere end 30 år har inspireret os med sine dybe og melodiske sange. Nu er han aktuel med en udgivelse, der udkom den 8. oktober 2001. I hans musiske univers eksisterer intense og altopslugende følelser, der netop er genkendelige og identificerbare, fordi de er så personlige. De stemninger, Cohen skaber, lader os dykke ned i et hav af romantik, erotik og eksistentiel smerte. Ingen følelser er bandlyste i sangenes verden, og de virker healende i deres menneskelige ærlighed. Mange af sangene rummer et stærkt spirituelt element og kredser om forholdet til det guddommelige.
Opvækst og religion
Se Leonard Cohens horoskop
Leonard Cohen voksede op i en traditionel jødisk familie i Montreal i 1930’erne og 1940’erne. Familien gik i synagogen og tændte altid lys på sabbatten. Ifølge Cohen selv var hans barndoms religion dog ikke på nogen måde undertrykkende eller fanatisk. Hans Sol i Jomfruen i det mulige 2. hus (ifølge korrektionen) i sekstil til Pluto i Krebsen i 11. hus viser en tidlig påvirkning af nogle traditionsbetemte og magtfulde værdier. Det at familien var en del af det jødiske samfund og identificerede sig med en religiøs livsindstilling, har påvirket ham på et tidligt tidspunkt. Den stærke T-kvadrat mellem Jupiter i Vægten i 3. hus (Descendant-hersker), Pluto i Krebsen i 11. hus (IC-hersker) og Uranus i Tyren i 9. hus viser, at den tidlige tankegang og indlæring har været præget af en stærk tro og tankegang. Som Leonard senere siger: “Jeg ser religion som en teknik til styrke og til at gøre universet gæstfrit og venligt”. Det er helt sikkert, at man har behov for at gøre universet venligt med en T-kvadrat, der viser, hvor voldsomt et ideologisk magtmisbrug verden blev udsat for i den tid, hvor Leonard voksede op.
Jupiter/Pluto
Cohen skriver i en af sine senere sange, der illustrerer, hvordan sindet absorberer den kollektive energi, der ligger i en sådan T-kvadrat: “I have seen the future brother it is murder. I have seen the nations rise and fall. I have heard their stories heard them all But love is the only engine of survival”Jupiter er troen på en positiv fremtid, og den er stærkt belejret af Uranus og Pluto. Aspektet skildrer opvæksten under den gryende nazisme og den stærke angst, der prægede hans forældre under 2. Verdenskrig. Leonard Cohens far blev såret under krigen og døde, da Leonard kun var 9 år gammel. Ofte skildrer Sol/Pluto aspekter en tidlig adskillelse fra faderen. Det alt for tidlige tab af faderen efterlod et enormt tomrum hos Cohen, der dedikerede det første digt til sin far, som han senere begravede i haven. Hvilken stærk og tidlig manifestation af Solen i Jomfruen sekstil til Pluto i Krebsen! På tidspunktet for 2. Verdenskrigs udbrud mødte progressive Merkur i Vægten radix Pluto i Krebsen og forbandt derved Leonards sind med hele det kollektive drama. Da hans far døde i 1944 gik progressive Merkur i Skorpionen (hersker over Solen) i opposition til radix Uranus i Tyren.
Perfektion og selvagtelse
Gennem sit liv har han kæmpet med sin Jomfru-Sols kritiske holdning til sig selv, og hans musik er ofte blevet betegnet som melankolsk og deprimerende. Selv siger Leonard med sin sædvanlige tørre og ironiske Sol-Pluto humor: “They call me Laughing Len in England and suggest that we should sell razors with my records…”Det livsbekræftende ved Cohen er, at han aldrig lægger skjul på sine følelser, uanset hvor stærke eller “upassende” de end måtte være. Det bliver til inspiration for os andre, der finder disse tilladte dybder i musikken forløsende. Med sin kompromisløse Sol-Pluto tør han være til stede i sine stemninger… og hvor er det befriende. Det har en ren katarsiseffekt på dem, der lytter til hans musik. Han er enormt perfektionistisk i sit arbejde og bruger ofte to år på at skrive en sang/tekst.
Zenbuddhismen, Roshi og Mt. Baldy
Om sit forhold til den zenbuddhistiske mester Roshi på Mt. Baldy bjerget ved Los Angeles siger Cohen meget tydeligt om selvaccept: “Jeg forelskede mig i denne gamle mand, og når du er sammen med nogen, du elsker, kan du handle frit. Måske kan man virkelig lære at kunne lide sig selv”. En utrolig ydmyg udtalelse for en mand, der har udgivet ni album, turneret i mere end tyve lande med 500 koncerter og udgivet elleve bøger. Ud over buddhisme, meditation og de to børn, han er far til. Leonard investerer trods den ydre berømmelse og indflydelse stor energi i selvagtelse, hvilket yderligere kendetegner Sol/Pluto.
Debut
I 1968 gik progressiv Sol i Skorpionen i opposition til radix Uranus i Tyren og befandt sig på selv samme grad, som Merkur gjorde, da hans far døde. Han var parat til at lade sine egne oplevelser gennem livet (hans fars død) være til inspiration for alle dem, der ville føle stærkt, dybt og helt. Nogle måneder før blev hans debutalbum udgivet – Songs of Leonard Cohen. Talsmanden for de dybe og intime stemninger var parat til at påvirke os på sin egen kontroversielle måde. I 1967-68 befandt transit Uranus sig på hans Sol i 27 grader Jomfru i 12. hus og gav ham et yderligere spark ud i mediernes søgelys.
Kærlighed og længsel
“You can’t go too deep / If you want to swim / Where mermaids weep / Out of love for him / You can’t stop a man / From loving too much / I’m still licking stamps / From trying it once”. Cohen har en meget eksakt Venus/Neptun konjunktion i Jomfruen i hans mulige 1. hus. Han udtaler i biografien Leonard Cohen – in his own words, at han har brugt hele sit liv på at åbne sit hjerte, og at han altid har været forelsket. Det er svært at finde tilfredsstillelse i jordiske forhold med Venus/Neptun aspekter, fordi der eksisterer en evig længsel efter den guddommelige og altopslugende kærlighed. Det understøttes af den drømmende og længselsfulde Måne i Fiskene i 7. hus. En indre forestilling om, at det ideelle forhold findes et sted i fremtiden, og at kærligheden har karakter af en slags transcendent frelse. På bagsiden af den første af Leonard Cohens udgivelser står “anima sola”, hvilket betyder alene-sjæl, eller som Cohen siger sjælens triumf over materien. Det er lige præcis, hvad Venus/Neptun ønsker, at overskride materiens grænser ved at røre den elskedes sjæl og blive udfriet fra det jordiske og trivielle. Man kan sige, at det er præcis det, som musikken og lyrikken i Cohens univers er i stand til at gøre for os andre!
Sisters of Mercy
En af de smukkeste historier, der illustrerer Cohen’s Venus, er baggrunden for tilblivelsen af sangen The Sisters of Mercy . Det var en kold aften i Canada i 1967. Leonard Cohen mødte to piger på gaden, der inviterede ham til at stå med dem i døråbningen. Da de senere gik sammen til hans hotelværelse, havde han erotiske forestillinger om aftenens forløb. Intet skete, og de faldt udmattede om på en lille sofa. Månen lyste smukt gennem vinduet, og Cohen kunne ikke sove, men satte sig op og skrev The Sisters of Mercy , der var færdig næste morgen. “Oh the sisters of mercy / they are not departed or gone / They were waiting for me / when I thought that I just can’t go on / If your life is a leaf / that the seasons tear off and condemn / They will bind you with love / that is graceful and green as a stem”.. Hvilket smukt udtryk for Venus/Neptun, der tryller en fysisk længsel om til musik! Kvinder og kærlighed bliver symbolet på en anden tilstand af lyksalighed og en opløsning af sjælen til en ren, hengiven og uselvisk kærlighed. Ofte skriver Cohen om de udstødte, de lidende og dem, som netop savner kærligheden i livet for at være i stand til at overkomme deres smerte. Med Venus/Neptun i Jomfruen og Månen i Fiskene i trigon til Jupiter i Vægten eksisterer et dybt ønske om at udfri dem, der føler stor smerte.
Kvinderne
Cohen’s Måne i Fiskene forbinder sig i en sekstil til Uranus i Tyren, og man kunne forestille sig, at han – med sine sensitive og følsomme behov for samhørighed – ikke får den tilfredstillelse, han længtes efter som barn. Ikke at tilknytningen blev brudt eller ikke eksisterede, men at den ikke blev opfyldt efter hans behov. Cohen beskriver, hvordan hans mor klædte ham på i rød hue og rød frakke i de kolde vintre i Montreal, og så skulle han blive udenfor og lege i sneen og måtte ikke komme ind, før hun kaldte. Han skriver, at meget af tiden gik med at lege ude. Uranus skaber ofte afstand, selv ved en sekstil, og Månen i Fiskene rummer tit en trist længsel. Denne længsel bliver forvandlet til eksistentiel og sjælelig længsel, der sammen med Venus/Neptun bliver drivkraften i hans musik. Han berører ensomheden og længslen efter kærligheden som et eviggyldigt menneskeligt tema. Han siger selv, at mange fantastiske kvinder har elsket ham, men at han aldrig for alvor åbnede sit hjerte. Spørgsmålet er bare, om det er sandheden eller selvkritik.
Marianne og Suzanne
Han levede sammen med den norske kvinde Marianne på en lille græsk ø (Venus/Neptun) i 1960’erne, og hans udtalelser om deres forhold er et fantastisk eksempel på hans Venus position i Jomfruen: “Marianne she brought a tremendous sense of order into my life. Just the way that she laid the table or lit the candles or cleaned the house…” Han taler om hende som sin muse, der skinnede foran poeten, og at hun hjalp ham til at disciplinere sig selv og sætte sig ved skrivebordet. Merkur i Vægten i 2. hus viser hans behov for og evne til koncentration og fordybelse i arbejdet. Det er til hans egen forundring digtene, der giver pengene… Marianne og Leonard skiltes i 1968, hvor hans progressive Sol bevægede sig ind i Skorpionen, og da hans progressive Venus gik i konjunktion med radix Jupiter (Descendant-hersker) og i kvadrat til Pluto i Krebsen. Han mødte derefter Suzanne, som han fik to børn med.
Ten New Songs og andre udgivelser
Leonard Cohen udgav den 8. oktober en CD kaldet Ten New Songs , og de skildrer som sædvanligt kærlighedens karakter, som det essentielle i livet. Sammen med smerten over tabet af den elskede og livets forgængelighed i almindelighed. Mennesket der står over for døden og må skynde sig at leve. Glæd dig til Cohens ocean af magisk stemning og inderlig hypnotisk lyd.
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
In May 1970 I crossed the border from a grey and oppressive Iran and entered the magical land of Afghanistan. Fellow wanderers from that period will be able to confirm that the atmosphere was liberated, happy and very welcoming indeed. There was no obvious sign of religious fundamentalism at that time, just a colourful country with colourful people, although a fair number did like to carry rifles. Just three years later a palace coup deposed the monarchy, and the subsequent destabilisation process provided fertile ground for the catastrophe of the Soviet invasion, and the subsequent Jihad against the Soviets, who finally withdrew in February 1989. The Taleban themselves took Kabul on April 25th 1992 at the time of the Uranus/Neptune conjunction at 18 Capricorn, which is an indication of revolutionary Islam, and which resonates with the Uranus/Neptune conjunction which marked the start of the Muslim Era in the year 622. At this time Mars was at 21 Pisces activating the US Mars/Neptune square, and therefore linking the country to the US war potential. The Taleban take-over was 18 years after the original coup, which means that the position of the Moon’s nodes in Capricorn/Cancer is repeated.
See chart of Afghanistan
An Unconquered People
The chart for the coup does give some indication of the nature of Afghanistan, but the country itself has a long and fierce history and no one chart can be used. It has been conquered periodically but never subdued. Alexander the Great conquered it in 329 BCE but ultimately had to withdraw because of constant revolts. The British in their turn tried repeatedly in a series of wars in the 19th century. In the first Anglo-Afghani war, the British invaded in January 1842, and out of 16,500 soldiers (and 12,000 dependants) only one survivor returned to the fort in Jalalabad. I suppose they left one to tell the tale. The 1973 chart is very telling, showing as it does the Jupiter/Moon conjunction in the (solar) 8th house, which is currently receiving a long-term conjunction from Neptune. Afghanistan may be a warrior country, but for the young, the women and the older men, the current bombing campaign is a disaster on top of years of suffering culminating in the current oppression by the mediaeval Taleban fundamentalist government. The Mars in Aries shows the country’s warrior culture, its opposition to Uranus emphasising the extreme independence and tendency to be both a victim of high-tech warfare, and to adapt to it. Venus at 19 Leo was struck by the August 1999 eclipse, which also cast its shadow through Afghanistan. At the World Trade Centre attack, Venus was again at 19 Leo.
Afghanistan and the US
The nodal axis falls on the US Venus/Jupiter conjunction, and the position of these nodes was exactly reversed at the time of the terror attack on September 11th, 2001. It is also interesting to see that the 1973 Afghan chart has the Sun at 24 and Mercury at 29 Cancer which strongly activates the secretive US Mercury/Pluto opposition from 24 Cancer to 27 Capricorn. This is a strong indication both that Afghanistan houses spies and terrorists that have a secret connection to the US and also that the CIA has made an extensive use of spies and terrorists in Afghanistan, especially during the eighties. Indeed it was at this time that America recruited and trained Osama bin Laden and financed the infiltration of Saudi militants to fight the Soviet Union there. In the light of the fact that Afghanistan has assumed great strategic importance as an oil pipeline route from ex-Soviet states, there could be some truth in the suggestion that the US has a secret agenda in attempting to subdue Afghanistan. One should not forget that Bill Cheney and a large number of Bush’s entourage, including Bush himself have their roots in oil.
The Muslim Calendar
See chart for the beginning of Muslim Era
Since the New York attack, there have been many attempts to pin down the birth date of Osama bin Laden, but it has proved difficult. Interpol have a birth date of the 10th March 1957, whilst the US State Department has a date of 30th July 1957. There are many conflicting dates. Here I have chosen the July date for a specific reason. The traditional date of Mohammed’s arrival in Medina is 16th July 622 AD, and the Muslim Era is dated from sunset of that date. (Note 1.) This date is the first day of the first of the year of the Hijrah, which is Anno Hegirae MuHarram 1 , or 1 A.H. The Muslim calendar dates not from the birth or death of Mohammed, or from the celebration of any mundane event. According to the Islamic sage Muhammad Ilyes, its religious significance is to teach man that struggle between Truth and Evil is eternal, and to remind Muslims every year not of the pomp and glory of Islam but of its sacrifice.
It’s an extremely unusual chart with all the planets grouped on the Western horizon (except for Jupiter and Pluto) between the Sun at 25 Cancer and Mars at 20 Virgo. There are 4 planets and the North Node (Rahu) in Leo, and 3 planets in Virgo. Saturn and Rahu are in conjunction, which does seem to indicate a rather heavy fate for Islam. Traditionally things do not go well for Muslims at the repeat of this pattern every 22/23 years. The 1967 six-day war led to the loss of vast tracts of land to Israel, and the Gulf War in 1991 humiliated Iraq. Similar setbacks for Islam can be expected in 2002, when the North Node conjoins Saturn and opposes Pluto. The position of the Sun in the Muslim Era chart is almost opposite the Sun in the chart for Saudi Arabia (15.01.1902 Riyadh: Ascendant 24.27 Capricorn), as well as that of Afghanistan. As guardian of the holy shrines of Islam, particular in Mecca, the Saudi chart, with its Sun/Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn strong reflects the severity and deep traditions of a nation rooted in the past.
The Terrorist bin Laden
See chart of Osama bin Laden
Having studied the Muslim Era chart, it’s interesting to look at the proposed chart for bin Laden, which I have cheekily also calculated for sunset. After all the man has taken on the mantle of leader of an Islamic revolution which will reverse the domination of the West, and get rid of the “evils” of capitalism, democracy and women’s liberation. To me at least it seems fitting that he should be a Leo, as his poster has pride of place in many young Islamic bedrooms, much as Che Guevara did amongst Western youth in the sixties. It can thus be seen that bin Laden has 4 planets in Leo and 4 planets in Virgo, with only Saturn and Neptune outside of the planetary bunch. More Muslim than the Islam itself? There are extraordinary parallels with the Muslim Era chart. He has his Sun/Uranus conjunction on the Era’s nodal axis and close to its Saturn. His Mars/Pluto conjoin the Era’s Mercury and Moon, whilst his Mercury/Venus in Virgo are exactly on Uranus/Neptune. This is a man completely possessed by Islam, a messenger for Islam, and a revolutionary for Islam.
bin Laden and the USA
This chart has a number of extremely dangerous signatures, which key directly in to the US Independence chart. The main danger is from the Sun/Uranus conjunction at 7 Leo which is exactly on the US North Node, and semisquare both Mars and Neptune. This aspect corresponds rather well with the fact that his father died in a plane crash. Note that transit Neptune is currently transiting this point, and that the biological terrorism taking place with anthrax right now is a manifestation of this, indicated both by the US chart and also by this proposed chart for bin Laden. Although there are suggestions that the anthrax spores originate from America’s right wing, the synastry seems to show a link to bin Laden.
The Weakness of bin Laden
Without wishing to offend anyone dealing with the difficult energies of a Mars/Pluto conjunction, for a terrorist like bin Laden, this shows a ruthless implacability, and the close conjunction between Pluto and Mercury could show the use of transport and the post as a means of destruction. With the US Moon at 27 Aquarius, the Mars/Pluto conjunction in this bin Laden chart constitutes a deadly threat to the American people. In the progressed chart Mars is at 22.44 Virgo, exactly activating the US Mars/Neptune and pointing clearly at bin Laden as a perpetrator. There can be no doubt that this is the horoscope of a fanatic, and with the many planets in Virgo, this is a person who also plans fanatically, which is probably also its weakness. Obsessed with detail, it’s likely that the Saturn square Venus/Mercury demands an elegance in the execution of plans which cannot be achieved when the pressure is on. This is a person who gets flustered, although there is a well-documented example of him surviving a missile attack just yards away from where he was standing. He enjoys risks and extreme conditions, but his standards of perfection must be a pain to satisfy.
Man with a Mission
Early in bin Laden’s life, the two outer planets Pluto and Neptune made the transition from Leo and Libra to Virgo and Scorpio respectively. Born at a time of enormous collective change, he probably sees himself as the man to effect this change. He declared war on the USA and the West in a fatwah from Afghanistan in 1998, and he has a wide-ranging organisation that recruits young Muslims for the cause. Comparing his chart with the Muslim Era, it is doubtful that the Prophet would approve. The ideological rigidity of Saturn in Sagittarius is exactly square the Era’s Jupiter in Pisces… the Prophet would no doubt prefer more compassionate methods.
The Future
Right now, life cannot be comfortable. His Sun/Uranus is opposite the Afghanistan Moon/Jupiter in Aquarius, and is receiving the same Neptune transit. This is hardly the time for executive action, and he will have to lie low for a year. If he makes a move, then he is also likely to make a mistake. He may be tempted to do so when Mars joins Neptune in early November. Of course, if the chosen means of attack is chemical or bacteriological, then this could conceivably be successful, although it is in the nature of Neptune for it not to be. As far as the current campaign in Afghanistan is concerned, America cannot win. You don’t have to be an astrologer to work that one out. It is also unlikely that Osama bin Laden will be localised, let alone captured. Perhaps justice will be done – he is a brutal murderer after all – when Saturn conjoins his Sun in 2005, disposed of by the Afghanis themselves.
Adrian Ross Duncan 29.10.2001
Note 1. Book of World Horoscopes , Nick Campion
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
| On Friday 13th July the Olympic committee, assembled in Moscow, chose Beijing as the venue for the 2008 Olympic Games. This announcement came just hours after Jupiter – the largest planet in the solar system – moved into Cancer, so perhaps it is fitting that that the most populous country in the world was chosen. It seems that when a planet makes its entry into a new sign, it likes to make an introductory flourish as it were. In this case Mercury joined Jupiter and they crossed the border from Gemini to Cancer hand in hand. Millions celebrated the news in China. They flocked onto the streets of the major cities, and police gave up trying to control them. Great joy was brought to the largest population on Earth.Human Rights Issues
Human Rights groups – especially supporters of the exiled government of Tibet – were less than enthusiastic. They believe that the choice of China as venue legitimises a regime which overwhelmed Tibet by force in the Fifties, and is now well into the process of wiping out the ancient culture. There was extremely strong lobbying to exclude China for human rights abuses – they had already lost one bid in 1993 – but in the end sheer persistence paid off for China. One could argue that with one quarter of the world’s population within their borders, it is simply unwise to ostracise them. When living in the West, it’s always difficult to discern how far opinions are orchestrated by the cultural model of the USA and Western Powers, who have little understanding of the culture of other countries. After all, many of China’s opponents in the US have a political agenda, which has nothing to do with the rights of oppressed peoples.
The Origins
In connection with the Olympics there are those who argue against the politicisation of sport, and those who say it is unavoidable. In actual fact, the Olympics have always been politicised. Even at their very formation in 776 BC, the Games were seen as a way of cementing peace. The tradition was that there should be no fighting as long as the Games were on. The chart for the initial Olympics would appear to have taken place at the time of an eclipse in Leo opposing Neptune in Aquarius, so the ideals of the merging of states into a giant melting pot through games was firmly integrated into the opening chart. However, the same chart shows a retrograde Mars conjoining Uranus and opposing Pluto, so the competition was no doubt extremely fierce. War by other means. The institution of the Olympics actually lasted for 12 centuries (!) without a break, and they were only abolished in 393 AD – the 293rd Olympiad.
Olympic Revival
After a break of 1500 years the Olympics were recreated and the first Games in modern time took place on the 6th April 1896 in its ancient cradle of Athens. The old traditions were revived, including the lighting of the Olympic flame at the temple of Hera whilst a hymn was, and is still, sung to Apollo. This revival took place with a wonderful grand trine involving Venus exalted in Pisces, Jupiter exalted in Cancer, and Uranus/Saturn in Scorpio. The position of Venus in Pisces is very significant for Greece, as it was in this sign at the time of its revolution in 1821, and the establishment of a kingdom in 1830. It’s a very suitable position for a nation founded on the gods and goddesses of Olympia.
Berlin
See chart for Berlin Olympics
The grossest example of the appropriation of the Olympics for political purposes was at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hitler seized the opportunity to demonstrate the supposed superiority of the Arian race. The opening chart of August 1st shows Mercury conjoining Venus at 18 Leo exactly squaring the Pluto position for the birth of the German Empire (Jan 1st, 1871 at 0.00 Local Time in Berlin). At the same time transiting Pluto conjoining Mars is exactly on the IC position of the horoscope for the 3rd Reich. (Jan 30th, 1933 11.15 CET, Berlin). Obviously these Pluto combinations were rather good for concealing the ugly facts of the Nazi administration. All evidence of the persecution of the Jews was hidden, and the opening ceremony was characterised by the release of thousands of doves. However Hitler could not resist promoting himself and Nazi ideology, and there were rather more Nazi flags and photos of himself, than other flags. Germany won more medals than any other country at this Olympics, although there was a slight hitch, because black Americans won a large proportion of the athletic events. Hitler couldn’t quite bring himself to place awards around their necks, and absented himself from the prizegiving ceremony.
Munich
See chart for the Munich Olympics
In the latter part of the 20th century, the enormous focus of world attention on the Olympics has made them even more vulnerable to political statements. It was ironically in Germany again that the most catastrophic games in history played themselves out. It was at this time that Pluto had slipped into Libra after 15 years in Virgo. The Olympics in Munich proved the ideal place to demonstrate Pluto’s effect, namely that a small terrorist group could seriously change the balance of power. The Palestinian Black September group took the Israeli Olympic team hostage, and in a bungled operation 11 Israelis, 5 Palestinians , and one policeman died. With Mercury moving into Virgo at the time of the catastrophe and squaring Neptune, bad light and mist confused German sharpshooters at the airport where the terrorists were making their escape, enabling a surviving terrorist to execute the Israelis. At this time the Sun had moved from 3 Virgo to the Mars position at 7 Virgo, which just happened to be the exact North Node position in the horoscope for the 3rd Reich. Interestingly the North Node of the Munich Games was at 25 Cancer, the exact position of the 3rd Reich’s IC and Pluto, and Israel’s MC. The Games were suspended for one day, but continued in an atmosphere of sorrow and shame, aptly illustrated by the opening chart’s Moon in Pisces square Saturn, and the Sun/Mars square Neptune.
Moscow
See chart for the Moscow Olympics
Subsequent to this Olympics, the 1980 Games in Moscow became the next victim of a political statement. The USA and some Western allies refused to take part because of the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1979. On the one hand it’s easy to see that US participation would have seemed like an endorsement of Soviet policy, but the argument can also be made that the USA suffered no similar retribution when they were bombing Vietnam and Cambodia. It’s interesting to see how there was an exact Saturn/Neptune square at this time. In fact Saturn at 22 Virgo was exactly on the US Neptune, and Neptune opposite the US Mars – a combination which suggests frustration and sacrifice on the American side, especially as regards their athletes, who had trained for so many years. Saturn/Neptune combinations are always significant for developments in the socialist world, and these games were a celebration of Eastern Bloc power, although the Saturn/Neptune square could also symbolise the morass of Afghanistan, which ultimately drained the Soviet Union of its ability to maintain structure. There are many who argue that the power of the world’s media in itself is enough to expose human rights abuse and force change in autocratic countries, but there was no apparent softening of Soviet control over the communication apparatus at this Olympics. The retrograde Mercury in a water sign squaring Pluto was perhaps sufficient to maintain secrecy and manipulate news stories, but it did not help that 62 nations boycotted the Games, including the USA, West Germany and Japan.
Changes in China
See the chart of China
The 2008 Olympics in Beijing will have enormous significance for China. This huge country has had many vast upheavals in its long history, and is well aware of the fragile nature of its national identity, seen from a historical point of view. Anything that threatens the cohesion of China is stamped out by its leaders at an early stage, as was the uprising in Tiananmen Square on June 4th 1989 when the Saturn/Neptune/Uranus conjunction was squaring China’s stellium in Libra. Similarly China has not been slow to crack down on the group Falun Gong over the last few years (with Neptune transiting their Moon and Ascendant in Aquarius). The 2008 Olympics will take place in Beijing in July/August around the time of a total eclipse in Leo opposing Neptune in Aquarius, rather like the original Olympics of 776 BC.
See map of the eclipse
The path of the eclipse goes through Siberia ending almost exactly at Beijing, which in itself should have been enough to predict that the 2008 Olympics would be awarded to China. With Jupiter at 14.41 Capricorn rising over Beijing at the time of the eclipse, exactly squaring China’s Neptune at 14.39 Libra, there will be tremendous media attention, but it is also likely that religious groups which use the opportunity to broadcast their views. This is a Jupiter return for China, which already has a natal Jupiter/Neptune square. The nodal axis of the eclipse, conjoining Chiron, falls exactly on China’s Pluto, activating the Mars/Pluto square Venus of the revolution horoscope, and therefore also revealing the massive autocratic power of the Chinese military underlying the government elite. But the eclipse itself in Leo together with Mercury and a glittering Venus/Neptune opposition speaks of happiness and joy. These Games are going to be one big media party. No one should expect the official media to reveal anything that compromises the integrity of China here.
The Effect of the 2008 Eclipse
See chart of the eclipse
In itself this horoscope is peaceful and happy, especially when compared to the 1936 Olympics with its Sun/Uranus square and Mars/Pluto conjunction. But then, the whole idea is for international sport to spread openness and peace, and therefore these Olympics should serve a good purpose. It’s what happens after the Olympics that is more important, because the event inevitably opens up the country to mass tourism, and this will bring the ordinary Chinese citizen more and more in contact with Western values. Like thunderclouds on the horizon, the 2008-eclipse chart shows a Pluto/Uranus square growing stronger and stronger. As Saturn travels through Virgo entering Libra in 2010, Pluto will have made its way into Capricorn, and Uranus into Aries. By June 2011 there will be a particularly virulent T-square between these three planets strongly activating China’s Sun at 7 Libra. The Chinese will try to resolve a crisis at this time through the heavy hand of authoritarianism. Over the course of the next three years, the square of Uranus and Pluto will evoke dramatic and transformative change in the Chinese leadership – and also for many governments whose formation was on the 1st of January of any particular year. (And therefore have the Sun at 10 Capricorn, like the United Kingdom). It is in these chaotic years that opponents of China will see a scenario developing which could mean their dreams, and the dream of a free Tibet, come true.
Adrian Ross Duncan |
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
| Memory is a fragile thing, but we are totally reliant on it to relate to our individual world. There are many who through disease, accident or old age actually lose their capacity to retain events in memory, and though they can recall old long-term memories, they are unable to remember what happened just a few minutes previously.Which means, if you had no short-term memory, you would now be wondering what you are reading.
You would go back over the last paragraph, just to get it to stick in your mind, and you would reach here again, but it will not have stuck. If you think you could seek solace in television, books or film, this would not be the case, because you would not have the ability to follow the plot. But you would really like TV adverts, which just lasted a minute or so. You would remember those with whom you had had a long term relationship, but new people coming into your life would be forgotten minutes later, and each time you met, the meeting would have all the freshness of the first meeting. You would have to be told when it was time to wash, brush your teeth, eat, otherwise you might simply repeat these actions after a few minutes had elapsed.
Loss of Short-term Memory
How then, would you be able to live a productive life? This is the subject of the extraordinary film Memento , in which the last memory of the main character, Leonard, was the discovery of his wife on the bathroom floor, murdered and raped. The shock of seeing this took away his short-term memory, and the film starts with him trying to unravel the mystery of who killed his wife, so that he can exact bloody revenge. The problem is that he cannot remember people he has talked to in the process of his investigation, what they have said, or when they said it. He cannot remember where he is staying, or what car he is driving. But he has a system, which consists of writing notes and taking polaroid pictures of his car, people and places and annotating the pictures. When he comes across an extremely important fact, he has it tattooed on his skin, engraved in body memory for all time.
A Film that goes Backwards
Memento starts where it ends, and ends where it starts, because the delight of the plot is that it goes backwards. It opens violently with a polaroid picture of a dead man. The picture fades, gets sucked back into the camera, then the man’s death is enacted backwards, and this reverse scenario sets the scene for a film portrayed in short clips, each subsequent clip preceding the one before in time. This is a retrograde feast. By the end of the film we see just how great the consequences of short-term memory loss can be. For in this film, nothing is certain, except that Leonard’s condition is being exploited by certain unscrupulous people.
The Influence of Retrograde Planets
See chart for viewing Memento
As an astrologer, reality seemed even more distorted, for the horoscope for my own personal viewing of the film perfectly reflected the nature of its plot. The late Scorpio ascendant clearly illustrates what this film is about: revenge. The originality of the film unfolding backwards is shown by the ruler Mars, retrograde in the first house, and opposing Mercury, retrograde in the 7th. Leonard is Mars, and note how Mars has conjoined Chiron, where it stationed before going retrograde. This man carried the wound of the trauma of his wife’s death, and his wounded mind led him on an odyssey of blind and hopeless revenge, for, even if he succeeded in finding the murderer, and killed him, how would he remember the accomplishment? Mars has already conjoined Pluto, and will return to 15.06 Sagittarius to almost make the conjunction with Pluto again. Almost, because Pluto is also retrograde and has by this time slipped back from 15 to 13 degrees Sagittarius. There is no final solution.
Sorrow and Revenge
During the film, his wife is a shadowy figure whom he revisits in flashbacks, sometimes alarmingly changing the details supposedly engraved in his memory. He is driven by the tragedy of loss, and the longing for a supposed ideal marriage, and this is shown by the Venus/Neptune square. It is interesting to see how Neptune and Venus configure with the Mercury/Sun/Jupiter stellium opposing Mars by semi- and sesquisquare, connecting the theme of lost love with revenge. In actual fact at the moment the film started all these planets configured with the MC/IC axis with squares and half-squares. Retrograde Mercury (exactly opposite Chiron – how about that for a damaged mind?) is about to conjoin the Sun, with both sesquiquadrate Neptune.
The Stellium in Gemini
The movie is punctuated by the flash of the polaroid camera “capturing” reality, the flash of the Sun, and the subsequent etching of the words of Mercury on the photograph. All this in the pursuit of a supposed justice, for Jupiter is also in the picture, still touched by its previous opposition to Pluto. Leonard is the judge and executioner, but his mind is flawed, just as Jupiter’s capacity is flawed in Gemini, where it is in exile. What Leonard simply cannot do is create an overall picture – his world is circumscribed by his scribblings and his pictures but he cannot make a connection between them or gain any kind of time perspective. A nice detail is the tattoos, which ultimately cover his body, as he frantically adds new “facts” to his most trusted memory bank – his skin. What better expression for Saturn in Gemini?
Astrological Timing
But wait! The film had been showing in Copenhagen for some time, and had been seen at European film festivals last year. For what possible reason can the horoscope for my viewing the film with a fellow astrologer be so apt and accurate? What if we had gone to see the film a couple of months later with a completely different set of aspects? Of course, a film like Memento has its own astrological dynamics and, as might be expected, its release in America fully accorded with appropriate astrological patterns. The first public showing in America (Note 1.) was on March 16th 2001 when it was released simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles to rave reviews. This was the day when a retrograde Venus was returning to activate the Mars/Pluto conjunction in Sagittarius, triggered by the Moon, so the theme of love, justice, murder and revenge was equally powerful. It is interesting to note that Mercury had at this time almost returned to the point at which it went retrograde in February at zero degrees Pisces square Jupiter in Gemini, a pattern which also reflects the ambiguity and confusion which characterises the film.
Astrological Reality
The amazing congruence between the film and the astrology of the moment, reminds me of other episodes when I have watched a TV film, and the film has been so perfectly in tune with the planetary positions of the time. In a way it’s very understandable when a broadcast reflects astrological events so well, because it is a collective event. It’s a bit more worrying, when my partner rents a video, and that also encapsulates the astrology of the moment. That is simply a personal event. As an avid follower of planetary movement, I enjoy seeing the changes in my environment as a planet changes sign. On one occasion, as Mars moved into Gemini, I left my house, caught the morning train, and found myself sitting next to a man in jogging trousers, who was opposite another man in identical jogging trousers, identical T-shirt, identical faces… they were twins.
Your World and Your Beliefs
And I couldn’t help asking myself if the show was put on for my benefit, for I was the one looking for a sign from the heavens about Mars in Gemini, and twins were provided. There are not enough twins around to put this show on for everyone, but then not everyone’s chosen belief is astrology. In India there is an astrological tradition in which horoscopes are inscribed on palm leaves. Analyses and predictions were written – thousands of years ago – describing the life and karma of every seeker who visits the astrologer. A common question the astonished visitor poses to the astrologer is, “How can the lives of everyone on Earth be contained on these palm leaves”, and this prompts the answer from the astrologer: “Goodness gracious, not everyone… we only have the horoscopes for the people who come to ask”.
The Power of Belief
It seems that an intelligent universe proactively mirrors the mind of the consciousness which interacts with it. Whatever you choose to believe in will create a reality around you, which fully accords with your beliefs – unless some enormous change confronts you with another reality. It was a shock for many Western communists when the Berlin Wall dissolved in 1989, and tens of thousands of Eastern Block citizens joyfully streamed in the West. The evidence for their suffering and the indignities they had undergone at the hands of an autocratic and secretive state could not be denied. With these citizens casting away their communist past with such enthusiasm, how could hard core believers in the West continue to hold onto dogma which had previously defined their identity? It was a real crisis for many. But most of us have the luxury of sticking to our beliefs from the cradle to the grave, without them every being challenged.
Using Astrology
For Leonard the defining belief was revenge, but without memory he could not enjoy it. Driving along in a stolen Jaguar sports car, which he had come to decide was his at some point during the film, he desperately asks himself, “The world doesn’t suddenly disappear when you close your eyes, does it?” Well, no it doesn’t, but it’s something you can never be sure of. Astrologers who would like to feel most attuned to their beliefs and to the universe, could perhaps enrich their lives by choosing to do things which best reflect the astrological influences of the time. If Mercury squares Saturn, then applying oneself to serious study for the day would be effective. If the Moon in Virgo squares Pluto, then an hour’s radical clean out would be just the job. Make that bank appointment to get a mortgage when the Moon in Cancer sextiles Venus in Taurus … the bank manager is just waiting to lend money, so you may as well be the lucky one! You have to take your beliefs very seriously indeed, because the universe does.
Adrian Ross Duncan
Information from the official website: www.otnemem.com
|
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
| One of most significant historical developments in the last century was the formation of the European Union. Throughout the last two millennia the countries of Europe fought bitter and bloody struggles in attempts to gain dominance, with vast world powers blocks based on the empires of England, Portugal, Spain and France, culminating in the ascendancy of a unified Germany in the late 19th century. The devastation caused by German nationalism in particular resulted in a deep-seated urge to solve the problems of the nations of Europe. Initially this started as a simple economic union between the Benelux countries, France, Italy and Germany with the EEC on January 1st 1958, but it culminated in the formation of the actual European Union on November 1st 1993 at 0.00 hrs in Brussels through the Single European Act. It was at this time that the expression “European Union” became official.The EU chart and Uranus/Neptune conjunction
See chart of the EU
This is a most extraordinary horoscope, depicting an organisation which not only can match the powers of the USA, China, and Russia, but can also come to be the dominating factor in world development for centuries to come. First of all, it was formed within only one week of the last of three Uranus/Neptune conjunctions, cementing for the next two centuries the significance of this 172-year cycle for political development. With the conjunction taking place in Capricorn – it was also in Capricorn in 1821 – the major theme of this synod was the dissolution and revolutionary change of established political organisations, notably in this case the total break up of the Soviet Union and the birth of a so-called New World Order. Major planetary cycles of this nature bring the end of an era and the beginning of a new. Thus it was no accident that the expression “New World Order” came into currency at this time. However, it is when something new is formed or founded, that there is truly lasting significance, and the creation of the EU, after the Maastricht negotiations of 1992, enshrined in its horoscope the principles of vision and renewal in a European state. However this state is run, this vision will inform its actions: to create a democratic and caring union of states, who share the same ideals.
A materialistic Moon
So much for the dream. Getting back to reality, the economic values of the EU are shown quite clearly by the exalted position of the Moon, strong in Taurus and in the 10th house. Plenty of beef mountains and milk rivers here. The materialism shown by this position of the Moon cannot be ascribed to the politicians assembled in Brussels (who are represented by the Venus/Jupiter conjunction in the 3rd house). No, the people who put those politicians there – that’s us – sent them there to ensure that our material comforts are not threatened. We want our supermarkets to be full, our loans to be cheap, our incomes to increase. And as a general rule the EU will make this happen, because the chart is so powerful. Apart from the exalted Moon, the planets Mars, Venus and Saturn are strong in their own signs, which is very unusual.
The power of Mars/Pluto
The elevated position of the Moon shows that in the last analysis the EU is a democratic institution, answerable to the people, who secretly will fight to the last breath to secure their material comforts. Because this chart – although it has vision and humanity – is also brutal. Formed on the very day Mars conjoins with Pluto, in the sign which both rule, there is absolutely immense power at the disposal of the EU. Bearing in mind that this conjunction opposes the Moon, it is hardly any wonder that when threatened with Foot and Mouth disease, for example, the EU chooses the most brutal option… slaughter. Other options like vaccination are resisted because this would prevent export of animals. Even though Foot and Mouth is in theory not deadly for livestock, the mountains of sheep, pigs and cattle burning in the British countryside in the months of March and April 2001 – as Saturn conjoined that Moon and opposed Mars/Pluto – the plumes of black smoke, the distraught farmers, the suffering animals… they are offered on the altar of ruthless economic principle. It is in the mindset of the EU that such uncompromising action is for the good of all, but this is not so.
The spider’s lair
If this was the horoscope of a person, then that person would be seen as dictatorial and unfeeling, totally governed by deep-seated anxiety about economic loss. The person cannot see beyond his own wallet. Therefore, citizens of the new proud state of Europe, take care! You are in the driving seat of an organisation whose fixation on material security can be life-threatening. Europe needs long-term therapy, but at the same time is resistant to it. The stellium in Scorpio and the 4th house shows the seat of the EU in the monolithic headquarters in Brussels. This is where the invisible power brokers sit, and though Mars is dignified in Scorpio, the conjunction with retrograde Mercury shows secretive decision-making and power-hungry officials, who are both paranoid of losing influence and dictatorial in wielding it. If the EU seems soft on the outside, there can be no doubt that it is like a samurai on the inside. It might be monolithic, but when it actually makes a move, it will crush whatever is in its path.
Gifted politicians
The secretiveness and power is in the nature of the organisation itself… those kind and idealistic politicians that represent our countries are generally speaking a fine bunch of people, working hard and optimistically to achieve functional compromises. This is clearly shown by the Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Libra and the 3rd house. Venus is the decision-maker as ruler of the 10th, and its position in the third shows all those MEP’s travelling to Brussels, and talking amongst themselves, and having a fine time socially. They do a good job, and have the capacity to accept the disruption of their daily lives indicated by the square to Uranus/Neptune. And the trine to Saturn in Aquarius in the 7th indicates accomplished diplomacy in dealing with other world organisations. It’s a wonderfully dignified process, combining friendliness and formality.
EU diplomacy
The strong 7th house Saturn shows a worthy opposition, whether it be from Russia, Asia or the United States. With Saturn also almost exactly squaring the uncompromising Mars/Pluto opposition to the Moon, then every drop of diplomatic juice needs to be squeezed from Venus. Saturn in Aquarius is the voice of reasonableness, whilst Mars/Pluto to the Moon is the voice of self-interest. As a result, there will be many deadlocks in dealing with other economic organisations. And when you read about these deadlocks in European newspapers, you will almost certainly get a story manipulated (by Mercury in Scorpio) for European consumption. If we hear about the intransigence of other economic blocks, it is almost certain that it is Europe itself that is intransigent. With Europe sitting pretty on its mountain of resources (though this mountain has a volcano churning deep at its root), it is fairly natural that a lot of people want to join the party.
Immigration
Whilst right-wing European politicians – motivated by the politics of greed – bitterly complain about economic migrants, the Uranus/Neptune conjunction precisely on the 6th house cusp shows how necessary they are to keep the wheels of the machine turning. This conjunction square Venus shows a porous labour market, with exotic foreigners seeping across the borders by land, air and particularly by sea – much to the consternation of the good MEP’s. Yet the trine of the Moon to Uranus/Neptune shows the benefit foreign workers bring, not just materially, but also spiritually and culturally.
The economy over the next two years
So this is our superstate of the next millennium. It’s powerful, sometimes fearsome, and it’s secure, sometimes kind. It encapsulates the democratic vision of the age. The pillars holding up this temple of materialism are subject to the occasional earthquake – especially here in 2001 with the T-square so powerfully activated by Uranus. We can expert dramatic economic fallout from the recession which is growing in strength and will shake the US to its foundations. Fortunately the Saturn/Pluto/Node oppositions of 2001 to 2002 do not hit the EU as hard as the US, so the Euro will probably get comparatively stronger, but the repercussions – for telecoms in particular – will be global, with Nokia, Siemens and Eriksson continuing to suffer for at least a couple of years. Whilst economic experts predict a resurgence of the economy, those in the know should batten down the hatches, sell their technology shares if they still have value, or sit it out for the long term. The secret of success is to expect a turnaround after 2003, not before.
The future
The shadow side of the EU is its dictatorial and secretive nature, which predisposes it to corruption. There will be a shattering example of this when Neptune conjoins the T-square in 2008 and 2009, which will precipitate another economic crisis. It is at this time that the progressed Sun conjoins the Mars/Pluto conjunction, and this will foreshadow major world political change on many other fronts too. This is a time of European upheaval. With Europe here to stay, however, it is important to be conscious of its shadow side. Ultimately the influence of Scorpio is to transform materialism, and to seek deeper values, and it is up to the individual to fight power misuse and create the circumstances for transformation.
Adrian Ross Duncan |
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
| Astrologers are generally universally in agreement that the horoscope of Prince William, first-born son of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, is the horoscope of a king. It’s an astonishing chart, not least because of the extraordinary similarities with that of his mother. Both have the Sun in Cancer in the 7th house, both have Sagittarius rising, and both have Venus in Taurus, Diana with Venus 24.24, and William with Venus at 25.40 Taurus in conjunction with Chiron at 25.17.A Traumatic Childhood
See chart of prince William
Of all the events that have happened in William’s life, there is clearly one that rises above all others. Privileged as he is as a royal personage, he was not spared the terrible tragedy of losing his mother at the all-too-young age of 15. It is often the case that the star Algol (at 26.08 degrees Taurus in 1997) is associated with tragedy. In myth it is connected to the severed head of Medusa, and is said by astrologer Bernadette Brady to represent the passion and intensity of the feminine, which can be used effectively or destructively. Even though Venus is well-placed in William’s chart, in its own sign Taurus and the 5th, exactly as in Diana’s, it’s obviously connected with the disaster. Ruler of the 4th, it’s position in the 5th does tend to indicate a repetition of the family tradition for giving everything for love.
A Dangerous Mars
See chart of princess Diana
For those who associate the 10th house ruler with the mother, the position of Mars conjoining Saturn in Libra in the 9th also depicts Diana, and certainly her fate of meeting death abroad in an impossible relationship. Indeed, as Mars progressed towards Saturn to exactly conjoin in 1997, she did meet her fate, or – to put it another way – William learned something about terrible implacable judgement which can greet a weak Mars.
Both William’s parents seem to embody the indiscretions of this Mars in Libra, and it is unlikely that William will himself be immune to its allures. William’s Venus is also the focal planet of a yod to Pluto and Neptune, representing perhaps the mythic quality surrounding his mother, and her affairs, and what later will become the myth of his own life and loves. For great love will come to William, just as it came for Diana, and just as she was elected by popular consent to be Queen of Hearts, it takes little imagination to see that William, when he gets to the marrying age, will be King of Hearts. Diana, fulfilled her Sun in the 7th trine Neptune, marrying her Prince Charming, who seemed destined to be king. One of the first great indicators of romance for William, is when his MC/IC axis progresses to conjoin Venus in the 5th at the tender age of 23. It would seem at least that he gets his own home, or palace, at this time, and there will be a lady within.
Will Prince Charles become King?
Yet astrologers point out that Charles’ life is overshadowed by his own mother – he has Moon conjunction the North Node in the 10th house – and with his ruling planet, the Sun, conjoining the 5th house cusp, he is the archetypal prince, and will in all probability remain so. With the co-dispositor of his Sun, Mars, in Sagittarius and conjoining Jupiter also in the 5th house, Charles is the lusty prince, performing the princely duties of creating sons in line for the throne, when he isn’t indulging his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. William, on the other hand, has a massively powerful trine from the Sun just 6 minutes of arc into Cancer (i.e. on the Aries point of power), trining a Jupiter almost stationary direct at zero degrees Scorpio conjoining the Midheaven from the 9th house. Obviously this trine suggests kingly good fortune, especially considering that Jupiter is his horoscope ruler. Jupiter will conjoin the MC by progression in William’s early forties, or earlier if he is born a minute or three earlier.
When will William become King.?
Other indications of ascension to the throne would be when the Jupiter/Sun trine is activated by William’s progressed Ascendant. In the years 2010 – 12, on William’s Saturn return, both progressed angles change sign, with the MC moving into Sagittarius, and the Ascendant subsequently moving into Aquarius, thus actvating the Sun/Jupiter. This is probably the time of a marriage, at least, as the change in emphasis will show a completely new way of life. Progressed Venus conjoins William’s Descendant in 2008, and surely here the woman of his dreams will enter his life, just as when Diana’s own Venus conjoined her Descendant, she married Charles and gave birth to William. Venus goes on to conjoin the Sun, trining Jupiter, in the year 2011, at the same time as his progressed MC conjoins Uranus. Quite clearly, this is when it’s all happening for William, certainly in his love life, but very likely too in his career destiny. He will be immensely popular at this time.
Love and Children
William will almost certainly produce heirs. It’s very likely that this will happen when his 5th house ruler Venus conjoins the Moon at the age of 32 to 33. A child will be born here, especially as progressed Mercury conjoins progressed Sun to square progressed Jupiter. Later, when the progressed Ascendant trines the strong Mercury in the 5th on the one side, and Mars in the 9th on the other – in his 35th year – he will have another child, and if the first one was not a boy, this one will be. Perhaps another child will arrive a year or so later, when progressed IC moves to conjoin Mercury… three children in all. As this is the time of his 3rd Jupiter return around October 2017, one could expect that this too would be a good time for accession, especially as the previous eclipse in 2017 is at 28.53 Leo, on the king’s star Regulus, and Saturn conjoins his Ascendant. Failing all this, then William will be crowned when the progressed Ascendant activates the Sun/Jupiter trine, making a grand trine in the year 2029, aged 47. Of course, for this to happen, Elizabeth would have to reign until the grand old age of 103 (the wonders of modern science), or Charles would actually have to become king.
Eclipses
It would be wrong to look at William’s chart without remarking on the significance of eclipses. One took place the day after Charles and Diana married, just as there was an eclipse one day before Diana died. William himself is born exactly on an eclipse, with Jupiter the dominating factor. Like Alexander the Great, Karl Marx and other historical figures born on eclipses, it is likely that King William will have a profound impact on the history of his time. The emphasis in Cancer and the 7th house shows him to be as similarly attuned to the people as his mother. He is a softy, tempered by the traumas and depth of his ruler Jupiter in the power sign of Scorpio. His influence will be profound, and he will be renowned for his kindness and understanding, but also for his judgement, which at times will be hard. But in affairs of the heart, he will be deeply susceptible… that is the legacy of both his parents.
Adrian Ross Duncan |
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 7, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
Penguins survive the sub-zero temperatures of the Antarctic by huddling together in large groups to create warmth. The penguins circulate so that those on the outside gradually come to the centre, and vice versa. Victims of Stalinist purges – the zeks – tried similar techniques when they were shipped off to Siberia in the 1930’s in the clothes they were standing in, and forced to stay in large tents in the icy Arctic winter. So many people were crammed into tents that they could only stand, and they huddled together for warmth. As the days and weeks past new zeks arrived, and those who could not make it through the night were piled up outside, their frozen bodies functioning at least as a wind break.
The Russian Gulag
It is impossible to exaggerate the deadly suffering of the Russian people in the communist epoch. It cannot be done. From 1917-21, between 6 and 12 million people died in the upheavals between the Red (communist) and White Russians. Subsequent famine from 1922 -23 eliminated another 7.5 to 13 million. The systematic Lenin-inspired destruction of the old social classes, clergy and believers from 1922-28 got rid of another 2-3 million. Then the suffering really started. Stalin’s liquidation of the kulaks (landowners and ordinary farmers) and the resultant famine killed 16 million. From 1934-41 mass execution in prisons, starvation in camps and epidemics killed 7 million. During the war 7.5 million zeks were killed through hunger and overwork. In Stalin’s wartime camps from 1943-45 5 million died, and in those same camps another 6 million died after the war. Who can know or even imagine the suffering of the Russian people? Not just the firmly documented 66 million deaths, but the children, wives, husbands and mothers these deaths touched. How can anyone in the West comprehend what constituted the 20th century Russian soul?
The Man who saved Russia
Into this carnage stepped a man who in this new century will probably be recognised as the greatest writer in Russian history, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Born in Kislovodsk southern Russia on the 11th December 1918, he was a child of the revolution, which took place just 32 days before his birth. The revolution was in his blood, and he was a ardent communist until and beyond his arrest in 1945, whilst he was leading a Russian artillery battalion towards Berlin. His “crime” was that he wrote disparaging remarks about Stalin to a friend. When he received his 8 year sentence for this crime, he entered the world of the camps which he was later to write about with such devastating effect. In these camps the veil of Communism was torn apart, awakening in him an implacable hatred of it, coupled with a deep love for Mother Russia and its people. After he served his eight years, he was sent into exile, and here he dedicated himself to writing, his avowed goal to commemorate his zek brothers and bring about the fall of an inhuman regime.
The Birthchart
See chart for Solzhenitsyn
I have not been able to find a time of birth for Solzhenistyn, which sets certain limits on interpreting his chart. When there is no birth time many people prefer to make a Noon chart, but here I have used the method of solar houses, in which zero degrees of the Sunsign is placed on the Ascendant. At least with this method the solar houses have some kind of effect, because of their relation to the Sun. One of the first things to catch the eye in this chart is the conjunction of the Sun with the North Node in Sagittarius. This shows that he was born around an eclipse, and indeed this eclipse took place on December 3rd at 10.40 Sagittarius. What these horoscopes show is the tremendous power of the Venus/Node conjunction at the time of the eclipse. The eclipse itself is closely trine Neptune, so the main influence – in both charts – is Sun, Moon and Venus trine Neptune. One might imagine then, that this is the chart of a peacemaker and visionary, who preached the message of love. This is not how the man came across in life. He has been fanatical in his battle against the Communist State, and totally uncompromising in his dealings with others, even his friends and loved-ones. There is no hint of softness about him. But the fact that he is born on the eclipse with its Venus/Neptune overtones, means that his mission is at least to propagate the highest ethical values, and perhaps on a larger scale to broadcast to the world a completely new moral way of being. More of this later.
Pisces and Sorrow
The fact that Solzhenitsyn was deeply affected by his years in prison and the suffering of the zeks is illustrated by his Moon in Pisces. Once again Chiron seems to exert its influence: he was both wounded by the experience of the camps, and dedicated his life to healing and honouring those who had either lost their lives in them, or were crippled by the experience. The composer Shostakovitch was one of them. He writes in his book Testimony :
“I was remembering my friends, and all I saw was corpses, mountains of corpses. I’m not exaggerating. I mean mountains… I’m grieving all the time.”
Solzhenitsyn’s father died months before his birth, and he was brought up by a mother who sacrificed everything for him, and was ailing much of the time. Solzhenitsyn had great difficulty freeing himself from his mother, who was something of a martyr. This martyrdom was paralleled later in his life by his first wife, who, when Solzhenitsyn wanted a divorce in the early seventies tried to take her own life. Even after his return from exile in Kazakhstan, he isolated himself in remote dachas and huts, preferring a disciplined solitude. Further understanding of the power of his Pisces Moon is provided by the fact that it almost certainly configures with both Saturn and Pluto in a double septile aspect pattern.
The Workaholic with a Mission
Biographers have pointed out that Solzhenitsyn never got out of the habits ingrained in him by the camps. Every minute of his life, even in freedom, is strictly regimented. He writes with phenomenal concentration during almost all his waking life. Everything takes second place to what he sees as this mission. He was born with Mercury retrograde in Capricorn, which undoubtedly shows his self-discipline and determination to organise his life. Mercury retrogrades to 17 degrees of Sagittarius, going direct by progression at the age of 16, returning to the birth position at the age of 36, which was just after the death of Stalin in 1953. It was at this time that Solzhenitsyn was released from prison, and went into exile to write. For Mercury new territory was opening – literally – as Solzhenitsyn gazed out over the open Russian steppes of Kazakhstan. Prior to this Mercury had then trined Saturn in Leo three times by progression. No wonder he was able to mobilise legendary self-discipline. His writing was minute scribbling on precious paper which was either buried or smuggled out to friends.
Conquering Cancer
Release was not an easy time, as a cancerous tumour which had been operated on in the camps reappeared. At this time his Sun progressed also conjoined Mars, whilst the Moon progressed activated his Jupiter/Pluto conjunction (which progressed Mercury was now moving to oppose… progressed Jupiter actually conjoins his natal Pluto in the late eighties). He was cured, partly by an old folk remedy of the poisonous mandrake root, partly by heavy radiation treatment, and partly by the sheer will power of the Sun/Mars influence. The only other time Solzhenitsyn suffered from a life-threatening illness was when he contracted what he though was severe sunstroke on a journey to southern Russia in August 1971. With his body covered all over with boils, his life was in the balance for three months, and he took even longer to fully recover. The KGB under the Brezhnev regime had a whole department whose only function was to shadow Solzhenitsyn. In 1971 the KGB head Andropov – who later became President – had the bright idea of poisoning Solzhenitsyn, and it was only years later that the author learned that his brush with death was the result of a poison being shot into his body in a crowded shop on this fateful journey. It’s fascinating to see that his progressed Mars at 4 Pisces trined progressed Pluto at 4 Cancer at this time… showing both the poison and his survival.
The Birthchart
1970 was a time of enormous change for Solzhenitsyn. Now in his early fifties, his long-standing marriage to his first wife Natasha was all but over. Solzhenitsyn had during his whole life surrounded himself with women who faithfully served his mission, translating his work, typing new copies, smuggling forbidden literature etc. This is also the meaning of being born with the Sun in conjunction with Venus. He had fallen in love with one of these helpers… Alya . This is clearly shown by the New Moon in at 11 Aquarius in 1970, which took place at the same time as progressed Venus conjoined Uranus in Aquarius… Alya was 20 years younger than him. In 1970 he was also to receive the Nobel prize for literature, and Alya bore him the first of three sons. By this time, Solzhenitsyn had been expelled from the Writer’s Union, after a brief period of warmth when Khrushchev came to power.
Literature and Exile
On November 17, 1962 permission had been given for the publishing of Ivan Denisovich , with progressed Mercury exactly opposing Jupiter. At this time progressed Uranus and progressed Saturn were in close opposition, both in Solzhenitsyn’s chart and in the chart for the revolution. There were enormous power struggles between the old and new guard, and Ivan Denisovich , which described a day in the life of a humble zek, was like a bombshell. By the early seventies Solzhenitsyn had written the masterpiece The Gulag Archipelago , which was a total exposé of the tragedy of Russian communism, describing as it did a parallel existence of millions of prisoners utterly concealed from both the world and the Russian people. The Politburo was in panic and had no idea what to do when they found the manuscript in 1973. Solzhenitsyn was expelled from Russia in 1974 but copies of the Gulag had already found their way to the West. Thus began a new life for Solzhenitsyn in the West, together with his young wife and three sons. Progressed Mercury had now just moved out of Capricorn and entered Aquarius… freedom? Venus has left Aquarius and entered Pisces… suggesting a long period of isolation. Progressed Mars in Pisces trined progressed Jupiter.
The Blessing and Curse of America
After some time he settled in Vermont in the USA, whilst the Gulag Archipelago became a vast success. It is at this point that it dawned upon the West, just how uncompromising and difficult Solzhenitsyn was. He had no time for capitalism at all, and despised political correctness and do-good socialists. His view of those Americans who were against the Vietnam War was that they were cowards and miscreants, who failed to support their country in their hour of need. Solzhenitsyn was disappointed that the Americans were driven out of Vietnam, failing to stem the tide of communism. It was the right-wing senator Jesse Helms who finally got him a resident permit for the States. He loathed the press and gave very rare interviews. Journalists and newspapers in the West had very few kind words for him… but he struck a chord with the people. When he gave an interview for the BBC, 5 million people watched. When it was re-broadcast 15 million watched. He lambasted the socialist politicians of the time for having no moral principles. He hated the world of advertising, lager, perfume, and the lack of moral fibre of the West.
The Legacy
He did not even approve of democracy, and wrote about re-introducing pre-Renaissance values, with a benevolent yet autocratic regime, and a devoted religious atmosphere. In actual fact his creed was similar to the ecological movement today, and his writings of this period have great significance for 21st century ecological values. This was how his Sun/Node/Venus trine Neptune really manifested itself. After Boris Jeltsin came to power, and banned Communism, Solzhenitsyn felt he could return to Russia, and did so in 1994, his progressed Mercury having recently entered Pisces, and now exactly conjoining the progressed Sun at 4 Pisces trine Pluto and Jupiter at 4 and 5 Cancer … a return to his roots. Here in 2001 he is 83 years old, and at his Uranus return next year he will experience a nodal return as Pluto conjoins his Sun and Saturn opposes it. Perhaps at this time his legacy will be revealed for all to see… a man who valued principle above life itself, and who, more than any other individual, was responsible for the soul change in Russia which made the transition from Russian communism possible.
Adrian Ross Duncan
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 6, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
When I came to Britain in the Spring of 1998 after 20 years abroad, it was mild and wet. As the Summer took hold, as I waded through the muddy fields, I was assured that it was an unusually wet summer, and indeed the rain stretched into the August and a mild, but wet, winter. During the course of 1999, the Spring was rather wet, and the Summer too, whilst in the Autumn it was very, very wet. They are not fooling me any more… it’s simply a fact: in Britain it rains far too much. Some say it is global warming, but I’m not so sure. In any case it appears that the year 2000 was the wettest year for over a hundred years.
The Indomitable English
The English always seem faintly surprised by their weather. They don’t expect it to be very cold in the winter, so they huddle in thin Macintoshes, and stuff bits of cloth under their doors to stop drafts. It’s part of the culture… proof of the hardiness of the national spirit. Double glazing and central heating are reluctantly adopted, but temperatures are kept down low. Too much comfort might undermine the rugged spirit. So it was with a certain grim satisfaction that the British saw the United Kingdom grind to a halt in October 2000, as storms ravaged the country and floods inundated low-lying areas. Tens of thousand of people were evacuated from their homes, and at the same time railway lines were damaged or washed away.
On the Road
Coupled with the last of a series of serious rail accidents – the Hatfield rail crash – there was a sense of this country being a disaster area, with a hopeless and outdated infrastructure. The Dunkirk spirit was called forth in the hapless population as they rose above one disaster after another with stoic determination. It is extraordinary what people put up with in their ordinary daily lives. My bank manager told me that he spent two hours travelling by car to the centre of London in the morning, and two hours travelling back. Some commuters are spending 25% of their waking lives in their cars and on public transport! When something unpredictable happens on the railways, then millions of people suffer.
The Latest Train Crash
See chart for the Hatfield train crash
After the Hatfield crash, which was due to a broken rail, there was an outcry about rail safety which resulted in speed limits on trains which often doubled the time people were travelling. At Hatfield all bar two coaches of Great North Eastern Railway’s 12.10 service from London Kings Cross to Leeds, became derailed between Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield at around 12.30pm. The train was estimated to have been travelling at around 115mph, the maximum line speed on this stretch of track, when the accident happened. Four people died whilst a further 26 people have suffered injuries.
The crash happened just before Mercury turned retrograde in Scorpio when it was within one degree of a square to Uranus in Aquarius. As Mercury turned and went back to the early degrees of Scorpio again, it squared Neptune two more times. Thus the initial shock and trauma of the accident was compounded by suffering, confusion and chaos. The Mercury/Neptune square was also reflected by the continuing flooding which made roads impassable and people homeless. In a series of hopeless panic decisions, the rail company (Railtrack) initiated a program of track testing and renewal which is still paralysing Britain even as Christmas approaches.
Long-Term Trends
Looking at the chart for the crash, it can be seen that the horoscope and third house ruler, Jupiter, is in Gemini and opposite Pluto. This is a long-term aspect which happened first in September, then with the crash in October and finally in May 2001. Obviously this relates to the legal repercussions of the previous Paddington rail disaster, and to hidden flaws in the railways and subsequent transformation of long-distant travel. It would seem that the Moon triggered this opposition, translating the energy of Pluto to Mars by square aspect. Coupled with the Mercury station square Uranus, this showed the accident and slowdown of the rail system. Aficionados of harmonics will note that Uranus is square the Sun in the 4th harmonic with an orb of 2 minutes of arc, so the Sun was actually “completing” the Mercury/Uranus square (which did not become exact because Mercury went retrograde).
The 1999 Eclipse
See chart of the UK
The question remains: why has Britain been plagued by so much misfortune, both in terms of flooding and transport? One astrological factor is the August 1999 eclipse, whose shadow did pass over the south-west tip of the British Isles – a place were there has been severe flooding causing several deaths. The eclipse took place at 18° Leo and powerfully activated the exact Mars/Saturn opposition at 16 Scorpio/Taurus and Uranus at 14° Aquarius. As Mercury stationed at 15.46 Scorpio in October 2000, whilst Uranus went stationary direct at 16.54 Aquarius, the eclipse energies were violently activated. Looking at the 1801 chart for the United Kingdom, it is easy to see how catastrophic the combination of eclipse and the October Mercury retrograde could be.
One of the most powerful features in this chart, which seems to work so well for modern Britain, is the grand cross in fixed signs, with Mars at 12.46 Taurus opposing Neptune at 18.44 Scorpio and with Saturn at 23.22 Leo opposing Venus at 16.32 Aquarius. If the degrees of these planets are averaged out they make 18°25, and the eclipse fell at 18°21 Leo. As far as the flooding is concerned, this could be explained by the eclipse squaring Neptune. Could that be why it’s been so wet?
British Quirks
This fixed cross is the “No sex please, we’re British”effect. There are no shortage of perversions with Mars in detriment in Taurus and the 8th house opposing Neptune, though the Venus/Saturn opposition maintains a stiff upper lip and a disapproving eye. Apparently there is nothing better for the British spirit than a good spanking, and generations of schoolboys have bent over backwards to prove this point. With the eclipse activating this area there has been a tremendous upsurge of paedophile paranoia, with the focus on children in care. Cases going back decades have been dredged up to the surface to reveal many cases of scandalous sexual exploitation. Cases have also arisen in which children have falsely accused care workers in fraudulent attempts to win compensation. Some of the strongest anti-paedophile reactions have come from the very area of Britain which the eclipse passed over, obviously reflecting the eclipse’s activation of Neptune in Scorpio. Angry mothers and children picketed houses where newly-released paedophiles lived and hounded them out. Whilst violent sexual behaviour towards children merits no soft-heartedness, many so-called paedophiles are simply sad repressed men who are not dangerous at all. For them, being victims of the undiscriminating witch-hunts of late in Britain is a terrifying situation.
Transformation of the Infrastructure
Getting back to transport, it has become clear to many people that the infrastructure in Britain is completely outdated. Commuting is simply a nightmare, not just in London but in and around most major cities and towns. Because public transport is a joke, most people use their own cars and the result is gridlock. It is interesting to see that the Ascendant of the Hatfield crash is at 17° Sagittarius, with the Moon on the Descendant at 17 Gemini. This clearly relates to the position of Mercury in the 1801 chart for the UK, which is in the third house also at 17 Sagittarius. Looking ahead into 2001 and 2002 it can be seen that Saturn opposes this degree in June 2002, whilst Pluto conjoins the UK Mercury in February 2002, December 2002, and stationing there for four long months in 2003. As if the attentions of a Saturn/Pluto opposition were not enough, the eclipse cycle traverses this degree in May/June 2002.
See the graph of Saturn/Pluto/Nodes
The good news, then, is that there will be a total reconstruction of the British transport system in this period. Still, this is not the time to be a happy commuter. We can expect to see enormous battles of power as the fight for a thorough transformation takes place. One thing is sure: decisions will be made at this time which will change the face of British transport forever. Those who try to retain part of the existing system will be pitted against those who want total change in an unrelenting battle for power. The battlefield will cover several major areas amongst which are:
Air Traffic Control
The London Underground
Railtrack
Heathrow
Mercury in Sagittarius in the 1801 chart reflects many aspects of travel, but especially international air travel, especially as Mercury rules the 9th house. To cope with the increasing travel to London Heathrow, there are plans to build a fifth runway. The argument is that this is the only way London can compete with other international European airports. The several million people living in Heathrow’s flight path are understandably fed up. Whilst the current Jupiter/Pluto opposition feeds the frenzy to expand Heathrow, the arrival of Saturn will surely bring that expansion grinding to a halt. The prediction here then, is that the proposed expansion of Heathrow will meet a growing implacable opposition which will fatally delay the project.
In these months we also read of a new super-jumbo jet which will boast on-flight showers, gyms and bars. Very Jupiterian stuff. Although the go-ahead to build has been given, this project may fall at the insurmountable hurdle in the summer of 2002. Realism must prevail.
The Tube
Obviously, when Pluto hits the UK Mercury, the major battlefield will be underground. The new London mayor Ken Livingstone is the man who was elected in May 2000, very much against the wishes of Tony Blair, on a platform of revolutionising London Transport. Livingstone opposes the Labour government’s plans to partially privatise the Tube and Londoners support him overwhelmingly. As it seems very much as if the woes of the national rail system are due to rail privatisation, very few people think that privatising the Tube is advisable… but the Labour Government plug on regardless. It is probable that the present opposition of Pluto in Sagittarius to Jupiter in Gemini represents the thinking behind a free market approach to Tube privatisation. The prediction here is that privatisation plans will be abandoned as Saturn opposes Pluto, putting the Underground more under the control of the State than of the free market.
The London Mayor
See chart of Ken Livingstone
Not that this will in any way go smoothly. As Ken Livingstone has his Moon at 18° Virgo (conjoining Jupiter) sesquisquare Mars and square Uranus, there will be an explosive confrontation as the Pluto/Saturn opposition and Eclipses activate his chart. Still, with his Sun/Mercury conjunction at 25° and 26° Gemini he is sure to have the last word on transport. In the months after August 2002 he will have Saturn on his Sun/Mercury whilst Uranus in Aquarius is in trine… so my money is on him.
Railtrack
As far as the rail system as a whole is concerned, there has been growing public anger at Railtrack, which is the privatised company which actually owns the rail system. Whilst fat cats have benefited from high dividends over the last decade, the infrastructure has become more and more run down. My guess is that the government will make moves to re-nationalise Railtrack in 2002. The public is fed up, and at present the government is already paying vast subsidies to Railtrack in a vain attempt to stop the deterioration. Saturn/Pluto aspects are draconian in their effect, and this would be the best time for deep-rooted change.
Summary
These observations are just a small sample of possible influence of the coming eclipse cycle on Saturn/Pluto and the Gemini/Sagittarian axis. Naturally there will be many more manifestations… from a reassessment of the flirtation of the British with all-pervading CCTV cameras for the purpose of “security”, to transformation in education. Revolutionary changes in cyberspace and the telephone system are also on the cards, and we will see increasing government control and snooping in these areas. And of course there will probably be a growing crisis in the IT sector… but that’s another story. At the end of this period… as 2003 draws to a close… the weather will probably be much the same, and we’ll still be plodding through puddles, but one things is sure: the infrastructure will have undergone one of the greatest overhauls in its history.
Adrian Ross Duncan
by Adrian Duncan | Aug 6, 2000 | Adrian's Articles 2000
| About two years ago I wrote about a possible recession, but my fears about a decline in the Western economy turned out to be unfounded. People in Europe and the USA have never, it seems, had so much income to dispose of. House prices have risen quite dramatically in many areas, and anyone who had held off buying property for fear of recession, would have made a mistake. We have prospered. Not that there wasn’t a recession. In early 1999 even as respected a magazine as The Economist talked about it; it’s just that Europe and the USA escaped its consequences completely. Brazil, Russia, and the whole of Asia underwent a very serious recession indeed, but, whilst they lost out, the West won.The Saturn/Neptune square
The idea of a recession was not just prompted by the entrance of Saturn into Taurus, which might be thought to have indicated a focus on the economy and resources, and shortages in this area. It was the drawn-out square from Saturn in Taurus to Neptune in Aquarius – a signal for poverty and suffering – which was the indicator of recession. It was wafted in through the smoke clouds over Indonesia as Neptune entered Aquarius in February 1998, for those who can remember the ecological disaster of the burned out rain forests at that time. Those smoke clouds presaged the coming chaos and dissolution in Indonesia, just as on a larger scale they showed a cloud over Asia. Almost all the financial institutions in Asian countries crashed at this time, but those of the West bounced happily along.
The Internet
Indeed the expansion of Western economies was fuelled by the new technological playground of the Internet, and particularly those darlings of investors, the dot.coms. A new phenomenon had arisen – the rise of the small investor. It was the Internet itself which had made this possible. Access to information, which had at one time been only for the privileged few, suddenly became accessible to anyone with a phone line and a computer. Amateur enthusiasts were now looking at exactly the same screen images as the bright young men on the floors of the Wall Street stock market. New money started flowing into the market from these small investors, and this fuelled the Internet boom. This too was an expression of the entry of Neptune into Aquarius – it harnessed the dreams of ordinary people to get rich through new technology. And with Uranus having entered Aquarius as early as May 1995, the means to do this was already in place.
The Bubble Inflates
Having got it slightly wrong with talk about a recession two years ago, at least as far as we in the West were concerned, about a year ago I focused on the Jupiter square to Neptune. This is a classic inflationary aspect, associated with bubbles and their bursting, particularly when Jupiter is in Taurus. This aspect took place twice in the last half of 1999 and finally on March 16, 2000. There is no doubt whatsoever that the inflationary enthusiasms of this aspect have been channelled into speculation into Internet companies. Every detail about these companies conforms to the hyperbole of Jupiter/Neptune. The characteristic of these companies is that most of them have never made a profit, and those that have, have made very little. But investors are enamoured of their potential, and see them as the beginnings of a massive future. After all, the first television set was written off as wildly impractical, and nobody made any money out of televisions for years.
The Last Fool
People with Internet ideas are wildly looking for venture capital with a view to making their Internet site so popular that it can be floated on the stock market. And indeed, when such a company is floated, so many people want to invest in it, that the share price hits the roof, making the humble owner of the website a multimillionaire. On paper at least. Everybody wants to be in on it, because when a share price rises so fast, there is really a lot of money to be made. People plan to sell as the price goes up, well knowing that the edifice can crash. The hope of the speculator here is that someone even more foolish than themselves will buy the shares off them at a higher price. And there is no shortage of fools. An example of this kind of stock flotation is the infamous lastminute.com, which is going to be floated at the end of March at a probable valuation of £1 billion. The ridiculous thing is that it will never ever really be worth this sum, and everyone knows it. This site is a clearinghouse for airline tickets, which you can buy at the last minute, and recently they have added other products to their portfolio. In actual fact, the name “last minute” is singularly appropriate. The idea really is to sell your shares at the last minute, before you lose a fortune! So, as this company is floated on the stock market, the final square between Neptune and Jupiter is taking place. What more do you need to know about inflationary bubbles… except when is it going to pop?
Get Rich Quick
What seems to happen with Jupiter/Neptune is that there is a kind of collective madness, or collective dream. In England and the USA one of the most popular programs is Who wants to be a millionaire? which is a quiz program with questions getting progressively more difficult as the prize money goes up. Millions are riveted to the screen, and – here comes the confession – I am amongst them. Of course I’m just watching it as part of an astrological study…
An Old Story
As the collective madness takes hold, everyone colludes with the dream, and nobody wants to spoil the party. Robbing people of a dream is the sin… it takes away the happiness. It’s an old story. In the 1630s Dutch investors forced the price of a single tulip bulb to amazing heights – one investor pays 400 kilos of cheese, four oxen, eight pigs, 12 sheep, a bed, and a suit of clothes for a bulb – because a new-look bulb could be expected to generate a fortune. Europe had only just discovered how tulips could be bred to produce wonderful new coloured varieties, which were extremely sought after throughout Europe – the 17th century equivalent of a dot.com. After years of speculation the price of tulip bulbs crashed in 1637 at a time when there was a Jupiter/Uranus conjunction squaring Saturn, rather like the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction squaring Uranus in May 2000. Hundreds of investors lost their fortunes in this crash.
The South Sea Bubble
In the early 1700’s the new horizons were the colonies, and investors placed their money in distant overseas enterprises. The South Sea Company was one of these and at the time of the South Sea Bubble shares soared to over £1000, before crashing. This happened with a Saturn/Neptune opposition from Scorpio to Taurus, with Jupiter semi- and sesquisquare. In the same year the French Mississippi company which was based on a colonisation in America also collapsed. Both collapses nearly brought down their respective governments.
The Wall Street Crash
The most famous financial collapse was October 29th 1929, when Wall Street’s Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted, and $30 billion disappeared from the market… about the sum the First World War cost America. It should be remembered that economic experts of the time claimed that there would be no serious repercussions, and indeed the market rallied in 1930, only to crash in June 1930, when a long decline began. USA placed import duties on foreign goods against the advice of all economic experts, and this protectionism actually initiated the disastrous decline that affected the world. Real panic started in 1931 when Austria went bankrupt, followed by all German banks closing for several weeks. Over two thousand American banks closed in the same year, and in Britain the pound was devalued. Everyone in the Western world was affected by this collapse, with millions joining the unemployment queues, and production coming to a near standstill. By July 1931 the Dow Jones industrial average was down to 41 points from a high of 381 in September 1929. Looking at the planetary movements in the early thirties, it can be seen that Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus combine in a complex T-square. Jupiter in Cancer opposes Saturn in Capricorn (similar to the Berlin wall collapse of 1989 – this pattern repeats every 60 years in the same signs), and both square Uranus in Aries. It was of course also at this time that Pluto was discovered, and the whole process of crash and depression is certainly related to this planet making its mark at this time, especially as it made its long-running square to Uranus. This was certainly fertile ground for the fascist movements, which really started building up steam in the thirties.
The Planetary Pattern in Year 2000
I am not suggesting that a similar crash will happen in the year 2000, just because the pattern of tension between Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus – which happened with the Depression in the early thirties and with the Tulip investment debacle – repeats itself. But some major economic realignment will happen, if only because of the momentous line up of all seven inner planets in Taurus on May 4, 2000. The aspect to watch out for is when Jupiter, flush from its heady profits when it squared Neptune in March, meets the lightning of Uranus, on May 20, and the heavy earth of Saturn on May 28. This distended balloon of illusory hopes, meets the thundercloud and hurtles to earth. The shares in the basket carried by this balloon are Internet shares, because they are the shares that everybody placed their millionaire hopes on when Jupiter squared Neptune.
Dot Com Logic
As Jupiter meets Saturn, it seems obvious that another kind of economic sense will prevail. It’s not that the Internet does not represent the future – it does. But people have projected their greed onto the profits which can be made, and the dot.com bubble is an expression of this greed. Investors are not betting on long-term profits, but on making a short term killing, in a process that can be likened to a game of musical chairs, where every one runs for safety just before the crash, leaving those left standing in financial ruin. But why should this worry the great majority of ordinary people who are on the outside? The problem is that the rise in popularity of Internet companies which earn little, (with a work force that number, at most, a few hundred), has pushed out solid performers (like food manufactures and retailers) who employ thousands of people and really do earn hundreds of millions of pounds. Investors in Internet companies are making paper profits, and that means that large investment companies are having their hands forced, as their customers demand similar profits. Money is pulled out of traditional companies, rendering them vulnerable to take-over, and poured into Internet companies. This means that the average person’s savings and pensions are actually getting channelled into high-risk ventures.
The Consequences
When the Internet bubble bursts, then a lot of ordinary people will suffer. When the South Sea bubble burst, investors naturally wanted nothing more to do with investing overseas, and this had enormous repercussions for world trade. Similarly, in the thirties when a country’s financial institutions got into trouble, they adopted protectionist habits, which affected everyone. Loss of faith in the Internet at this point could similarly set back development for years, stifling many young and brilliant minds that are in a position to improve the quality of life for ordinary people world-wide. The Internet is the great democratisation factor of our times, making a level playing field for people of all races and cultures. But the gigantic bang when the balloon bursts will affect financial institutions so profoundly that even normal business activity will be affected. Of course, investors did eventually regain the courage to finance overseas developments, just as protectionist barriers were also eventually removed. Nothing will keep the Internet from flourishing, but it is in for a bumpy ride in the short term.
Sources:
The People’s Chronology , James Trager published by Henry Holt The Guardian, 12th March 2000 . Will Hutton
Adrian Ross Duncan |
