America's 233rd birthday: Solar Return 2009!

Happy 233rd Independence Day, America!

Yes, it took a few hours but now I can relax - my astrological babblings about America's July 4th birthday (which marks the start of her 'Solar Return' year 2009) are published and await your consideration, if you're game.

Some additions to the post may occur as time permits but I do wish to note here the Sun Cancer-Moon Sagittarius blend's details. From birthday to birthday is the 'Solar Return year' as if we get a new natal chart to work with until the next time the Sun 'returns' to the degree and minute it was in at birth - in this case, when America the Nation was begat.

Our founding is usually considered to be the July 4th, 1776 Declaration of Independence proclamation, yet its signings went on for weeks.

For that and other reasons, there exist several versions of the US natal chart, as you undoubtedly know, so a link is included in my post to a place where a real astrologer (one Ed Kohout, by name; I'm only a reluctant one) divulges a list of all the versions for you. Some versions are not so much in use these days yet have been popular in the past.

My SR 2009 post uses two versions: the 'Franklin' chart (Sun 13Can13) and the 'Sibly' chart (Sun 13Can19) = 2:21 pm vs 5:10 pm lmt respectively, July 4, 1776, Philadelphia, PA - thus giving two differing charts upon which to base America's Solar Return 2009. Images of Solar Return and Natal charts are included, and of course, it is the Sibly chart that corresponds most closely with the attacks of 9/11's planetary placements.

But enemies are capable of being aware of these things, too, you know.

For if you're the sort of person who's obsessed with gaining power and influence over others, why would you not make use of Astrology? Its principles have been used for centuries in a negative way for just such power moves...As Above, So Below can give wily varmints legs-up on their unwitting contemporaries, some of whom may busy themselves poo-pooing Astrology when they could be learning something strategically helpful.


So! America can be a steamy Water-Fire Sun Can-Moon Sag blend for an entire year, and here are the Images for Integration the universe is giving us to work with for 12 months:

'Philosophy and friendship round a large, old kitchen table...A racehorse gives a child a ride...In your home on a yacht you cruise the seven seas.' (Sun Sign-Moon Sign, Chas & Suzi Harvey.)

This changeable 'romantic traveler' is gifted with musical ability and is traditional yet progressive. Intuitive, dramatic, and adventurous, yes, yet restlessness and impatience can undermine goals as can carelessness with detail.

Personal prejudices are justified with detached argument; sarcasm may be a mask for dependency and vulnerability.

Yet there's an eye for patterns and a love of harmony (so the Rosslyn Chapel 'cubes' that were ~supposedly~ deciphered into a musical score would be perfect for this customer!); a colorful, poetic imagination may sparkle, and warm enthusiasms bring out the best in others. But beware emotional volatility and quick mood swings!

The Sun Can-Moon Sag blend is shared natally by theologian and preacher John Wesley and by Mervyn Peake who authored Titus Groan (I don't know why exactly, but he did) so I'll close with quotes from each of them...

Wesley: "I look upon the whole world as my parish." And, "Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge."

(You, dear reader, may wish to substitute 'blogs' for 'books' if applicable!)

And finally now we have a rather non-quixotic quote from Mr. Peake which may apply any old year to this nation born with Sun in Cancer - no matter the Moon's sign:

"He had no longer any need for home, for he carried his Gormenghast within him. All that he sought was jostling within himself. He had grown up."

(Titus Groan.)

But can The Fool from the Tarot deck ever completely grow up? Perhaps not, but since we're about to enter our 234th year, it's beyond time that America the Nation did.

Mask of the Cosmos~Art & Astrology's mask

Mask of the Cosmos is my small art attempt at a drawing meant to represent the Ascendant which is the rising sign and degree, or the WHAT? Point of any horoscope.

Everything that is has a beginning, and so the Ascendant may describe the beginning of an event, a nation, a day, or an individual and tells us how the world is seen and how the world sees the entity the chart describes. It is a major point in Astrology which, along with Sun and Moon, are primary factors to consider.

And the Ascendant degree's Sabian Symbol fills out the picture as well.

As you know, with Astrology a horoscope may be drawn for any place or time on earth. A good example of the impersonal use of this concept is a sunrise chart (aka a solar chart) which tells the flavor or quality that will unfold through the rest of the day in that locality.

On my Political Astrology blog, Stars Over Washington, I have often used this method for 'taking the temperature' of certain days on Capitol Hill or for the White House, and find this technique especially useful in mundane work when one doesn't know the exact timing of an event's occurrence but wishes to see how things will 'get on' for a particular day.

The chart-ruler (planet ruling the sign of the Ascendant) may then be checked for applying aspects, if any, and clues garnered. No applying aspects most often means, 'no action' (although aspects to other charts' planets or points may have something to say about things, if applicable.)

Seeing planets as 'actors' helps, too - Sun is 'the leader', Moon is 'the public' or 'the people', Mars represents males between the ages of 25 and appr 35, Mercury = young people; of course, Mars is also military personnel, police officers, firefighters, etc, and Mercury is anyone associated with communications such as reporters, speech-writers and speakers, etc.

Yet the planets retain all their other astrological correspondances simultaneously (Mercury for trade, commerce, agreements, Mars for quarrels and fires, etc) for Astrology describes a complex world occurring on many levels all at once - inner, outer, and in between the cracks.

With the sunrise/solar chart set for a particular location we may view what the universe in any area of the globe is impersonally offering at that time. As Above, So Below, and 'the end is in the beginning' as Astrology teaches.

And thus on a personal level, a baby is born into earth's flux at a particular place and time in his/her uniqueness as a genetic flowering of generations...unless, of course, another woman was on top of or underneath our mothers having a baby at precisely the same moment! But even twin births can't do that for one child must precede the other.

And so each one of us is a unique individual with a natal or birth chart all our own, and the rising Ascendant in our charts tells us much about the masks we wear as we accept the mission for which we are born, and immediately after birth begin to learn how to 'speak through the mask' of the Ascendant.

In addition, planetary aspects in natal charts help to 'fix' us in space while the qualities of the chart's aspects give a frame of reference that aids in understanding our unique potential - especially if we study our charts or have them explained to us.

The Ascendant shows our meaningful contact with the environment so that we may express ourselves fully in our lives (if we choose to accept our missions!) through the doorway of our Ascendant...the 'door' we entered by!
~~

When will Al Franken become Senator?

Terry Lamb has published an excellent astrological analysis of the senatorial chances for Al Franken which Terry believes will work out in his favor, so we must keep a mercurial eye on June 14 regarding Mr. Franken's Senate bid.

Thanks, Terry, great work!

Summer Solstice 2009 and New Moon 1Can30

Just a heads-up that I've placed a link to a just-published post on the Summer Solstice 2009 chart-with-details in the sidebar just under the quote from George Washington. (Freemason George wouldn't mind especially since he used Astrology himself. He elected - used astrological principles - to decide the precise time for Cornwallis' Surrender, you know.)

Warning: my interpretation emphasis is, as usual, on Politics, that 'organized system of hatreds.'

This year, the Sun reaches 00Cancer00 on June 21 (1:45 am edt), and on June 22, there's a New Moon 1Can30, a degree which harkens back to the attacks of 9/11/01. But this circumstance is not covered in my Solstice post for there's plenty coming up this summer for this reluctant astrologer to grump about without mentioning 9/11, watershed moment in the current financial revolution as it may be.

Well, the summer season will be upon us before we know it, so please check out my Summer Solstice 2009's chart-and-details with a mere click, and leave a comment or question at Stars Over Washington or on this blog, if you desire!

D-Day 1944 marked by a US Uranus Return!

With 65th-anniversary ceremonies in France today and President Obama in attendance, I took a peek at a few Astrology charts and found that D-Day June 6, 1944 fell into a year of America's Uranus Return (May 30, 1944.)

Our nation's Uranus Return of 1944 occurred on a day when the Sun was conjunct our nation's Uranus, planet of freedom, independence, and revolution, a transit which indicates a question of being or not being part of a group - stubborn pride or a lack of loyalty can interfere with group participation, yet we know that on June 6, 1944, America, as part of the Allied Forces, was not only part of the group, but a leader. How so?

Because Sun-to-Uranus is also a time when one's unique qualities and individualism are highlighted, special attention may be given, and one may be invited to become group leader!

Hindsight being 20/20, we know that America did step up to the plate during WWII, and today's observance in France has re-marked our participation and achievements as we liberated our liberator, France, on the beaches of Normandy...as timed by the 84-year cycle of radical Uranus!

~:~

You'll find a few more of my Astrology notes are here...

Astrology of Sotomayor and her SCOTUS nom 5.26.09

Today at 10:15 am edt, Pres. Obama announced his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court bench. Click link for a few of her natal Astrology details as well as details of today's nomination announcement during a Mercury Rx period, uh oh!

Remember that in Jan 20, 2009's Inauguration chart set for Noon, Mercury (oaths, announcements, nominations) was Rx, and because of Justice Robert's glitch, Barack Obama took a second oath, just in case. Will he have to make a alternate nomination for David Souter's vacated seat?

GOP opposition is pre-heated since her name had been mentioned often in recent weeks or months, and with transiting Pluto 2Cap40 Rx opposing Sotomayor's natal Sun in Cancer, her confirmation is in doubt by this particular, if reluctant, astrologer.

That said, any contact of natal Sun with powerful Pluto may indicate her connection being completed with the power elite, yet an opposition with the manipulating ('dwarf') planet will be fraught with conflict even if Sotomayor manages to be confirmed...unless she's willing to play the game their way.
~:~

Astrology of a Political Assassination 1967

During student demonstrations against the shah of Iran in Berlin on the evening of June 2, 1967, student Benno Ohnesorg was murdered by a shot to the back of his head - witnesses say while the West Berlin police were beating him.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, shah of Iran, was in attendance that violent evening at the West Berlin opera house, and had had pro-shah demonstrators flown in from Iran to battle with the student protesters.

But it took a Stasi secret agent, one Karl-Heinz Kurras, to deal the fatal shot to Ohnesorg whose death became a rallying cry for left wing radicals who called themselves the 'June 2 Movement' - they terrorized Germany for decades afterward and over 30 people were killed in the wake of Kurras' assassination of student Ohnesorg who was protesting the brutal regime of Pahlavi.

Astoundingly, Kurras' defense at trial was a 'self-defense' plea (acquitted twice in 1967 and 1970 but newly found Stasi documents indicate that a re-trial may be in the offing for the 81-year-old Kurras. They'd better hurry.)

An Astrological Thumbnail Sketch of the Assassination:

Kurras allegedly fired the shot at 8:30 pm CET, Berlin, Germany, June 2, 1967, 14Sag54 rising and with the violent, radical Uranus/Pluto Conjunction still within orb in Virgo: Ura 20Vir17; Plu 17Vir59, in 9th house of Foreign Enemies.

Pluto links to Arachne 17Pis44 by opposition; Arachne is an asteroid whose archetypes are connected with entanglements, networks, and webs (including the spy ring and secret agent kind.)

Powerful Pluto wears, of course, his helmet of invisibility on most occasions so going to the opera would be no exception. And deceptive, sabotaging, undermining Neptune (also planet of the masses) is in spying Scorpio.

Asteroid Hopi (prejudice; ambush) is in 9th house as well at a critical or crisis degree - 29Vir46 opposing wounded Chiron 29Pis26 in 3rd house.

3rd house also contains Saturn (authority; control; form) and the Moon (physical body; the people; publicity) so the Moon/Saturn conj is opposed by the actor - in this case, the shootist - Mars 15Lib20 conj Midheaven (MC = the goal); the Part of Fatality is conjunct Mars, and vengeful Venus conjuncts 8th cusp 24Can13, degree of US natal Mercury '25Can': "A Man Wrapped in an Invisible Mantle of Power." I don't know if the US link is applicable to the assassination, I'm just noting it here.)

Moon/Saturn = Mars: inhibitions; feelings of inferiority; separation; the sense of real problems; difficulty getting off the ground except by very careful, strategically planned exertion of energy.(Tyl; Ebertin.)

(Student demonstrator Ohnesorg wasn't given a chance to get off the ground, and was, in fact, put under it.)

Saturn '11Aries' was at the "The President of the Country" degree with Moon 11Ari31 in 4th house; Sun 11Gem34 sextile Moon (0A03); chart-ruler Jupiter 1Leo40 in 8th house of Death and Money along with sometimes-vengeful Venus 25Can55.

Jupiter as chart-ruler applies to a semi-square with Pluto (45 degr: semi-squares can have health connotations), and applies to conj with Venus (5A50) - Kurras walked free, requesting money for a lawyer - from the Stasi, as documents now show.

Two planets we tend to associate with sabotage, Neptune 22Sco28 Rx, is in 11th house of Groups and Associations, in secretive Scorpio; Pluto as noted is in Virgo, 9th house. Pluto is focal planet in a T-Square pattern...

Sun/ASC = Pluto: the power play through personal persuasion; fated events; a turn of destiny; the desire for influence.

Yes, coping string-puller Pluto always has a desire for influence, and assassination is no obstacle in 'his' path. But you may wish to read the above-linked article for more on Kurras' communiques with the now-defunct Stasi secret police...or are they only morphed afresh and hiding under an assumed name?

~:~

May 24's Gemini New Moon is Obama's Moon Return

Since returning from vacation my blogging time has been too brief to suit but Bev at Lavender Moon is already on the case of May 24's Gemini New Moon so please check it out!

Of interest to my Astro-Political noggin is that this New Moon is actually a Moon Return for President Obama whose natal Moon 3Gem21 is posited in his 4th house of Home, Domestic Scene, and Family.

Being raised in part by his grandmother reflects the duality of a Gemini Moon in 4th house.

Here are a few details for May 24, 2009's New Moon, chart set for Washington, DC:

8:10:55 am edt, New Moon in 12th house, Hour of Venus 18Ari15 in 10th house semi-square New Moon; Saturn 14Vir58 in conjunct IC 16Vir52; Moon is chart-ruler with 7Can30 rising.

Pres. Obama's natal Sun/Moon midpoint 7Can57 is rising in the New Moon chart so we see that:

Sun/Moon = ASC: frank and open behavior; meetings; contacts; sociability.

The New Moon is being quincunxed (inconjunct = 150 degr) by controlling Pluto 2Cap43 Rx just having dropped into 6th house of Health, Work, and Service (including military and police services.) The quincunx is, however, separating (0S45) which indicates a past event or condition, but can also indicate unconsciousness of the aspect's energy. Adjustments have been forcibly made!

In general, Moon inconjunct Pluto = feelings (Moon) out of sync with the inner self (Pluto.) There is a sense of emotional strain with this aspect and when afflicting a lighthearted Gemini Moon this is heavy pressure coming from Pluto (which I often refer to in national charts as 'the secret hand' or the 'power elite.')

In 9th house of Philosophy, Religion, Higher Education, Long-Distance Travel, In-laws, Foreigners is the expansive Chiron-Jupiter-Neptune-Pandora team, all at 26AQ13/28 which conjuncts US natal Moon ('the people' in the US 5:10 pm lmt chart, aka the 'Sibly' chart.)

So if you're an American you may feel a sense of 'going with the wind' and participating in high-flying speculations all through 2009 and into 2010. For as you know, the May 27 Great Conjunction of inflationary Jupiter and Neptune is coming soon to a bank near you.

The president's Lunar Return occurs just before the New Moon at 8:00:57 am edt with only Saturn in a different house from the New Moon chart - Saturn hasn't 'jumped' the IC yet in BHO's Return chart and is conj IC 14Vir10. So all in all, Housing, Health, and Service issues are very much on the president's lunar menu now, and as you know, a Lunar Return describes changes of circumstances and fluctuations in one's daily routine.

A New Moon in a Moon Return chart shows the birth of something new and a congealing of energies that stimulates enthusiasm in that area (the house in which it falls.) (Celeste Teal, Identifying Planetary Triggers.)

Yet when you're US president, your Moon Return relates to The People you represent (or purport to represent) so that a New Moon upon your natal Moon indicates a new phase of conditions beginning! In both charts, the action is in the behind-the-scenes 12th house; Saturn conj IC in BHO's Lunar Return chart indicates loss or restriction (Saturn) relating to housing and the domestic scene (and may also relate to mining disasters but hopefully not.)

It may also indicate a crystallization or a bringing into form something that is related to 4th house matters...particularly important here because we're talking about the Moon's natural house (Tropical; Western), the 4th.

Obviously the transiting midpoints of powerful Jupiter/Pluto, Neptune/Pluto, and Pluto/Chiron - all at 29Cap+, a critical degree - are nearing transiting North Node (NN 1AQ50 in 8th house of both charts) with Inauguration 2009's Sun ('the leader') and Mercury Rx in their critical line of sight very soon - within orb now actually.

Now perhaps this pile-up on a critical degree of three indicators of plutocratic manipulations is not as sinister as I tend to think it, but at the least, it indicates meetings (NN) with powerful banking interests (Jup/Plu), energy titans (Nep/Plu), and those who pull the strings from behind the scenes (Plu/Chir.)

The president's natal Saturn Rx and Jupiter Rx are in the 28 Cap - 1 AQ mix as well and are conjunct 8th cusp in the New Moon chart, so it's more expansion (Jup) vs restriction (Sat) issues concerning financial matters (8th house); and how Pres. Obama is handling these concerns is (predictably) under constant scrutiny (as it should be)- but to the point of getting in the way of aiding the populace they revile by taking all advantages to themselves, cheating their way into more fortune than deserved, and prevaricating about their roles in the dramas they so willingly act out on TV (soon to go digital June 12 - the better to subliminalize and propagandize you), and at the Capitol Hill Theater, Dahlink, that Masonic Temple on a Shining Hill.

Now these big-honcho meetings began from the start of Obama's presidency, of course (actually before!), but the New Moon/Moon Return charts for May 24, 2009 indicate that we'll be hearing more of the theme 'meetings with senior advisers' (and with world leaders) as the weeks go by.

Ah, America the Beautiful - my only nag in the race!

The projections of Neptune/Chiron

Woo! The trap of projecting all sorts of our own baggage onto others is very strong right now with the transiting on-again-off-again conjunction of Neptune and Chiron, says Julie Demboski who has clearly done much worthwhile pondering upon the issues.

And wouldn't we come out better if everyone freely admitted that as long as we can 'download' our own weaknesses and flaws onto another's to-do list, we for a time imagine we escape the responsibility for our misdirected actions and for the procrastinating lack of any action or effort toward change at all!

A Scorpio Full Moon at Midnight May 9, 2009

Well, May 9's Full Moon 18Sco41 perfects not quite at midnight but close enough for a blog post's title. At the White House it will be exact at 12:01:22 am edt, so put on your spectacles if you wish to read my fairly extensive notes on this 'Midnight Full Moon' and view its chart with a critical YOD pattern ('Finger of God') pointing at Mercury Rx in Gemini, a T-square with Jupiter at focal point, and other factors of interest.

The Earth-Water Sun Taurus-Moon Scorpio blend is shared natally by Pres. Harry Truman, whose most famous pronouncement may be, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Less famously he remarked that, "It will be just as easy for nations to get along in a republic of the world as it is for us to get along in a republic of the United States."

He was speaking of the League of Nations which morphed into the United Nations and yes, Harry was a one-world-government man, too. Read on and keep Mr. Truman in mind, if you like...

This is a stubborn, confident, and protective combo of energies with strong appetites and a willful, shrewd mind. Strategy, independence, and deep perception are evident so look out for varmints in your environment - or in the news - who exhibit these qualities. He or she will be full of obsessive convictions about what they're doing. Personal magnetism and self-confidence abound with this blend.

This is an "I know best" combo that can't understand when people use the word, bossy, to describe its personality; it can denote a bon viveur and a talented artist...is this you, Dear Reader?

The paradox is that material security and a loathing of change are indicated, yet risk-taking and challenge are musts as well. Immense amounts of work are easy for Sun Tau-Moon Sco as adrenalin courses through the veins.

Strengths are confidence, persistence, administrative power and organizational abilities with a charismatic and dramatic presence felt by all.

Weaknesses include terrific stubbornness, strong subjectivity and fixed prejudices, a ruthless desire for power, and an explosive temper.

The 'Images for Integration' are: The mating season...Persephone and Pluto...The Phantom of the Opera...Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective. ('Sun Sign-Moon Sign' by Chas & Suzi Harvey.)

Well, Truman certainly played Pluto's role in dropping atom bombs on Japan, didn't he? And humankind suffers permanent damage from his emotionally rationalized actions as the Atom Split rent a veil of natural law which can never be mended in this Earth's lifetime.

But leaving Politics out of it, this should be a beautiful Full Moon so I'm wishing everyone clear enough skies in which to appreciate its gorgeousness!

Update 7:45 pm edt: the Sabian Symbols for the Full Moon (Sun and Moon) are now posted at jude's threshold just for you!

5.6.09: A White House full of presidents - NN to Inaugural Jupiter

First off, here's a view from abroad on the global measures being taken against 'swine flu', a view which characterizes the efforts as 'absurd' and 'ludicrous'.

While I can't speak to measures taken abroad and their effects on society, here at home I'm tempted to think that there have been too many school closings and other cancellations...until I remind myself that many students have relatives at home with impaired immune systems.

And if you have any experience with school age children and offspring you know that school settings are typically quite a breeding ground for viruses even on a good day!

Ill people should stay home, whatever their age. Simple, no? You'd think so.

Yes, 'over-reactive' measures are easily characterized as such but only if you or a loved one are not one of the fallen - one's views and perspectives change very quickly then.

~:~

Astrologically today, as Pres. Obama meets at the White House with the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan, I see that the transiting North Node (NN - the 'head of the dragon') is pointing to Inaugural 2009's Jupiter 3AQ32 in Inaugural 10th house (wider world.)

I had wondered what big encounter or meeting would occur for the president when NN aligned with Inaugural Jupiter so now I know...three presidents in the White House discussing people who are (among other things) fighting against the one-world-government now squalling in its birth pangs. Our government is rife with Trilateralists and others who are 'marching' us toward a world government, as David Rockefeller described it in his 1991 speech to the Trilateral Commission.

Today orator Mercury, trining Inaugural 2009 Mercury, is on degree for a turn-around, but first must seemingly stand still a day or two at '2Gemini'...Sabian Symbol: 'Santa Claus Filling Stockings Furtively' which sounds as if moneybags Jupiter may be purchasing we-know-not-what from visiting foreign leaders - cooperation? Silence?

Sun in mid-Taurus today inconjunct Moon in mid-Libra indicates a compulsion to make enormous concessions to others out of a desire to hold on to past ties and old associations.

This could be a very expensive meeting for the USA as today's inconjunct between the lights will reward tales of woe with tea and sympathy - on White House china, no less.

For more on Sabian Symbols, you may wish to visit the excellent Australian astrologer Lynda Hill and perhaps use her one-click Oracle feature to ask a question of the Symbols!

More storms are imminently on the way, so now I'm whisking off to Stars Over Washington to post a few details on the Sun-Moon blend for today.


NOON UPDATE: NPR just reported on today's meeting which of course involves Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and called the meeting 'trilateral'! In more ways than one, I assert.