Sunday January 30, 2011 in Cairo

View of the Nile and Cairo from the Cairo Tower (2007)

photo credit: Radausandei

I can't imagine a more disturbing if educational way to learn about astrology than by watching it unfold in the streets of a country beset by popular or military upheaval.

And yet, there is that old and true expression: those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The only thing I would add to that is that this isn't just about History (big "h") as in politics, armies and nations. This is also about our single and singular lives as human beings. Cycles work in our lives and come around again and again as surely as they do when it comes to nations and regimes.

People often ask why astrologers 'didn't see this coming.' The answer is, you can't watch every chart and every world location all at once!

If anyone can, I'm not even sure I'd want to meet them, either! (Though I might want to know how many computers they're running...can you imagine?)

However...some 'common knowledge' astrology does stand out in this past week's news. As trouble began erupting in Egypt, the Moon was in Libra. As violence escalated into the dramatic scenes of thousands streaming across Cairo's bridge as the army retreated in front of them, the Moon had moved into Scorpio. As the Moon then moved into Sagittarius, fervency hit the violence point - guns brought out began getting fired.

And again - as I've said before, there are a lot of problems brewing in a lot of places. But I can't cover it all. For purely instinctual reasons, I've focused on Egypt - and I hope no one thinks that means I don't care about anywhere or anyone else.

We each do what we can do. So going back to these global passages of Moon in Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, they are global. So in some measure they operated in each of our lives. The nature of the signs - and how the Moon tends to play out in each sign is what I'm referring to here.

All three signs belong to the zodiac's third, interactive quadrant.

 The zodiacal 3rd quadrant: Libra (air), Scorpio (water), Sagittarius (fire)

All signs in this quadrant act interactively. They may play to the audience, be caught up in what others are doing, exchange ideas, negotiate, try to make their point, or operate in any of a million other interactive modes.

The Libra segment is 'airy' and theoretical. So the Moon moved into and through Libra, in Egypt, the people protested and shouted. Their government replied - and make no mistake, silence says as much as anything else in the world of interactions.

I mean...have you never had someone give you the silent treatment? Makes a real point, does it? As does being ignored or stonewalled. Silence is not always golden nor mute: sometimes it's worth a thousand words!

Scorpio being fixed water, from early on the 26th through early on the 28th, emotional drives made it important to make one's point. That's the typical Scorpio move - to try to gain control, and if possible, to do so  without damaging whatever you're trying to gain.

Not particularly 'gracious' in Scorpio, the Moon is known for bringing out exhibitions of anything between defiance and testy sulkiness in Scorpio...which (sorry to say) sounds apt, considering this is when confrontations began, though people remarked on the lack of looting at that point.

Looting didn't start until the Moon entered Sagittarius come mid-morning on the 28th. And that's another painful if interesting comment. Sagittarius is the realm of astrological fire; Moon in Sagittarius acts with fervency and promotes 'fiery' rhetoric which if not held in check by some greater moral imperative often enough results in actions or statements which, in hindsight, are in some 'realistic' sense regrettable even if in fiery, 'theoretical' or 'conceptual' terms is thought justified.

The other side of Sagittarius is less savory - it rules the judicial system and therefore the theory of 'might makes right.' That there was a prison break during this time speaks to just how far Sagittarius can go; how those prisoners got out will be something worth listening for.

Egypt's White Desert of Farafra

photo credit: Omar Kamel

The Moon will enter Capricorn - Cairo time - just after 4pm on Sunday, January 30th. Capricorn is a 4th quadrant sign. It is thus not person-to-person (or personally) interactive, but global. This societal. This is group oriented. This is national. This is systemic.

Capricorn is the structure of life. It is the thing which like, love or hate it, is the thing you rely on. You know where you stand because Capricorn forces, dynamics and realities define the rules, the boundaries, the necessary routines and regulations of one's life.

The Moon is push and shove in emotional Scorpio. Against this we have it's other bad habit - to act with 'entitlement' and haste - when in Capricorn, an earth sign which fosters and seeks very real results.

Capricorn embodies the quests, questions and directives which are leadership and knowing where we're going and where we stand. Every month when the Moon goes through Capricorn, we are tested as to our sense of proportion and capacity, our ability to do what we want to do against who we know we should be.

The Moon will be in Capricorn - Cairo time - until the wee hours of February 2nd.

So what will happen? That we don't know. I don't pretend to know - there are just too many factors in the air. There are millions of lives, each unique, which are in play and at stake.

But there are some moments which seem apt to look at and learn from.

I am posting only a handful of moments from Sunday, January 30th here for our observation. This does not mean that this is the most critical time, or that there are no other critical times. I am merely saying these are things I noted when looking at an astrological clock (yes, really good astrological software is a wonderful thing!)...so I thought I would share.

 Sunday, January 30th (2011) - Cairo, 4:39am

It is my understanding that there is a curfew currently in force in Cairo. That would be imaged by the Saturn ruled Capricorn Pluto (control)/North Node (what you should do) at the Ascendant, point of action or activity. These Capricorn points are ruled by the Saturn at 17 Libra (at the top, in green).

With Saturn in Libra, that gives us a rulership by Venus - Libra is ruled by Venus. The Venus of this chart is still in the 12th house of the chart, but already above the Ascendant. Situated at 24 Sagittarius with the Moon at 23 Sagittarius, that tells us that give or take, it's about two hours before that fervent Sagittarius Moon conjuncts that Venus - by which time, Venus will be in the societal streets of the 11th house.

Using the movie term, we now 'cut' to dawn in Cairo...

 Dawn in Cairo - January 30, 2011

Dawn being defined as the Sun rising up over the horizon, here we have the Sun rising in Cairo - with asteroids Hel and Sappho rising just ahead of it.

If I say that Sappho is the poetic universality of humanity and Hel is...well, our Hel, this hardly looks like a pleasant morning.

Interestingly, on the other side of the chart (at the Descendant - where ultimately the Sun sets) we have Photographica, a symbol all about 'what it looks like.' So...do we expect posturing for cameras? Some taped messages going out over the air? Maybe.

Looked at another way, Photographica at the Descendant may represent a change or shift in the 'look of things.' Different images may be offered - or communication means or amounts may change in the world of Cairo, if not the whole of Egypt.

That last line really illuminates one of the big problems of being an astrologer trying to do this work. Someday maybe we will have programs which allow us to say 'tell me when this happens at xyz place.' Or to such-and-such a person. We'll be able to automate our files.

It just hasn't happened yet. So I speak in terms of Cairo but not Tunisia. I can't even get as far as clock watching in Alexandria...

The coastline of Alexandria, Egypt in 2006

photo credit: Jackson550

....or Aswan, which most people don't know know all that much about except for it's dam.

I've had the pleasure of visiting Aswan. I hear it's the hottest place in Egypt during summer - fortunately I was there in a cooler month. It was spectacular. Watching the sun go down in Aswan gave me a profound sense of the great expanses of human time...and how minuscule that is indeed when compared to time on planetary or galactic scale.

 The Nile at Aswan, wandering among river islands.

photo credit: Citadelite (2007)

I'm sure you hear what I'm saying. Egypt is a land filled with people, each of whom has a life as valuable and 'total' as our lives are to us.

And yes, the rest of the world is just the same.

Egypt is far, far more than its famous monuments - though yes, they are really, truly spectacular.

I hope you get to travel there someday. And elsewhere. The world...our world...is well worth getting to know.

So - after dawn. What comes next?

 January 30, 2011 - 7:51am - Cairo Time

By just before 8 o'clock in the morning Chiron (daunting need) is at the Ascendant as Hidalgo and Antares stand at the Midheaven.

This would seem to be a reactionary moment. Chiron is what we are faced with doing that we don't know how to do, and which we can't know how to do except by doing it. Chiron embodies the old saying experience is the best teacher.

But at the same time, Chiron is also all about the need which drives us to try doing those things we don't want to think we need to learn how to do. They often turn out very well - but boy, do we resist learning this lesson or what!

Here pictured at 29 Aquarius, with an Ascendant also at 29, this is an expression of urgency of need and/or the idea that something is 'urgently needed.'

Against this we have Hidalgo and Antares at the Midheaven: a classic question of what one is willing to do to win the day. One of the Royal Stars of Persia, Antares promises success if we do not act out of a desire for retribution or vengeance.

This could be the government taking action. Then again, it could be the people acting out against the government.

It's important to remember here that symbols like Antares are not 'person particular.' The door swings both ways. You can be the underdog of all time who deserves rescue and a chance to get back at your oppressors - but if Antares is around, moderation must be your byword. At some level, it's not so much what you do here as the energy with which you do it.

I suspect no more needs be said.

Two more moments...

 9:03 am (Cairo time), January 30th, 2011

This chart is notable because it has Black Moon Lilith (mass rejection/rejection by the masses) at the Ascendant with headstrong Phaeton just ahead of it.

Meanwhile, 26 Sagittarius - the need to give to others - is at the Midheaven with the Moon and Scylla (of all things!) perfectly conjunct.

There's a huge amount of conviction being displayed here, with with Scylla modifier suggesting stubbornness beyond calculation. That, in terms, suggests some sort of action or activity which goes farther than one might suspect, lasting or holding out even when one might have thought an end must surely have come.

Last but not least (and let's note that all these are morning hour charts) a chart for 10:19am, Cairo time. Many people in the west will be sound asleep.

Maybe having bad dreams? Who knows. But that everyone isn't awake at all times gives us one of those interesting clues about why certain things happen in one place but not another.

With that said, the chart...

 January 30, 2011 - 10:19am (Cairo, Egypt)

This chart has recently-eclipsed Vega at the Midheaven. With Vega is Hybris, easily translated into 'hubris,' or arrogance.

At the Ascendant is Eris Discord - disruption. With Eris is Hebe, the servant. There having been rumors that President Mubarak may name someone as his successor, this well may be a chart connected with that concept. Then again, this may be connected to the 'national servants' which are embodied as Egypt's military.

About twelve minutes before this chart...make it just past 10am Cairo time, TNO/Plutino Ixion and asteroid Child will be atop the 9th house cusp. When I saw this, I wondered whether we would hear about Mubarak's son - already reputedly out of the country (meaning, Egypt).

Ten o'clock in the morning in Cairo is breakfast and rush hour in London. It's the middle of the night in New York. Here where I live in Los Angeles, many will just be going to bed. Out in Honolulu, they're still watching prime time TV (or not...!).

New Zealand will be just sitting down to dinner - dinner tomorrow night to me, but that's just how it works.

We all will get this moment but it will be presented in very different ways, depending on where we are. And where we are makes all the astrological difference.

Yes, there is some part of me which wishes there was a way to know what was happening everywhere all at once.

But then, what would I do with that? The point is how we live our life - not just what we know about it.

There's been a lot of talk about how social media and cell phones and streaming video and all such have made an enormous difference in how we regard what's happening in the Middle East. Revolutions (unfortunately!) come and go. But this is possibly the first time the everyday person has had the ability to use technologies which used to be in the hands of the elite few to make their case!

And further their cause. And get the word out.

To this, as just a tiny footnote I'll also add that this is the first time astrologers far and wide had software powerful enough to watch it.

So time marches on!

Happy Birthday, Clean Energy (Or Maybe Not Yet?)

Passed on June 26, 2009, the Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is about to have a birthday. Considering how this 'birthday' is marked by a lunar eclipse and a massive oil spill, that says something. But what?  

The Sun – the will of this Act is pictured in its chart at 5 Cancer, making the bill's realistic nature one rife with ‘disagreements,’ ‘indecisiveness,’ even 'miserliness' in the money department. Another big difficulty? The lack of ability (“defenselessness”) when it comes to dealing with human weakness. According to the Sun's position, the desire to 'hear all and judge fairly' gets in the way.

Not exactly an auspicious start, wouldn't you say?

Moving on...with this Sun closely associated with service-oriented Vesta at 3 Cancer, the 'will' in this bill will suffer in martyred silence - which is probably why we've heard so little about it during this past year. In fact, if this bill had any teeth, this Vesta would have so little ‘toughness’ that you might figure a political dentist had gone in and pulled all the teeth out.

Okay...so now we have a bill which not only cannot enunciate its intent, but in the 'biting off what you can chew' department may well earn the right to be retitled "The Gumming Act." Apparently this Act is up to pablum, but not much else. 

But things may be about to change.

For one, the rather wussy Sun/Vesta of this bill is opposed by a Capricorn Pluto conjunct Klotho ('a starting point'), Edisonia ('the new idea') and Mnemosyne (memory). Capricorn being about commerce, government and structure, this makes Mnemosyne historical memory, Edisonia new commercial methods and Klotho/Pluto a ‘switch’ which tells us that once the chart is activated, its premises go to work.  And thus it may do some good.

So now we look for something to activate it.

A Moon at 28 Leo tells us that the passage of the Act was a proud achievement. Yet with this Moon being in the 12th house, that pride was probably mostly limited to the halls of Congress. Nobody outside the Capitol was apparently much impressed. Why not? 

Because nothing had been done yet. Amazing how lawmakers forget that part...

This Moon is actually the biggest indicator of problems in the whole chart (and hence, the bill). Why? Because in a chart, when the Moon hold the "highest numerical position" in the chart, that horoscope is said to have a 'Void of Course' Moon. And when we see a VOC Moon, we think of the chart as being an 'end product' - content to be what it is and not highly dynamic in a strictly worldly 'go-getter' way. 

So this bill - as it stands, will never do anything, or get anything done. One could say it's pretty much....dead in the water.

Fitting, don't you think?

But even if that's so, why that is provides grist for our learning curve because it tells us how, why and when we may begin getting ourselves out of what is looking more than a little like an aquatic tar pit. And that's plainly worth knowing. 

This part of the answer starts with recognizing the Act's grand trine in earth signs, earth being all about tangible commodities and, when we talk specifically about energy, forms of same which come from the Earth. Interesting how in a Clean Energy Act this would by element rule out all discussions of wind, solar, water and tidal energy, pointing to coal, oil and nuclear as the point of the bill, right? 

That's how astrology works. 

So what are grand trines? A grand trine is composed of three trines hooked together by numerical aspect producing a picture of an equilateral triangle which represents a ‘closed circuit’ of ongoing influence. 

Grand trines are notorious for being wretchedly hard to break into. Or out of.

The first point in the configuration involves the Ascendant, the ‘funnel’ or 'aperture' through which any chart performs...the present tense doing of it all. 

This Ascendant is at 20 Virgo, a 3rd decanate degree all about a battle, but not much about winning. In governmental terms, this means much talking, less than sterling amounts of action and probably few if any results.

Plus...sitting right behind this Ascendant (in prime position to affect doings) we have  Saturn and TNO Typhon, both at 16 Virgo. (article on Typhon) 

Typhon is primitive, titanic forces - of the Earth and in the choices/actions of mankind. And Virgo? In worldly terms, Virgo is ‘health,’ ‘the workforce’ and ‘ongoing functionality,’ all of which in an energy bill underscores how energy keeps modern society moving, the dangers associated with energy production and how Typhon things can get when energy production goes wrong.  

Saturn is Virgo is viability of functionality – the ‘the health of’ a society, an industry, a country or a world. In perfected conjunction with Typhon in a degree about dangers which arise 'when precision goes awry.' 

That these two symbols are 'married' in the 12th house conjunct the Ascendant is highly potent - and therefore highly problematic. But also interesting, especially if you're looking for a way for this Clean Energy/Security Act to 'find its voice' in the world. The 12th being known as ‘the house of limitations,’ and a Virgo Saturn in negative form being not only fear of tampering with the system but also fear of destruction of the environment tells us a lot about how this Act works - even symbolically. 

That it would take a real disaster isn't out of line here, either - the 12th is notorious for its lack of realism (you know, that 'think good thoughts and everything will be just fine!' stuff)...and we are talking about an earth sign (Virgo). Earth signs do like tangible results. Or a tangible disasters - yes, like the Deepwater Horizon explosion and all that oil pouring through the Gulf, invading America's southern coast. 

With the Moon of this chart in the 12th, and given that in a governmental bill the Moon is always going to represent (among other things) the people, we shouldn't be shocked that Americans turned a blind eye to necessity until the reality of a disaster hit home in spades. It would be far easier (and natural) for any government and its people to 'see' the Moon as money - which it also traditionally is. In that light the Moon in 12 would be a fear of what changing over to clean energy would cost. And what would happen to energy industries and people employed by same along the way.

Speaking of people and money, there's a whole other side of this 12th house Moon to consider here too - that being the 12th as the house of ‘passive income’ (royalties, dividends, lease payments, annuities, pensions). Have we thought about how many pension plans are invested in energy? If not, maybe we should - starting with looking to what happened to BP's stock the minute the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. 

And what happened? BP’s stock exploded too - sinking about as quickly as the multi-mega-million-dollar drilling rig. A whole lot of UK pension plans had been invested in BP, relying on BP’s enormous yearly dividend payouts to support their pensioned clients. And those which hadn't already gotten out surely bailed when BP signed up for a USD $20 billion fund to begin paying off US damages, announcing it would suspend payments of dividends through (at least) the end of 2010.

Also – don’t kid yourself: this isn’t the end of the money pipeline. Any company which sets up a $20 billion dollar fund knows this is just the start of a long, long payout.  

Speaking of which, the 12th house is the part of the chart all about toxins, toxicity and ‘latent illness’ which develops down the line. So while Typhon/Saturn is on one hand the fear of tampering with business, it’s also about the damage which can be incurred because OF a business.

This is also where we finally 'get' that this particular Act is really about oil. Coal and nuclear may well have their problems, but neither is a 12th house commodity. This bill is about OIL.

Moving to the 2nd point in the grand trine, we get more specifics, starting with the fact that this second trine is positioned in the 9th house, classically the house of 'finding out what doesn't work' and 'things foreign'  which from the POV of an Act passed by a US Congress seems a perfect description of BP having problems with its deep water (and Deepwater) well.

In this 9th house we have a Taurus Venus and Mars. 

When Mars in Taurus works well, it 'goes after' what is wanted. When it doesn't work well, it manifests in disputes and frustrations, blowouts, feelings of obligation, neglect and various kinds of inability to control. 

Generally a wellspring of receptiveness, Venus in Taurus is easily seen as 'lucrative' and yet can wax as far as 'greedy.' 

Together, these two are a quintessential 'lets make something happen,'  which in a political chart and earth sign (Taurus) says security and safety really would fit the bill (so to speak) in Congress' efforts to get this Act passed. 

But the reality of Taurus is also about money in the bank. And given that Sun/Vesta thing, and that Saturn and Moon in 12th thing, we have a really good picture of stress between that right intent and the rights of business and the right thing to do for the economy and a national populace vastly unaccustomed to deprivation - even inconvenience. 

And let's not kid ourselves: this is also a perfect picture of foreign entities having no reason at all to want anything about current US oil attitudes to change...which in monetary terms rather leaves the United States reaching to grabbing cash out of its own back pocket by bending over and reaching between its legs.

(Yes, I wax poetic here. And I’d say ‘at least I wax!’ but this is a g-rated blog and joke or no joke, that just goes into a quadrant which is simply TMI!)

With Venus/Mars conjunct Sedna and this being the highest point in the grand trine we are informed that it will take death and storms of chaotic proportions to shift the power in this chart. (The astrology of Sedna) And it's not just Sedna (though that's quite enough!...there's an asteroid named Atlantis sitting conjunct Sedna, giving us two highly potent indicators that the crisis which erupts requires not just letting go of 'life as you know it' but that this is about power found at the bottom of the ocean. 

With Chaldea joining the group, we have one clear problem in the chaos being ‘antiquated knowledge,’ to which we add fixed star Capulus at 24 Taurus and fixed star Algol conjunct Nemesis at 26 Taurus.

Atlantis/Mars is the emotional (2nd decanate) part of this story, taking us back to how hard it is to change. Or even contemplate change, nevermind enact it. All the rest are 3rd decanate symbols (in degrees 20-29) - which tells us that it takes a truly titanic (Typhon) sort of crisis for things in the US to really change. What sort of crisis? Well, Capulus/24 Taurus is essentially a rape. And not the event of the rape, rather the horror which lingers on and on and on. How the whole of a life is forever changed because the rape destroys some sort of innocence or denial that it could 'ever happy to you.' 

As for Algol/Nemesis at 26 Taurus...that’s the ‘I told you so’ or the ‘you knew this could happen’ which either recalls Pollyanna thinking on the part of mankind or what may have been best put by JRR Tolkien (and filmmakers who have walked in his word) in Lord of the Rings when talking about a creature called a Balrog: those who will be so greedy as to delve too deep will stir up dangers beyond conscious calculation. (Here I paraphrase liberally, but suffice it to say those who know the book, know the reference).

What’s interesting here is that this chart tells us that it would not ultimately be a US concern which would do the ultimate ‘drilling too deep’…and indeed it wasn’t. The Deepwater rig belongs to Transocean: a company based in Zug, Switzerland. And BP is British.

The third leg of this grand trine is calculated Lilith at 19 Capricorn conjunct Arachne at 18 Capricorn and fixed star Vega at 15 Capricorn.

Again – Capricorn is a sign of government, business and commerce as structural entities (income from business and the economy or economics is Aquarian). The calculated form of Lilith is all about what we don’t want to look at in/about the workings of society.

Positioned in a degree all about the ability to take a stoic and solid stand against things, with Capricorn ruled by that Saturn/Typhon ‘don’t rock the boat!’ thing in 12 we know the lack of this ability is something that neither the US government nor its people really want to deal with.

Especially with this Lilith being positioned in the 4th house of the chart, we know this is about the people and the government of the people more interested in catering to the businesses of the land than the land itself - the treasure extracting exceeding the treasure of the inheritance and homeland. And the people of the US along with their government are hooked into this 9th house of ‘things foreign’: Americans are plainly not liking the idea of owning their own culpability in the world, in their homeland or for a future they love to talk about but don't like really planning for. Everyone bitches about it, but no one really wants to….(ugh!) …DEAL with it.

With Arachne (the spider) involved, we have the issue of being ‘tangled in a web’ – obviously of our own building. And we can expect all discussions of clean energy to always include the idea that 'we've been ensnared’ – it’s their fault we’re in this mess! (whoever 'they' are) 

And yet…we know. Vega is a fixed star all about knowing. Conjunct calculated Lilith however, it loses its charismatic ability – which may be why in America, Presidents as far back as Nixon have been pointedly calling for changes in attitudes about energy (“energy independence”) without much ever getting done about it.

So what does it take for a grand trine to be ‘broken’ into and made functional? Can it be made functional? 

This bill with it’s Void of Course (ineffective) Moon is not going to do the job. That much is plain. But by virtue of the lunar eclipse on its birthday AND a July 11 solar eclipse exactly in opposition to its Lilith...?

That suggests big, big changes in the works. America needs to learn some
lesson - that's evidenced in this chart by Mercury positioned well in Gemini near the Midheaven, but on the 'wrong' side to be instantly effective. So this bill was before its time. And with Mercury exactly conjunct fixed star Rigel-the-teacher at 16 Gemini with the Midheaven at 18 Gemini, the implied "two unit difference" suggests a two year gap between this bill and something actually done. 

However...! Tantalus is also in this picture. And Tantalus is all about the
'tantalizing' choice between using what one knows for gain and personal use (regardless of cost) – or knowing that things need to be done better so that ultimately life itself is a better thing to live.

So that's what remains to be dealt with, one supposes - and thus as we come to this lunar eclipse on the Sun of this Act (and incidentally, also almost atop the current corporation chart for BP, making it a lightning rod in its own right)...all that comes to the fore. 

Thus now comes a three-year solar eclipse hurricane timed out by this  chart. At the end of that, we will see what still stands, what has fallen, and what has washed up on which shore of our collective, 12th house conscious choice. 

This bill evidently said “fear now or later?” and evidently everyone said 'later,' thinking ‘later’ would be a whole lot farther down the line.

Apparently, everyone was wrong.

.