Pope Watch 2013

The Sistine Chapel (where the Cardinals will be voting on a new Pope) sits
in the foreground with the dome of St. Peter's Basilica behind

(photo credit: Yair Haklai, October 2009)

Whether or not you're interested in who the Pope is, the election of a Pope has a lot to tell us about how astrology works. Not that it's something most  astrologers get to work on in real time all that often. Indeed, Pope Benedict's retirement was a giant surprise - such a thing hadn't happened in some 700 years.

And the bigger question may be whether that's a sign of the times and changes in the Catholic Church we will see playing out in years to come. Astrologically, that question would depend on coming up with some chart for the founding of the 'Vatican Church' as we know it in today's world. That data would go back in most likelihood to the days of Emperor Constantine and the 3rd century...but I haven't found the date yet. (It may take writing a Bishop or Cardinal, and they're busy at the moment.)

Certainly there are many who think that the Catholic Church needs to change. But will it? When will that happen?

Stand by...I'll let you know what I find when I find it.

But that said, there is something to be said for the influence of any given Pope on the direction the Catholic Church takes and the speed with which it moves. So once the trumpet sounded for a Papal Conclave, astrologers hither and yon did begin delving into the 'who's going to be the next pope?' question.

I got an email from an astrologer friend of mine who decided to use a small collection of asteroids to frame their guess. The list (at least that which was mentioned in the email) includes Pappos (for pope), Vaticana (as a reference to the Vatican) and national asteroids (there are a lot of them, choose your country!) standing for the nationality of the Cardinals and thus the pope to be chosen.

I'll cut to the chase here: this astrologer is betting is that Scherer will be the man - or pope, depending on how you want to put it.

Italy's Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica) at night

(photo credit: Eugene Pivovarov, September 2009)

Proving that there are many ways through the forest of celestial objects out there, my thought was to start with the basic conversation we hear is being held in 'circles Catholic.' That conversation seems to be falling into two separate chalices - those who are most concerned with the Catholic church as a body of traditions which have arisen out of a doctrine considered eternal and unchanging, and those who want the Church to "live in the modern world" and deal with not just the world's problems, but the real world problems in the Church.

That breaks down to be pretty much traditionalists (read: conservatives) versus progressives (or realists) which in the world of current Catholicism seems to have become two camps known as the Romans (those members of the clergy who are work at the Vatican) and the Reformists - who tend to come more from, and work in the realm outside the Vatican.

What this comes down to astrologically is one of the great and eternal conversations: that of Sagittarius versus Pisces....religion as a body of teachings and ritual versus spiritualism and the spirit of belief or faith. 

Both signs are ruled by Jupiter, though Pisces is a dual-ruler sign where Jupiter is the 'choice' signature and Neptunian precepts teach us (through ecstatic joy or the disillusion of disappointment) where we have been right or wrong.

That Piscean lesson is based on expectation versus reality...which in the religious realm has a great deal to do with our ability to separate our belief (however it may be framed) in Existence, Creation or Divinity (whatever you call it) versus the reality of human life and human beings as innately mortal, imperfect beings.

So the question is a 'duality of dualities': the teachings and growth of understanding - the Jupiter/Sagittarian side of religion...and the acceptance of mortal life, personal wisdom and limits of human capacity, that being the Jupiter-Neptune/Pisces challenge.  

Knowing all this, we come to the chart of the Conclave. 

First day of the Vatican Conclave

Vatican City, Italy -  4:30 p.m. (CET/-1) - March 12, 2013

The time used for erecting this horoscope was that given by the Vatican as part of the 'standard procedure' used in papal elections. On the first day of a Conclave, the Cardinals will enter the Sistine Chapel at 4:30 in the afternoon. If no agreement on a new pope is reached, all subsequent days of that Conclave will have two 'voting sessions,' one of which begins at 9:30 in the morning, and the second of which begins at 4 in the afternoon. 

At writing, it is already known that the first vote of the Cardinals produced no election of a new pope. But since this chart does at some level hold for the whole of the election process, we can use this chart to think through some of what would seem integral to the process.

This is a diurnal chart, meaning it's 'Sun-ruled,' or an intellectually informed 'structural' effort - an interesting commentary for a spiritual institution, perhaps. And since as according to Vatican traditions all papal elections are initiated during the daytime (i.e., when the Sun is in the sky, that being the determining factor between a diurnal and nocturnal or Moon-ruled chart) that means that with the exception of second-ballot, second session votes, most popes are elected as a matter of thought, not 'instinct.' 

However, with the Sun in Pisces, we do have an 'automatic' note of what is the wisest course forward being put into this mix.

Evidently, popes are generally not elected on the first day of any Conclave - at least not in modern times. And this does leave open the question of how many popes may have been elected after sundown on any day of whatever particular Conclave...and what the trend away from 'first vote election' of popes says about the Church in general. That would require a chart for the Church itself, which as I say, I'll continue to look into. In the meantime (and more to our focus), this chart shows us Jupiter-Vesta-Black Moon Lilith-Ceres in Gemini and intercepted in the 10th house of this chart is a clear and lovely description of the workings of this Conclave being done behind 'closed doors' and how the eyes of the (10th house) world are not being able to watch. 

But behind those closed doors, not just the Sun in Pisces, but Venus, Chiron, Mercury and Neptune in Pisces, with Neptune conjunct Mercury and Mercury in retrograde.

Mercury will go direct on Sunday, March 17th. Seeing that the 'average' number of days in a Conclave is 5 days, with this one starting on the 12th we shouldn't be surprised if a new Pope is named as Mercury goes direct. If so, this would mean the next Pope will embody or deal with some combination of the following during this tenure as Pope:

1. Deep spirituality
2. Spirituality used merely as a guise
3. Faith in our own willingness to experience our human vulnerabilities

With Mars having entered Aries by the time this conclave begins and sitting conjunct the Moon (which is in turn conjunct Uranus) in the 8th house, this chart is a perfect picture of the exact sort of dichotomy reflected in the 'Romans versus Reformers' discussion. There is bound to be a strong resistance on the part of some Cardinals to changing anything about the Church. Just as fervently, other Cardinals will be adamant that the Church exists in a real world and therefore must care about 'real world business' - a quotient the last pope (Benedict, a scholarly sort) wasn't overly skilled with, people say.

Beyond this, that Mars-Moon-Uranus in degrees zero through 7 of Aries in the 8th house are a perfect picture of the financial and sexual scandals which continue to plague the Church. With Niobe (pride) in conjunction with Uranus, we know that the pride OF the Church as well as the pride of people in their Church has, and continues to be shaken.

2 Virgo on the Ascendant of this chart speaks to the 'work of the Church.' With the ruler of Virgo (Mercury) in retrograde, this is being thought through and quite possibly under revision. Then again, with Neptune at 3 Pisces and thus sitting right atop the 2 Pisces Descendant, there is a 'face of deception' which is being presented to the people of the world. Is this just about the 'closed door' nature of the Conclave? Or is this the Church facing the corruption that so clearly represents the 'lie' being told by the Church (and members thereof) to themselves about being of service to God and humanity?

As an astrologer, Neptune's conjunction of Fomalhaut at this time, with all the havoc of Church sex abuse scandals an ever-ongoing matter, could not be more apt. Or more telling. That Mercury in conjunction to Neptune is where 'the great belief' becomes 'the great lie' - or vice versa - is here mitigated or regulated by Fomalhaut, the Royal Star which says success can only be achieved where your aims are not corrupt, corrupted or corruptive.

Having just gone retrograde at 11 Scorpio, Saturn is still at 11 Scorpio and here in the 3rd house, a sign that consensus must be reached and that there is a thoughtful and communicative 3rd house process which is going on which in true Scorpio manner is bent on 'drilling down' to core values. But there may be a lot of resistance along the way. The good news (at least the hopeful news) for everyone here is that Deucalion is sitting at 12 Scorpio, very much conjunct Saturn. This tells us that this papal election is about the Church finding 'the moral way' (Deucalion) and that doing just that will take work (Saturn) and sacrifice or 'limits with chops attached' to reach.

With this Saturn/Deucalion in trine to Chiron/Kalypso in Pisces, we are assured that the Catholic clergy knows the Church has a deep vulnerability which is written clearly as it's love for itself being stronger than its love for other human beings in this world. Being that Saturn is in dual-ruled Scorpio, this fuels resistance to change in the sense that there will be some members of the assembly who fear the loss of power and influence 'coming clean' would require. That we know from the first ruler of Scorpio being Mars, and we see Mars positioned in the 8th house (of power, finance and sexuality) and with the Moon...a Moon which points to women, families and finance.

Oh yes...and nuns. That's a whole other topic, but one you shouldn't be surprised if you hear about going forward. 

With the outcome ruler of Scorpio being Pluto, Pluto's position in this chart at 11 Capricorn with multi-faceted Facies conjunct Industria in the 5th house says that the Church face many interruptions of its 'current work' or 'how it likes to work' to change what really needs changing. Pluto in the 5th does speak to the question of clergy being allowed to have families, and the exact sextile between Pluto and Saturn speaks of a 'fear' about that very question. There is a very real and very human question about whether the Catholic Church could be the institution it is and has come to be if priest and nuns did marry. After all, don't married people put their families first? Isn't that what having children requires of people?

And yet...if you go to the 'resisting change' side of this (using Saturn to try and 'stop' Pluto) then Pluto acts out - and there will be more sex abuse.

Humans are sexual beings. If you bar sexuality, then what kind of people - especially in this day and age - are going to enter the priesthood?

The Torre Giovanni (Tower of Saint John) and the Leonine wall inside the Vatican gardens

(photo credit: Gugganij, July 2011)

Such are the questions which confront the Catholic Church. They're plainly stated in the opening chart of this Conclave.

But what about the additional sessions which will follow? Here are the charts for those Conclave 'chapters' for the next five days:

 Papal Conclave - March 13, 2013 - Morning session

   Papal Conclave - March 13, 2013 - Afternoon session

  Papal Conclave - March 14, 2013 - Morning session

 Papal Conclave - March 14, 2013 - Afternoon session

  Papal Conclave - March 15, 2013 - Morning session

  Papal Conclave - March 15, 2013 - Afternoon session

 Papal Conclave - March 16, 2013 - Morning session

Papal Conclave - March 16, 2013 - Afternoon session

Papal Conclave - March 17, 2013 - Morning session

 Papal Conclave - March 17, 2013 - Afternoon session

Maybe you read horoscopes. Maybe you don't. Whichever is the case, what's easy enough to see is that the morning charts are all 'weighted' (more planets) on the left side of the chart where the afternoon charts are more on the right side of the chart. Also, though as the days go along the afternoon charts 'rise' towards the top of the chart (a position known as the "Midheaven" which is the most worldly and/or aspirational) the morning charts don't push more down towards the lower part of the chart.

What this says is that as the week goes on, the 'worldly' aspect of the afternoon voting sessions becomes more obvious. You may think of that as 'who the Church is in the world' or 'what the Church's work is in the world' and both will be true. But what may be more interesting to think about is how the left-versus-right qualities evidence. The left side of the chart is proactive. The right side of the chart is responsive and - to this conversation, more 'traditional' or built on experience.

So if you're someone who wants a pope to change things, you might well want to be hoping for a pope who gets voted for in the morning.

Then we get to the Moon. Through the afternoon of the 14th, the Moon will be in Aries. After that it will be in Taurus moving from Taurus into Gemini on March 17th, all of which is typical of the Moon, which give or take some time zone stuff changes signs every two days.

(For the purposes of this post we're guessing that the 'standard length' of five days total will not be exceeded during this election. If it is, I'll post again on what we know at that point.)

Moon in Aries asks the Church what it is. What is the Church about? What are its goals in this world? Moon in Aries also focus on the quality of physical life, which would tend to emphasize the real world issues of real world people.

The Moon in Taurus is about values and what creates that 'safe' feeling when we're secure in knowing all is stable - that we know we can survive another day. (Or in the life of the Church, maybe another hundred years - or at least through the reign of the next Pope.) Moon in Taurus is more protective than the Moon in Aries, which would seem to emphasize more conservative positions.

But how that is expressed in these charts varies. The afternoon charts mostly have the Moon in the 9th house no matter what signs it's in, though the chart for the 13th has it still in the 8th house and the horoscope for the 17th has it in the 10th. The Moon in 9 is several things. It speaks strongly to the teachings of the Church in a ritual form - the letter rather than the spirit of the thing. Yet in Aries this would be 'what we should do' where in Taurus it would be more like 'what we have been taught we should be'...and then there's the Moon in Gemini of March 17th, which would place and emphasis on 'doing our job better' on a level which looks to teaching and education.

Interestingly however, the morning charts for the 14th, 15th and 16th have the Moon in the 12th house with those for the 15th and 16th (the Moon in Taurus) having the Moon intercepted in that 12th house. These charts probably represent the most 'liturgical' and conservative sessions of all, the moments when the Conclave veers more towards internalized doctrine with less of a focus on worldly matters.

Most people who think the Church needs to change would call this 'more of the same' and not like it very much. If you're one of the people in this collective, your feelings would probably echo more with Conclave doings on the mornings of the 13th, 14th or 17th, should it go on that long.

Yet it's not that the Church isn't aware that changes of some kind need to be made. Throughout this Conclave, Pallas (dispassionate wisdom) will be conjunct Eris, the idea that things happen to shake us up in ways we never suspected (or believed) could possibly happen. Remembering that in these circles someone in the 60s is considered rather young, this reminds us that many (if not most) of those in the College of Cardinals were born in the 1930s and 40s, marking them as members of Pluto in Cancer (for whom the world has pretty much changed entirely) or Pluto in Leo, a group of people who adapt slowly, but ultimately well...though that may be harder when you're part of an institution as resistant to change as the Catholic Church.

Among others, a small child marvels at the beauty of sunlight

streaming in through the windows of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

(photo credit: James Bromberg August 2003)

In the overall sense, this progression of charts strikes me as an ongoing discussion - which the Conclave probably is. With various views being expressed going in (hence the black smoke for the initial vote) there is likely to be an initial bend towards conservatism (the 'Romans' side of the equation) which after several days becomes somewhat more 'Reformist.'

So we'll see. Once a new Pope is elected we will know when during this process two-thirds of the Cardinals were able to agree on one name and what that name is. We will look to his chart and see where it fits into the greater picture. Granted, we will only know what his tenure as Pope will produce in time, but by and large, the administration headed up by any given Pope tends to be a great deal like the Pope which heads it.

In the meantime, we do know one thing: this Conclave is being conducted during Mercury's moving into its station to go direct. Given that we allow a metaphysical two-day before, two-day after 'station allowance' for any such event, that means that any Pope elected between March 15th and March 19th will bear the 'mark' of Mercury's upcoming 5 Pisces station. If that degree is not obviously active in the next Pope's chart, we will know that this point is sensitive for some other reason, and figure out what that is.

But still, the basics apply. To be electing a Pope under a Mercury retrograde in Pisces as Mercury comes into conjunction with Neptune asks that any such choice be made based on our having faith in the reality we live with, and the life to be lived in the here and now. Scripture can be hugely inspirational, but rituals do not create reality: humans do.

And to be human is to be mortal, a fact which stresses our own need for compassion and acceptance that our life can only be as good or as safe or as moral as that life we help others achieve for themselves.  
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Libya’s Turmoil

 Um el Maa Oasis

photo credit: Michael Diederich (November 2005)

There are at lot of charts for Libya. For centuries it’s been ruled by treaty, partitioned by war and overrun by invaders. Not meaning this to sound cavalier, if your nation has been a power in the Mediterranean region north, south, east or west, its likely that at some point in history your nation has been in charge of the area we know today as Libya.

That nation – that collective/collected territory seem to have its roots in a peace treaty struck between the Allies and Italy which, as of February 10, 1947 has Italy relinquishing its command of Libyan lands.

February 10, 1947 - Italy relinquishes all control of Libya

in a treaty with the Allies (Tripoli)

This chart, in many a way – describes Libya as a nation as one which arose out of war (WWII) and which in that metaphysical formulation is created replete with the  groundwork for the Libya we know today, a Libya which is now painfully showing us its 'wartime-like' roots.

This concept starts with a chart which has 23 Libra on the 6th house of national health, work and service. Not only that, but this Libra 6th house contains the whole of the sign of Scorpio. Known as an interception, this ‘sign wholly encapsulated by a house’ is Scorpio. And in this intercepted pool of captive Scorpio energy is Chiron conjunct Niobe/Klotho and Jupiter conjunct Charybdis, Panacea and Eros/Hera.

The 6th house of any national chart is the nation’s ‘health’ as a nation plus its health care system, the general health of its people and the ‘health’ of its civil service and infrastructure, replete with whatever efforts are made to maintain the country in working order.

Modern Tripoli - Shari al Coiche

photo credit: Jaw101ie (June 2009)

A national 6th house also pictures the civil service, those who work to create or keep up the national infrastructure and – probably important here – the military.

One of Scorpio’s aspects is about death, conception and resurrection – hence the idea of the Phoenix being associated with Scorpio. So to have Scorpio intercepted in the 6th speaks of the war through which Libya was created, the warriors which created it and as a means of foreshadowing, the military man who would come to rule it.

The ruler of Libra (the sign on the cusp of this 6th house) is Venus. The Venus of this chart is in the 8th house of power, control, sex and joint finances – which in a national chart would be more like the nation’s use of credit and debt and/or what it uses money for.

Venus as a concept is about bringing things into being.

 We often think of Venus as the beauty of Aphrodite which inspires results. But the reality of Venus is more about what you earn, you have, what you have, you get to use as a resource. 

Which yes, would be why the concept of beauty is that ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it!’ Of course that does sort of ignore how much work often goes into being that casually beautiful…

…But that’s another blog.

My point here is that the Venus of this chart is in the administrative/governing sign of Capricorn - is conjunct calculated Lilith. Calculated Lilith is either what we deny about our society or what our society denies (“refuses to know or acknowledge”) about us. And with this pair conjunct Scylla, there’s a whole stubbornness about this, plus a “whirlpool” effect – the ability to get ‘sucked in.’

In the 8th, this could easily be seen as Italy being…uh… ‘cajoled’ by the Allies into surrendering Libya. I mean, who thinks Italy woke up one morning saying ‘I want to set Libya free!!!’

 The ancient rock art of Tadrart Acacus bears mute testimony to

Libya's past as an area which was once far wetter - a land of

savannas which would have supported large animals like giraffes.

photo credit: Roberto D'Angelo (December 2005)

I don’t know about you, but WWII doesn’t strike me as a war which inspired such moods. As if any war does?

But moving on. In some houses (such as the 12th) Venus can indicate a free flow of creativity, no question. In the 8th however, it tends to be very controlling. And since it rules that 6th house (replete with its ‘impounded’ military) there’s the whole sense of ‘mandate’ to be associated with this Venus-Lilith-Scylla in the 8th. And that metaphysical essence would not only be part of Libya coming to be, but in what it is as it starts out.

No, not exactly what you would call a liberal start to national identity.

But we could go very ‘maybe yes, maybe no’ on whether this was going to be good or bad for the new nation…until we see how this 8th house is ruled by the Scorpio Jupiter intercepted in the 6th house.

It’s a closed circuit which turns itself a bit inside-out, right? The sign on the 6th is ruled by a Venus in the 8th with the 8th house ruled by a Jupiter which is intercepted in the 6th.

This ‘inescapable’ quality is what tips us off that the nation is not only controlled (Scorpio and 8th house) into being, but that the factor which goes into and comes out of this incarnating of the Libyan nation is a controlling (Scorpio) and probably charismatic (Scorpio/Jupiter) member of the military (6th house).

And no, I don’t know who negotiated for the Allies in WWII, but there’s no question but that Gaddafi – the man who will end of seizing and wielding Libyan power and power over Libya – he was widely known to have been a dashing, charismatic military presence when he took power.

Of course there is the other side of this Venus-Lilith-Scylla thing…that whoever would take power would do so without paying all that much attention to the people. And the people, in reality, would not be really honest with themselves about who this leader is.

If we had any doubt about this descriptor-description, we would look to the ruler of the Venus-Lilith-Scylla in Capricorn. That would be Saturn, which positioned in the 3rd house is in Leo.

Saturn in Leo is notorious for having…well, let’s just say a bit of an issue with arrogance. In the 3rd house of mentality and communiqués it’s a rather brilliant image of a nation created through treaty: you WILL give up these lands…they WILL become a country. On the other hand, this would also tend towards a country where those in charge would want (demand) to be right, and one prone to wanting to  dictate to others – including other governments. Making this all a little less comfortable is the idea that this Saturn is conjunct Eurydike and Atropos, making the newly freed Libya a place where the cost one is made to pay (Eurydike) equals and ‘end’ or ‘loss’ (Atropos) where the Saturn dictate is not adhered to.

Tripoli's 'Old Town'

photo credit: Franzfoto (November 2010)

At the risk of sounding a little like that old song about the leg bone connecting to the hip bone and the hip bone connecting to…. to have such a Leo Saturn-Atropos-Eurydike disposing the 8th house Venus (plus stubborn Scylla plus societal denying/disliking calculated Lilith) which in turn rules a 6th house with Scorpio intercepted therein replete with Jupiter…that seems to be the basis upon which the Libya we hear of today – a country ‘formulated’ less as a ‘nation’ as most conceive of it than a  hierarchal-tribal rule, leaving it apt to being not only run by a “strong-man” figure who comes to power through the 6th house military but who grows up thinking of this as the way the world should be run.

Children tend to formulate a good deal of their ‘view’ of the world between Jupiter’s first opposition (at about age 6)/Saturn’s first quarter cycle (approximately age seven) and the end of Jupiter’s first round (11.86 years), which is just shy of Saturn’s first opposition at about age 14.

Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942. He would have thus been 5 when Italy relinquished its hold on Libya, and he would have been 9 when the Kingdom of Libya came into being on December 24, 1951.

 Kingdom of Libya: December 24, 1951 (Tripoli)

For a country to change charts, we would expect there to be some indicator on the original chart – in this case, the Independence (from Italy) chart. And indeed there is. Libya becomes the Kingdom of Libya as Pluto is opposing the Sun of the Independence chart – a challenge which comes from the 4th house of the populace and nationalism.

Interestingly, this is also what we saw with Egypt – as Pluto moved across the IC into the 4th house of culture, homeland, national population and tradition, Egypt changed. We see the same thing here. The new chart has Pluto at 21 Leo – the ‘exiting’ of the total opposition to the 20 Aquarius Sun of the Independence chart. This is Pluto picturing emergence…and in essence, the repercussions of transformation.

(LINK to the first of the blogs on Egypt. There are others linked in the sidebar Corporate, National and/or Political Kind section.)

In the Independence chart, shape shifter Haumea is at 18 Leo; Deucalion (finding the moral path) is at 22 Leo. Pluto runs over Haumea and ‘the shape of things’ begins to shift/change. Libya becomes a kingdom and then Pluto conjuncts Deucalion.

Considering that Pluto creates, denies or destroys, this is an interesting signal. Like as not, all three forms of this dynamic were felt in the new, young kingdom. But to fast forward to today, it would seem that the transformation into a kingdom which came to be ruled by Gaddafi ultimately denied the morality of the people and represents a ‘kingdom-format’ (as opposed to some other form of national governance such as a democracy) a format which is unlikely to work for Libya in the sense of giving the Libyan people their moral rights as a people.

That this is a negative and not positive call here is actually underscored by the idea that the Sun of the Kingdom chart is conjunct the Black Moon (calculated) Lilith of the Independence chart. Today we hear a Libyan people saying – if nothing else – that their kingdom’s ruler (Gaddafi as monarch) has ignored them and denied them their rights.

By this chart, their Independence would be denied. And since like all astrological signals this one swings both ways, the uprising of the Libyan people suggests some pretty serious consequences (a “dire” outcome) for Gaddafi. Black Moon Lilith can certainly represent a society or social standard which we want to ignore – but it can also represent the society or social forces coming to ignore everything about us. Considering that this statement is being made via the Black Moon of the Independence chart which is in the 8th house, the acts and attitude being displayed by Gaddafi towards his people (having them shot in the street) is absolutely 8th house.

Snow in Al Bayda, Libya

But as he has turned on his people, so also does this Kingdom Sun conjunct Independence 8th house Black Moon also says everything can be turned against him. Like attracts like…what we put out will come back to us. This is always true – and doubly potent when the symbols are 8th house oriented, which is to say either posed in the 8th house or in Scorpio.

As for the Kingdom chart as a whole, with Juno-Chiron-Sun conjunct in the 10th in Capricorn accompanied by Edisona, Medusa and Scylla, there is both a need to be strong and a likelihood that rulers of this Kingdom are going to be overly strong. Juno/Sun in Capricorn is the need and existence of dominant leadership – adding Chiron means one finds their own way in the doing of it, which in this case led to strength in Capricorn commerce (Edisona would be the ‘new idea’ which helped the country along) but Medusa/Scylla is a fearful stubbornness and ability to swallow others up which has been activated now as transiting Pluto is rolling over all these positions.

But why would Libyans explode now instead of continuing to tolerate their life? As viewers in a big world of events, we can easily say ‘that’s what’s going on in the Middle East – the turmoil is spreading.’ Yet astrologically, that doesn’t work – charts are more like data: they don’t react to external “feelings” or a world ‘mood.’

Instead, what we have is (let’s say it all together!) the January 4th Solar Eclipse at 13 Capricorn – an eclipse which occurring in Capricorn is easily ‘about’ government and commerce and what governments are doing with money and about commerce (their own and otherwise) …and this is an emotionally evocative degree.

In the Kingdom’s chart, this eclipse occurs virtually atop the Part of Fortune – Fortuna, as she is known. It’s something the Kingdom needs to go through and needs to know it will need to resort to (if necessary) time and time again until/unless things function correctly. That last part – the ‘functioning correctly’ comes from this Part of Fortune appearing in the functional 11th house. And since the 11th is about income, the marketplace, societal gatherings and operations of a nation in the world and a nation’s people in the national marketplace, all that we see going on and all that we hear from the Libyan people about their lack of opportunity and what is/isn’t allowed is entirely on mark.

That this Part of Fortune is conjunct Kleopatra says the people and Gaddafi know what they are doing and that they ‘speak with or in many tongues.’ Also conjunct Icarus, this Part of Fortune stands for actions taken in a sudden, headstrong and precipitous manner.

Jabal Al Akdar - Cyreraica in Eastern Libya

Photo credit: Barghathi

But does this have to be fatal? We would hope not, yet with Damocles and Vega at 13 and 14 (which makes Damocles exactly conjunct the Part of Fortune) there are perils to be faced…and frankly, Damocles/Icarus/Vega would spell an eloquently spoken ‘plunge’ which yes, could end in death.

(LINK to article on Damocles)

And there is another little pair ‘o’ points to be considered here. One is the 12 Capricorn Part of Fortune being semi-sextile Pallas (wisdom) at 12 Aquarius, which is an ego-bruising don’t bother me which mostly/greatly flows from the top down in this kingdom society. The Pallas portion of this also underscores a lack of regard for education of the people and use of their wisdom.

But there is that other little issue…namely that this Part of Fortune is in EXACT opposition to Uranus, aka Uranus conjunct Sirius, Ye Old Dog Star which teaches that little things (and “little people”) matter – and that sometimes we need to stick our ego in a box and do what needs doing instead of humoring ourselves.

Given how this Uranus is in the 5th house this is the quintessential ‘who gets to do what they want’ versus ‘no, you can’t do what you want!’ sort of energetic which the January eclipse went and set off, sort of like a heat-sensitive explosive encased in ice and left out in the sun.

With this all said, there’s also a teaching in astrology called progressions which, particularly with national charts functions best with a regimented ‘year-as-degree’ of movement. From 1951 to 2011 is sixty years, which in astrological terms is sixty degrees, or a sextile – equaling opportunity.

And if the Lunar Nodes represent society as a whole (which they do!)…a sextile backwards (by sign, which is how the Nodes move) would take us from the North Node at 2 Pisces to progressed North Node at 2 Capricorn. And 2 Capricorn is right smack conjunct Edisona and right between the 3 Capricorn Juno and 1 Capricorn Sun ‘ruler’s image’ of this Kingdom chart.

Oh, a new thing would be a brewing now, yes.

Being that Neptune is as of posting at 28 Aquarius about to move thru intense Aquarius 29 into Pisces as of April 2011, we have an image of Neptune in opposition to the Kingdom’s Regulus/Deucalion. Deucalion again being about ‘finding the moral path’ the people are saying their ‘morality’ is about having it be moral for them to have opportunities in life, it here joins Regulus – the royal star which promises success if vengeance is avoided.

With this combination situated in the 6th house of civil service and (yes,) military, it’s a very bad astrological idea (never mind political or humanistic!) for for Gaddafi to allow any military (particularly his own!) to fire on his own people. That several Libyan fighter pilots flew to Malta and asked to defect when asked to fire on the Libyan people is the ‘up’ side of this opposition. Neptune is opposing from the 12th house – a very strong position for Neptune. Still in Aquarius, the people will feel for the people’s plight – this is not going to be one group of Libyans saying another is out of their mind for protesting.

Moreover, all of humanity is going to object.

 The ruins of an ancient Roman theater in today's city of Sabratha

photo credit: dumidog

But this isn’t going to be easy. When Neptune reaches Pisces, the first thing it will hit in this Kingdom chart is asteroid Lilith – the cost of what one has done. This may be Gaddafi’s end, it may be the cost of revolt being paid by a people, either in human or societal terms.

This is one of those charts we could talk about for hours – the Mercury in Sagittarius at the top of the chart gives us a government (a king of the land) prone to hard-headed pronouncements. With the Mercury ruled by Jupiter/Eris in Aries, there’s an aggrandizement of the rights of the monarch with the now-being-seen willingness to serve out discordant treatment of the people (injury to members of the populace). With House and Typhon conjunct this Jupiter-Eris, there’s a comfort (House as ‘being at home’) with primal acts (Typhon), which coming from a military man turned national leader surely suggests a willingness to resort to military tactics and killing.

Plus with that Jupiter/Eris in Aries, one would surely look at the Mars/Saturn/Ixion/Lust/Medea in the 7th house in Libra. This is a weakness to entitlement (Mars/Ixion), a strong-arming (Mars/Saturn), a focus on what you love (Lust/Medea) and a craving for what suits your will even if it in time brings your downfall (Saturn/Ixion/Lust/Medea).

And for those not yet convinced, there is a 5 Scorpio Moon in the 8th – a fusion of money and power in the house of life or death, control or agreement – another underscoring of the potential for selfishness or violence. Or for that matter, terrorism or the sponsoring of same in any way, shape or form. Yes, this could be a great position for a government which really works with a people who earn being worked with. But Moon in the 8th OR Moon in Scorpio tends to feel what it feels. Combined, that becomes more of a given.

The final coup de gras here? That this Moon is conjunct Hybris and Byblis….not a pretty triad! Hybris is an arrogance to think you can get away with something. But eventually, it does come back to haunt you. And Byblis is wanting to justify something which on the face of it, should not even be argued for. But there’s something about it (namely that you want so for it to be okay) which makes you try and justify your love for whatever your Byblis quotient is.

That Libya erupted after Saturn took its station and went retrograde atop Ixion, backing into Mars as the ignition point says a lot. It both ignites the pent up feelings of the people as portrayed in this chart and all the propensities for how the ruler of this Kingdom will act in return.

 A mosque in the city of Ghadames - a protected

UNESCO world heritage site

photo credit: Roberto D'Angelo

 

So where is Libya going? The June 2011 Solar Eclipse at 11 Gemini will be right between fixed star Aldebaran (integrity) at 9 Gemini and fixed star Rigel (the teacher – 16 Gemini) at the 16 Gemini IC/Nadir point of this chart.

Because this eclipse is conjunct the Nadir of the Kingdom chart it acts to sort of ‘blast’ the base out from under this chart – implying that there is either a ‘teaching of a lesson’ to the country or a ‘greater wisdom’ which undermines the foundation upon which this Kingdom chart has stood now for 60 years.

That number – 60 – is in astrological circles a fairly automatic reminder of Saturn, by the way. Given that Saturn takes 29.46 years to go once around the zodiac, that’s pretty darn close to 60 years when you double it. The Saturn of this Kingdom chart being at 14 Libra with Saturn in retrograde going from 17 Libra back to 10 Libra tells us that this time...these weeks...this is the Kingdom chart’s Saturn return. It's going on right now. It's in progress. And it won't be complete until August, 2011.

Put in prosaic terms, Saturn is a symbol which says what you earn, you shall reap. This Kingdom chart seems to have earned a bucket full of trouble!

But why would that be? After all, the first go ‘round of Saturn didn’t create that kind of trouble, right?

Well, right. But that first Saturn return didn’t happen in conjunction with a Solar Eclipse squaring Saturn.

This brings up something which is important to understand: in astrological terms, one big transit can indicate a problem or an advancement. But catastrophe or achieving something over-the-moon fabulous requires more than one indicator. Saturn returns are something like a “payout” …or when the bill comes due. Some people have really great Saturn returns!

But in a chart like this where we see Saturn (at 14 Libra) square the Part of Fortune and Uranus – this is Saturn sitting at the apex of a t-square. The challenge of a t-square is to get “past” the apex of the “t”, which generally represents something difficult in your own (ego) nature to put aside. If you can manage it, then you reach the ‘other side’ of the “t” and everything falls together.

In this instance, as Saturn came to its (second) return at/as the apex of the Kingdom t-square – this is when the Solar Eclipse hit the “destination” point – the Part of Fortune.

And what do Solar Eclipses do, class? That’s right – first they show up all the worst positives, then they ‘black out’ what quality.

We are now officially in the worst of the positives zone, and that Uranus is at the time of this uprising and Gaddafi’s threatening (ordering?) of a ‘bloodbath’ of government against its own people, Uranus is at 29 degrees of Pisces – the last degree of the zodiac. The uprising began with Uranus at 28 degrees – conjunct Athena (knowing, wisdom) and fixed star Scheat, a point famous for rejection of ideas. The people rejected the rule of the leader and the leader (Gaddafi) rejected the right of the people to reject him.

(Oh – and by the way…the full name of the Greek Goddess is Pallas Athena. Her name has been parted into an astronomical two-ism with one asteroid being named Athena (or Athene) and another rather important astrological asteroid being known as Pallas).

Unfortunately, the combination of these symbols in this national chart (as opposed to a personal chart) suggests this is not going to be a quick process Libya is going through. Not only will June’s Gemini Solar Eclipse hit the Nadir of this chart but July 2011’s Cancer Solar Eclipse will hit the 5th house cusp of the Kingdom chart, rousing the full expression of that Scorpio Moon/Hybris/Byblis in the 8th.

This is an awfully long post. As I started, my intention had been to continue on into a discussion of Gaddafi’s personal chart. Born June 7, 1942, Gaddafi has a Sun which at 15 Gemini falls right at the Rigel/Nadir of the Kingdom chart.

 Muammar al-Gaddafi

June 7, 1942, Sirt (aka Sirte or Surt), Libya

Aries Wheel (no time known) - no Moon shown

With that point about to be ‘eclipsed’ come June, that seems enough to say.

Besides, the future of Libya as a nation which is home to millions of people seems far more important than the fate of one man who seems to care not at all for the values of his people – or the world.