JANUARY 2009 GALACTIC PROFILE

By Constitutional fiat, as per the 20th Amendment, all administrations begin at noon on January 20. This affords a remarkable continuity from one administration to the next—virtually all have Tenth House Suns at 0 Aquarius, conjoined a Midheaven at or about 26 Capricorn. All have Taurus rising, Cancer at the Nadir, and Scorpio on the Descendant.

These are all appropriate to how we view ourselves, and how others view us. Sun in Aquarius stresses the egalitarian society based on the principle that all people are created equal, and shows us as we wish to be seen, as a free society focused on human rights; as innovative and technologically advanced; as youthful and energetic. The Tenth House position and conjunction with the Midheaven points up our status as premier world power, something reinforced by the conjunction of this 26 Capricorn MC with the nation’s natal power center of Pluto at 27 Capricorn, affording each administration the opportunity to wield naked power on the world stage. In and of itself the Capricorn MC suggests the importance and impact of Big Business on the national image; the mentality that states that “what is good for General Motors is good for America.”

The Taurus rising shows us as others see us—materialistic and stubborn, not to say obtuse; somewhat overly concerned with pleasure and sensuality; acquisitive and obsessed with money. The Cancer IC shows us rooted in family, tradition, hearth and home, the Rockwellian “mom and apple pie” image the nation clings to, long after its era has passed. And the Scorpio Descendant shows the reality of how we interface with others—based on commerce and shared resources; the expression of our power, both economic and military, often enacted via underhand or unacknowledged means; and the sexuality pervading our cultural exports.

But within these set parameters, there is remarkable fluidity from one administration to the next, in the placement by House and Sign, aspect and galactic contact, of the remaining planets of our solar system.

The Obama administration will be highlighted by an exact conjunction of the Sun and Mercury at 0 Aquarius, with Mercury retrograde. This mirrors the Clinton administration, which also sported a Sun/Mercury conjunction, and stands in sharp contradistinction to the Bush administration, with no aspect between the two. Both Clinton and Obama are noted for rhetorical gifts which were sadly lacking in Bush, and this can be intuited from the relative combinations of Sun and Mercury in the charts for these administrations.

Obama’s is the only one of these administrations to take power under Mercury retrograde, which may have to do with the need to roll back many of the decisions and actions of the past eight years, but could also indicate a more introspective, deliberative cast to the new leadership, as well as the likelihood of some significant degree of bureaucratic and administrative confusion, delay or ineffectiveness. Sun/Mercury in conjunction also suggests a more youthful, energetic administration, something noted in the Clinton years which largely evaporated under Bush, who, despite being of Clinton’s generation, depended on so many of his father’s former advisors and long-time cronies in key positions.

The Sun of the Obama administration is also conjunct Jupiter at 3 Aquarius, reflective of the spirit of hope and optimism with which the incoming regime is greeted. In practical terms, however, this may manifest as biting off more than one can chew, taking on too much and becoming bogged down in the overwhelming nature of the task at hand. There is also the risk of becoming overly identified with a political philosophy which trumps pragmatism. But compare this to the Bush administration Sun’s conjunction with Neptune, indicative of the routine deception and misdirection practiced by the regime; the inability to face reality; the blind adherence to an ideologically-based policy despite overwhelming evidence of its failure; and the incompetence and confusion at times of national emergency, such as the ineffective response to hurricane Katrina.

One point of commonality between the last administration and the new one is the House placement of Pluto—in both inaugural charts, this exemplar of major change and transition falls in the Eighth House of shared economic interests, and this is surely appropriate given the devastating turnaround and disintegration of the nation’s economic health which was overseen by Bush, and the desperate need to rebuild these structures now under Obama.

Again, companion celestials reveal the differences—in the Bush inaugural chart, Pluto is paired with the Moon, a prophetic image of the economic devastation wrought on the American public in the past eight years, including a phenomenal expansion of the national debt, now doubled to 11 trillion dollars in just two terms. In the chart for the Obama administration, Pluto at 1 Capricorn is exactly conjunct asteroid Industria, signaling both the intense amount of effort which will be required to pull the country out of its economic morass, and also the sweeping changes likely to be seen in the nation’s manufacturing sector, its industrial base. From this degree Pluto is also exactly squared to the supermassive Black Hole at the center of Galaxy M-87, the largest anomaly of its type of which we are aware, holding more than a hundred subsidiary galaxies in its thrall. This suggests enormous changes and truly titanic levels of transformative energies, although, as with all Black Hole interactions, it is impossible to determine in advance whether these effects will be positive or negative.

Both administrations also have an angular Mars—for Bush, this fell at 16 Scorpio, in the Seventh House, conjunct the Descendant and exactly opposed a Black Hole. This clearly signals the bellicose foreign policy, the “with us or against us” mentality which has caused our relations with other nations (Descendant) to deteriorate. This opposition to the Black Hole indicates not only the enormous loss and waste due to war, but its position in the First House also reflects the complete reversal in the way the world views us, created by our martial exploits and stubborn unilateralism. The Obama administration’s Mars at 18 Capricorn is also angular, conjunct the 26 Capricorn MC, but from the Ninth House this suggests more energy focused on diplomacy and forethought, rather than ill-considered action. However, Mars is also conjunct a Black Hole at 19 Capricorn and asteroid Sisyphus at 15 Capricorn. Both could indicate much energy expended to little purpose, lost to the voracious appetite of the Black Hole, an image of futility in action, like rolling that rock endlessly up that hill in Hades, only to have it roll back down again. Asteroid Icarus at 24 Capricorn also straddles the space between Mars and the MC, and may indicate a tendency to rash or reckless actions which are highly visible on the world stage. While this does not seem to characterize Obama himself, known for his unflagging cool, it is important to remember that the administration is so much more than the man who heads it, and the impulsive or reckless behavior of subordinates can create far-reaching repercussions which will have to be dealt with by the president.

[side note: (You may have to look close on the chart, but I marked the Pluto/Chiron midpoint 26Cap06 - conjunct US n Pluto and at Mc in the Inauguration 2009 chart - here with transiting Icarus 26Cap41. Asteroid Icarus is linked with assassinations, and/or with flying too high or too close to the Sun; there’s a risk-taking flavor with Icarus and a sense of over-reaching.) from: http://judecowell.wordpress.com/new-president-solar-eclipse-12609/]

The Moon at 29 Scorpio in the Seventh House signals an electorate that is pretty much at its breaking point—tired of the seemingly endless scandals and corruption of the Bush years, the petty backbiting and partisan bickering, ready for a renewal and regeneration of unprecedented proportions. This is a populace under a great deal of stress, one that can turn ugly if further frustrated. Obama will need to make good on some of the seemingly endless supply of hope and optimism which trails him like a mantle, and do so quickly, before apathy or antipathy act to deflate the spirit of the American public further.

A union of Venus at 17 Pisces and Uranus at 19 Pisces, in square to the Black Holes at 18 and 19 Sagittarius, indicates further shocks to the nation’s financial systems, and a possible radical devaluing of the dollar. But in the Eleventh House, there is also a call to public service here, to valuing community and working for the common good. Women are likely to prove the most controversial or provocative members of the administration.

The Saturn/Uranus opposition which was exact on Election Day is still operative, and shows Saturn now at 21 Virgo retrograde, in the Fifth House. This may augur well for education reform, a systemic overhaul of how we manage our children from pre-school to college, but also signals a damping down of frivolity or pleasurable pursuits. Time to get serious about the nation’s problems—Obama will not be taking a year’s worth of vacation time during his administration, a la Bush.

Saturn trine the 18 Capricorn Mars indicates a smooth flow between the chief executive‘s agenda and the follow-through to carry this into fruition, harmonious relations with the military, and fortuitous timing, a skill which should not be underestimated. If real estate is all about location, location, location, then successful policy is largely about timing, timing, timing. If the nation is ready for what Obama presents, he’ll have an easy time getting it passed and implemented.

A conjunction of Chiron at 19 Aquarius in the Tenth House and Neptune at 23 Aquarius in the Eleventh bridges government action and community organizations, offering hope and direction from above which manifests in myriad outlets focused on healing the nation’s ills through the involvement of everyday citizens and support groups. Chiron/Neptune can release a great deal of empathy, but it is not always very practical in its application.

Several additional asteroids form intriguing patterns. Greek deity Hephaistos at 16 Taurus is exactly conjunct a Black Hole and conjoins the 14 Taurus Ascendant, while his Roman counterpart Vulkanus at 25 Cancer conjoins the 26 Cancer IC, and is within orb of the Black Hole at 28 Cancer. While both these gods represented chthonic, uncontrollable forces of the deep earth, Hephaistos in particular was also noted as the chief engineer and inventor of the Greek pantheon, a figure of ingenuity and resource, even if that came with volcanic, unbridled emotion. Vulkanus is much more primal, and his presence on the IC could indicate the lurking potential for an angry, destabilizing eruption of the American populace, should the current recession deepen into depression.

Asteroid Washingtonia at 9 Leo is exactly conjunct a Black Hole, implying that Obama may be able to actually make significant changes in how the government operates, remaking the capitol in his own post-partisan image. Asteroid Hillary at 26 Taurus conjoins the volatile, controversy-provoking Maser at 28 Taurus, and falls in the First House. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will certainly be the most visible face for the administration internationally, as the First House location implies, but the Maser contact is likely to provide a fair degree of drama, if not directly, then via the antics of her husband, who has been forced to curtail much of his fundraising and business activities as part of the deal cut to smooth Hillary’s path to State. The thought of Bill Clinton with too much time on his hands does give one pause.

Probably the most disturbing element in the inaugural chart is the placement of asteroid Barry, representative of Barack Obama himself ("Barry" being what he was called in youth). At 18 Sagittarius, this potent piece of space debris not only exactly conjoins a Black Hole, it is trapped by square in the contest of wills being mounted between Saturn and Uranus, forming a tense Galactic T-Square. Will Obama fulfill the promise of his progressive, Uranian roots, or will he become co-opted and mired in the same old entrenched Saturnian status quo? Additionally, Barry falls in the Eight House of death, and is conjoined by Ixion at 15 Sagittarius, named for the mythic Greek character who was the world’s first murderer. This Trans-Neptunian Object often features prominently in charts for famous murders (see my article “Ixion and Murder” in the April 2004 Daykeeeper Journal). Assassination is nothing more than politically-motivated murder, and in combination with Obama’s natal Sun/Maser conjunction, a celestial signature which has often manifested as assassination in the late twentieth century (see my article “Masers and Assassination” in the May 2008 Daykeeper Journal), this is indeed a disturbing pattern.

Overall, this is a chart with promise, but also pitfalls. The incoming administration has a very full plate of unpalatable entrees left by the Bush regime, and with a nation already suffering from economic indigestion, finding just the right combination of medicines to cure our ills will be a very tall order.

http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/alex.shtml

MAY 2008 Deep Space Notebook

Masers are Deep Space anomalies which violently spew vast amounts of gaseous material from their cores, extending far into space. Sometimes likened to cosmic cattle prods, their actions are volatile and random. In astrological interpretation, they represent points of vibrant, but uncontrolled energy, and can translate into character as heightened enthusiasm, the ability to excite or inspire others—or as controversy and chaotic disruption with resulting debilitation, even degeneration into madness, if appropriately placed. Their activation in mundane events often signals violence, disorder and turmoil, a volatile perturbation in the collective.

The genesis of this research came in early January, just after the Iowa primary, when the airwaves were full of hyperbole comparing Barack Obama’s electric style and the excitement generated by his campaign to the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy 40 years previous. Something about the comparison felt uncomfortable to me, considering how the Kennedy campaign ended. Obama’s 12 Leo Sun closely conjoins a Maser at 13 Leo, the source of the fervor and passion he engenders, but intimating potential problems as well, via controversy or divisive elements which could result in a breakdown or implosion of some sort. Thumbing up RFK’s birthdate didn’t ease my concerns—born 20 November 1925, Robert Kennedy’s 27 Scorpio Sun exactly opposed another Maser at 27 Taurus.

Intrigued, I jotted down a quick off-the-cuff list of assassinated political figures of the 20th century—John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Anwar Sadat, Indira Gandhi, Yitzhak Rabin, Benazir Bhutto—and began looking for birth data. In brief, each of these individuals shows a Sun/Maser connection at birth, and a Mars/Maser connection at death. The results of that research formed the basis of this article.

John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, was born 29 May 1917, with the Sun at 6 Gemini just one degree shy of the Maser at 7 Gemini. A natal Mars at 18 Taurus within the event horizon, or orb of influence, of the Black Hole at 16 Taurus indicates a potential for a sudden, violent death. At his assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald on 22 November 1963, Mars at 20 Sagittarius was conjunct the Black Hole at 19 Sagittarius and sesquiquadrate (135 degrees, the Disseminating Phase aspect) the Maser at 7 Taurus. Additionally, Saturn in the nativity at 27 Cancer (representing executive power, Kennedy’s career, and the office of the presidency) is conjunct another Black Hole and exactly sextile the Maser at 27 Taurus. Saturn at 17 Aquarius for the day of his death is in exact binovile (80 degrees) to the 7 Taurus Maser, and the Sun that day at 29 Scorpio closely opposes the 27 Taurus Maser, thus is also trine natal Saturn.

Civil Rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King, Jr. (born 15 January 1929) had a 25 Capricorn Sun, squared the Black Hole at 24 Aries and trine the Maser at 27 Taurus. Natal Mars at 21 Gemini is semisquare the 7 Taurus Maser. At his assassination by James Earl Ray on 4 April 1968, transit Mars at 5 Taurus was just approaching exact conjunction to that same anomaly, with the Sun at 14 Aries trine another Maser at 13 Leo.

As stated previously, former Attorney General, US Senator and leading 1968 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, born 20 November 1925, sported a Sun at 27 Scorpio in exact opposition to a Maser, with natal Mars at 4 Scorpio conjunct a Black Hole at 6 Scorpio and opposed the Maser at 7 Taurus. When he was gunned down by Sirhan Sirhan the night he won the California primary on June 6, 1968, Mars at 20 Gemini opposed the Black Hole at 19 Sagittarius and was semisquare the 7 Taurus Maser.

Anwar El Sadat was Egypt’s third president, serving from 1970 until his death in 1981. As successor to Nasser, Sadat led Egypt’s forces in the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Israel, but was also instrumental in the Camp David Accords and the resulting Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty of 1979. The 3 Capricorn Sun from his 25 December 1918 nativity is in exact biquintile (144 degrees) to the 27 Taurus Maser, and natal Mars at 4 Aquarius opposed a Black Hole at 2 Leo and squared the 7 Taurus Maser. As head of state, his natal Saturn at 28 Leo was also opposed a Black Hole at 27 Aquarius and squared the 27 Taurus Maser. On 6 October 1981, Sadat was in the reviewing stands for the annual parade honoring the Yom Kippur War victory when he was attacked from a troop truck by lieutenant Khalid Islambouli and others, with assault rifles and grenades. At the assassination the Sun and Saturn at 13 and 12 Libra conjoined the Black Hole at 13 Libra, in sextile to the Maser at 13 Leo. Transit Mars at 21 Leo was quintile (72 degrees) the Maser at 7 Gemini, an interesting reiteration of the natal Sun/Maser contact from the same aspect series.

India’s fourth Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi served as first female head of state from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her death. She was the daughter of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, the country’s 7th Prime Minister (also assassinated, in 1991). Born 19 November 1917, Gandhi’s nativity shows a 26 Scorpio Sun opposed the 27 Taurus Maser, with Mars at 9 Virgo exactly conjunct a Black Hole and trine the Maser at 7 Taurus. Natal Saturn at 14 Leo conjoins the 13 Leo Maser, another head of state with Saturn/Maser lost to violence. On 31 October 1984, Gandhi was passing through her garden to an interview for a documentary when she was fired upon with machine guns by two Sikh members of her bodyguard, Satwant and Beant Singh. Sikh separatist violence had been growing for several years, and the attack was in retaliation for government crackdowns and the desecration of a Sikh shrine in Punjab that autumn. At her assassination transit Mars at 18 Capricorn conjoined the Black Hole at 19 Capricorn and was tredecile (108 degrees) to the 7 Taurus Maser, with the transit Sun at 8 Scorpio just past opposition to it.

Yizhak Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister from 1974-77 and again from 1992 until his death in 1995, shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Shimon Perez and Yasser Arafat for the Oslo Accords, which attempted to reconcile Israel and Palestine. Rabin succeeded Golda Meir and ordered Operation Entebbe, wherein Israeli commandos rescued airline passengers hijacked by Palestinian terrorists in Uganda. He was Prime Minister during the outbreak of the first Palestinian Intifada, which he brutally suppressed, afterward becoming an advocate of peaceful negotiation between the fratricidal states. Born 1 March 1922, Rabin had a 10 Pisces Sun, sextile the 7 Taurus Maser and square another at 6 Gemini. Natal Mars at 5 Sagittarius exactly conjoins a Black Hole and activates both these anomalies by inconjunct and opposition. Natal Saturn at 6 Libra is also exactly trine the 6 Gemini Maser, and forms a Yod, or Finger of Destiny, with Mars and the 7 Taurus Maser. On 4 November 1995, Rabin was leaving a Tel Aviv rally in support of the Oslo agreements when he was shot by an Orthodox Jewish student, Yigal Amir, who opposed the accord. Mars at 10 Sagittarius exactly conjoined a Black Hole and opposed the early Gemini Maser, by then transited on to 7 Gemini. The Sun at 11 Scorpio was squared the 13 Leo Maser, with Saturn at 18 Pisces quintile to the Maser at 28 Taurus.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (served 1988-90 and 1993-96), born 21 June 1953, had a 29 Gemini Sun semisquare the 13 Leo Maser, with natal Mars at 4 Cancer exactly conjunct a Black Hole, sextile the 7 Taurus Maser and decile (36 degrees) the 27 Taurus Maser. Natal Saturn at 20 Libra retrograde was biquintile the 27 Taurus Maser and squared the 19 Capricorn Black Hole. She had been in self-imposed exile from Pakistan since being forced from office in 1996 under a cloud of corruption charges, but returned in October 2007 to challenge General Pervez Musharraf for the presidency. On 27 December 2007, Bhutto was shot after leaving a political rally in Rawalpindi, and explosives were detonated near her car; government officials blamed al Qaeda, but this is disputed by her political party. At her assassination, Mars at 1 Cancer was semisquare the 14 Leo Maser and exactly squared the Black Hole at 1 Libra, with Saturn at 8 Virgo retrograde and the Sun at 5 Capricorn forming a Grand Trine with the Maser at 8 Taurus.

Uranus, long associated with shocks, upsets, revolution, rebellion and violent political upheaval, also makes significant aspects to Masers on each of these assassination dates. For JFK, Uranus at 9 Virgo conjoins a Black Hole and trines the 7 Taurus Maser; for MLK Jr., Uranus at 26 Virgo is trine the 27 Taurus Maser; for RFK it is still in trine that anomaly from 25 Virgo. Uranus for the Sadat assassination lies at 27 Scorpio, conjunct a Quasar and exactly opposed the 27 Taurus Maser, and for Gandhi it trines the 13 Leo Maser from 11 Sagittarius, where it also conjoins a Black Hole. When Rabin was shot Uranus at 26 Capricorn is on a Pulsar and again trine the 27 Taurus Maser, and for Bhutto’s death it falls at 15 Pisces, inconjunct the Maser now transited to 14 Leo.

Obviously not every political figure with these contacts is assassinated, but this is a disturbing pattern nonetheless, particularly given the heightened passions of racial animosities stirred by the Obama candidacy. Of particular misfortune is the incidence of Mars within this same vicinity for both Hillary Clinton, Obama’s chief primary opponent, and John McCain, his general election opponent should Obama win his Party’s nomination. Both these figures betray strong Mars/Maser signatures.

John McCain’s war service, capture, torture and detention in a Vietnamese POW camp for five years is a powerful glimpse into the potency of this combination of his 12 Leo Mars with the 13 Leo Maser; his character flaws of tetchiness, curmudgeonly disagreeableness, and a reputation for strong language stem directly from it. Hillary Clinton, with Mars at 14 Leo also conjunct Pluto, has a similar issue with appearing too strident or chiding, easily attracts dislike, and, true to the plutonic elements of the configuration, is considered power-hungry, manipulative, and even believed by some to be capable of such heinous acts as the murder of long-time friend Vince Foster. She has also been persistently dogged by allegations of lesbianism, a nod to the sexual arena evoked by Mars/Maser.

Supporters of either, drawn on by the passion and hatred engendered by their candidate’s Mars/Maser, could conceivably pose a serious threat to Obama’s very existence, as represented by his Sun in close conjunction. Regardless of this, the fractiousness and internecine battling which has been such a regrettable feature of the Democratic primary, and engendered by Clinton’s Mars on Obama’s Sun, is only likely to increase should he move on to challenge McCain and his Mars in the general election. Issues such as the statements of Obama’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, also indicate the flip side of that Sun/Maser’s capacity to excite and motivate others, namely a concomitant propensity to attract controversy. It is unlikely we have plumbed the depths of these disputes and allegations, whether illusory (as in Obama’s supposed Muslim faith) or substantiated.

On November 4, 2008, the Election Day Sun at 12 Scorpio forms a T-Square with the nodal axis at 13 Aquarius and Leo, the South Node closely conjunct the 14 Leo Maser, with the Sun in square to it, Obama’s Sun, and both Clinton’s and McCain’s Mars. Fasten your seatbelts—it’s going to be a bumpy night!

http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/aarch08/0805may/alex2.shtml