New Year's Chart 2006

Well, it's almost that time. Another year, another New Year's chart, ie. the horoscope cast for midnight at various points around the world. The last two have been pretty bad with tight hard aspects involving malefics and we've seen an unprecedented number of disasters.

Sadly, this one upcoming doesn't look any better and in many ways is worse. Saturn will be in mutual aspect to Mars and Rahu (NN) aspects Saturn. Worse still is that all these interconnected aspects occur near the equal house cusps of many locations in the world. In New York, to mention just one, Mars sits on the equal 8th house cusp. This is one of the worst places for malefics in any chart.

Ketu (SN) also rises in many locations around the world. This suggests an added level of destruction unfortunately since Ketu wants to make "all that is solid melt into air". The Sun quincunxes Saturn and introduces problems with leaders and governments. If I were President Bush, I would not be smiling at this prospect.

In sum, look for more large scale disasters and violence and major government upheavals. 2006 will go down in history as a great year for pessimists, doomsayers, and Coast to Coast AM listeners.

Because of the general nature of this chart, it's hard to be more specific. But certainly this level of affliction is usually coincident with major negative events of historical proportions.

best wishes to all, (if that's possible)
Chris

http://modernvedicastrology.com

Canadian Elections

The campaign is almost half over and there's been no significant change in party support since the election was called. I still think the Liberals and Martin are vulnerable in January because of the proximity of transit Jupiter to Canada's 8th house natal Saturn. Jupiter represents the government and rulers in this chart so things will get quite murky then. One difficulty for Canadian political astrologers is that there may not be a clear winner on January 23rd. Unlike the US election system, Canada's government is elected indirectly through the party having the greatest number of seats in parliament. Even if the incumbent Liberals win the most seats, they will more than likely not be able to form a comfortable majority in the House. This was the situation at the dissolution of the last parliament.

So as an astrologer, although I can see problems for Martin and a boost for Harper's fortunes, the question of who will form the next government requires more interpretive skills. There's little doubt that a another minority government is on the way, but if the Liberals win fewer seats than they had before, this would be a symbolic defeat, even if they formed the government. This government would be increasingly unworkable since it's even more unlikely that the Liberals traditional allies, the NDP would win enough seats to form the balance of power. Such a parliament would probably only last a few months before another election is called.

Another possible scenario is that the Conservatives will win the majority of seats but not enough for a majority government. Since the NDP is less likely to support the Conservatives, this would make any Conservative minority government equally unstable. For reasons of optics, the Tories would be unwilling to overly rely on Bloc Quebecois support.

I'm still calling for a defeat of the Martin government at this point, although I recognize there is a possibility that he will only be defeated symbolically, by virtue of winning less seats then they have now. In terms of numbers, the Liberals currently hold about 135 seats, the Conservatives 99 seats, the Bloc 50, and the NDP 19. 155 seats are needed to form a stable majority government that can consistently win votes in a 308-seat House of Commons. Certainly, the planets in late January tell me that the Libs will probably win fewer seats, say 125 or less. Even if the NDP holds on to its 20 seats (and I actually doubt they will), this will be recipe for disorder in the House as the Tories and the Bloc will certainly boost their seat count and will feel emboldened to force another election at the earliest opportunity.

In any event, the political scene looks very unstable for the next few months and another election is very possible within 6 months.

Canada election prospects

Canada is on the verge of a federal election, with the three opposition parties uniting around a non-confidence motion to be tabled next week on November 24th. The government could be defeated on November 28th with an election due sometime in January. What is likely to happen here?

In an earlier post, I had thought that the Liberal govt was in trouble but would probably last until March when Jupiter stationed against Canada's natal Saturn in the 8th house. Now, I see that I may have misinterpreted things somewhat. There is no doubt that the early March period will be difficult for whatever government is in power, but looking at the planetary influences on November 28th, one can see a lot of hostile energy there (the Sun Mars square for example).

I think the government is likely to be defeated at that time. This is what most pundits are saying so the astrological angle isn't that helpful for enhancing our understanding. According to my reading of the stars, the most likely dates for an election are January 9 and January 22. The January 9th date has been widely mentioned as a likely date. In this election, I think the Liberals will lose seats in the House and will likely lose power as well.

What is interesting is that based on the NDP chart under the Layton leadership, December and January are going to be favourable months. An election held in January will likely see a rise in the NDP fortunes including the possibility of gaining of the balance of power in the formation of the next government (although I concede this is unlikely in the event of a Conservative minority win). The NDP fortunes start to wane around that time too however, suggesting that the new government, if elected in January, will have its hands full getting anything accomplished. A more difficult time for NDP lies down the road, as March and April look very challenging indeed.

Canadian politics are a real challenge for an astrologer because there are no fixed election dates, four political parties, and the current levels of popularity has no one far enough in front to win a majority. This means that there are no clear winners as there are in the US.

December's cold comforts

I think the current highly stress planetary pattern should peak in December with a major world event. Certainly , Dick Cheney hopes this cosmic version of spin the bottle doesn't finish it's merry-go-round staring straight at him. And yet, we know that his chart is very afflicted at this time. I still believe there will be further embarrassment to come for the VP, above and beyond what he have been publically told within the context of the Plame affair.

One other possible area of volatility may be Saudi Arabia. If the Jan 15 1902 chart is correct, the Mars at 17 Capricorn will be coming underthe influence of Saturn and Ketu around this time. This will be an excellent test of the chart's continued usefulness. If its still good, look for some major violence in Saudi in the December time frame.

French Riots

One can easily see the source of France's current problems in the midnight October 4th chart, the time when the constitution of the 5th Republic went into legal effect.

From a Vedic perspective, the close Sun-Mercury conjunction is being closely sextiled by Saturn. This third house sextile (forward clockwise direction only) is one of the three full strength aspects allotted to Saturn. Saturn is near its station so that makes it that much more powerful, and of course Saturn rules an evil dussthana houses -- the 8th house (death-like situations) in the midnight chart.

In the midnight chart, the 2L Sun and 3L/6L Mercury pairing falls in the 3rd house in Virgo. This is perhaps one clue as the relative young age of the rioters. The chart is running Saturn Ketu dasha now, and Ketu is involved in a close trine with natal Saturn, foreshadowing the possiblity of some breakdown (Ketu) of civil order (Saturn). To add to the gravity of the situation, transit Ketu is close by Sun and Mercury and is acting against leaders (Sun).

As long as Saturn is near the 16 or 17 degree point of Cancer (Lahiri, bien sur!), France will remain a dangerous and inflamed situation. I don't think things to really quiet down until December. After the Nov 17th Lunar Return, look for a major govt shakeup, the result of internal questioning that will follow this Arab uprising. Transit Ketu is also conjoining the Sun Mercury pair around this same time. This ups the ante overall, and having two slow moving malefics afflict the country simultaneously makes this much more significant and of potentially historic importance.

With 2L Sun afflicted, look for economic consequences to kick in shortly.

Canada: Gomery Report to be released tomorrow

The Liberal government of Paul Martin may suffer
another major blow to its credibility tomorrow with
the release of the long-awaited Gomery report on the
Adscam scandal within the Quebec wing of the Liberal
party.

It's especially difficult to make a prediction on the
immediate fallout from this independent report due to
the ongoing problems the Liberals are experiencing in
the wake of the emergency evacuation of the
Kashechewan Indian Reserve in Northern Ontario last
week.  So far over 500 residents of the reserve have
been evacuated to other parts of the province due to
tainted drinking water and resulting widespread
disease.  Under the Canadian constitution, Native
Reserves are the exclusive responsibilty of the
federal government.

A few placements make me think this report will refuel
public (and opposition) anger over Liberal
wrongdoings.  Tr Mars will be exactly squaring natal
Mars in the Martin Oath chart and conjunct Pluto in
the Canada chart.  Saturn is coming to its station
soon and will be sitting on the 6th equal house cusp
within a degree.   This shows significant legal
problems.

Tertiary progressed Ascendant is squaring the natal
Sautrn on the oath chart so this ought to be larger
than a simply "scandale du jour".

Of course, it is possible that the Kashechewan affair
could reveal further Liberal negligence so those
planetary configurations may still be describing the
continuing fallout from government ineptitude there.

My sense, however, is that tomorrow will provide more
headaches for Martin.   Moon will transit over Ketu in
the oath chart with Sun close by.  That points to
shadowy issues involving the leadership bubbling up
like raw sewage in a backed up septic tank.

Let's see how it plays out.  Tr Uranus wills station
soon enough also and its forward motion will conjunct
12H Jupiter and trine the Sun IC conjunction in
February making an election most likely at that time.
(The Liberals currently lead an unstable minority
government and the election dates are determined by
the government in power.)

While those influences look favourable, a decidedly
unfavourable influence is transit Jupiter stationing
close to natal 8H Saturn in the Canada chart in early
days of March 2006.  Jupiter represents the 10th house
of government.  So Martin may be in hot water once
again and no Belinda in sight to bail him out this
time.  Right now, I'd bet against him.

Thailand 2

As I suggested a few weeks ago, Thailand's chart is looking very troubled these days. November will likely bring a new problem to the fore, as will March and April when Saturn makes it next station near Thailand's Moon - Sun square.

For the current period, I think the middle of Novemnber is most dangerous, say around the 16th when Mercury stations.

Mars will still be under the affliction of Ketu in the 6th house of open enemies and Saturn sits atop the IC while aspecting 6H Neptune. This may also suggest more about diseases, although if the enemy is hidden or secretive (as many Islamic cells are), then this could be in keeping with an attack, possibly on Bangkok itself. I know that all attacks so far have occurred in the southern provinces. An attack on Bangkok would be shocking and a major escalation.

Given the afflictions are also present in the chart of King Bhumipol (Dec 5 1927), it should be a significant enough event to make the media cycle here in the West. The King's chart can be seen as a proxy chart for the country as a whole. He has Sun and Saturn in Scorpio which is falling under the aspect of Rahu. The Scorpio affliction is more in keeping with diseases and poisons.

To my mind, the most likely candidates are either a worsening of avian flu or a major terror attack by Muslim extremists.

I will try to outline the case for each in the coming days.

USA and the Saturn station: Dick Cheney

A quick look at VP Cheney's chart and one starts to wonder if Plamegate is soon to become a lot more messy for one and all. Like Bush, Cheney has some significant planetary capital tied up with the approaching Saturn station at 17Cn. In this case, Cheney's 1st lord Sun sits in his 6th house of legal affairs and conflict at 17 Cp. And as we know, not only will his Sun pick up all of Saturn's hassles, but so will it get nailed by Ketu's transit.

Things are certain to get hotter for Cheney as November wears on. I would expect some worse case scenarios to take place such as the indictment of his aide and an indictment against him too perhaps. At this point, I can't say if Cheney will lose his job, and that is really the bottom line of the whole affair.

Hopefully I will conduct some more research on it and post something a little more definite before the answer becomes too obvious from the rush of events.

Pakistan Earthquake

Another day, another disaster.

As the death toll rises past 50,000 in this latest mass tragedy, it's useful to remember how the planets are implicated. As I noted in my September Update on the website, the Oct 2 Mars station occurred at a particularly dangerous point in the sky: exactly quincunx Pluto. Combining the energies of these two malefics is a bit like mixing dynamite with nitroglyercin. Not good.

I wasn't surprised when the Bali bombings occurred on Oct 1, but I had a nagging sense that the destructive force of the Mars Pluto configuration wasn't completely played out. Not by a long shot as it turned out. The Pakistan quake hit a few days later as did the damage wrought to Guatamala by hurricane Stan that killed 2000 people.

We can also see other rationales for the destruction in recent weeks. Mars and Saturn, the two classic malefics of traditional astrology, are aspecting each other. Mars in Aries is casting its full strength fourth house aspect on Saturn in Cancer. The Mars influence makes Saturn more destructive than usual. In turn, Saturn is casting its full strength 10th house aspect to Mars. And this makes Mars more violence than it otherwise be. With the mutual aspecting in place until February 2006, we can expect more large scale destruction, especially near the station of both planets.

Saturn stations around November 17th and Mars stations again in early December. Expect to see a massive loss of life at those times. At the moment, I am expecting the latter December date to be worse, and it will probably occur in the US.

Thailand

The recent Mars station at 29 Aries (Lahiri) exactly conjoined the ascendant on the Thailand chart. This is certainly not a harbinger of good things.

The upcoming Saturn station at 17 Cp will oppose the 10th house Pluto within less than one degree. This suggests huge stress involving government and leaders.

Also in November, Uranus will station within one degree of quincunxing the Moon. This will create more energy that will require an outlet.

Transit Ketu at 19 Vi is closely aspecting the 2nd house Mars at the moment which suggests a greater than likely chance of violence or disturbance.

Short term, I'm looking for a problem to befall the govt around October 10th, possibly a scandal or economic problem.

By November, pressures will increase. This time looks more violent. The end of October looks unstable in particular, as does 14/15 November.

The chart is running Jupiter-Moon dasha. Although the Moon is apparently well-placed in Cancer in the 4th house, it should be noted that the previous Moon subperiod occurred in 1991-3, a time of great upheaval that saw the imposition of martial law by an unpopular military dictatorship and the "Bloody May" protests that left hundreds of students dead in Bangkok. Only after the intervention of the King was calm restored. General Suchinda eventually left the country and was replaced by a civilian adminstration.

It is worth noting that Mars is the only planet that falls in a Moon-owned nakshatra.

Katrina post mortem: Ingresses

Solar ingresses are sometimes useful tools to analyze mundane charts. In context of hurricane Katrina, we can see that the sidereal Lahiri ingress charts appear to describe the event well.

The last solar ingress before the storm occurred on Aug 16 2004 12.27.13 CDT at New Orleans when the sun entered Leo. Here are the key measurements:

Ascendant 16 Libra 34
Mars 16 Aries 34

IC 20 Capricorn 33
Neptune 22 Capricorn 03

What better picture of violence and destruction through water can one wish for? Mars (violence) is precisely angular while Neptune (water) is less than two degrees away from the 4th house cusp signifying land. This is a stunning chart.

Unfortunately, because it is cast for New Orleans is means that one would have had to have consulted it beforehand in order to make a correct prediction of the coming disaster. Unless one was a New Orleans-based astrologer, it would be quite unlikely that you would bother to look at this chart.

Another excellent New Orleans chart is the Capricorn ingress chart cast for Jan 13 2005 6.10.42 pm. This is another severely afflicted chart. Here are the measurements:

Ascendant 11 Cancer 19
Mercury 11 Sagittarius 28
Venus 11 Sagittarius 27

Rahu 3 Aries 43
MC 4 Aries 15

Ketu 3 Libra 43
IC 4 Libra 15

Moon 18 Aquarius 14
Mars 19 Scorpio 26

Sun 00 Capricorn 00
Saturn 29 Gemini 57

The breadth and depth of the afflictions here are almost unparalleled. The presence of two benefics, Mercury and Venus, so close to the sensitive cuspal point of a malefic dussthana house weakens them both. The nodal contact with the MC/IC destabilizes the chart completely when the Sun and Moon affliction by the two great malefics Saturn and Mars round out the planetary slaughterhouse here.

We can also note that transit Saturn 11 Cancer had moved into exact conjunction with this ascendant at the time of the hurricane.

Usually, ingress charts are more useful when they are cast for a capital city which astrologers will consult as a matter of course. While the these two ingresses are not as powerful for Washington, DC, at least the Sun's ingress into Aries does show quite a bit of tension.

Here are the measurements for the chart cast Apr 13 2005 1.38.21 EST:

Asc 29 Cancer 39

Mars 23 Capricorn 29
Neptune 23 Capricorn 19
MC 23 Aries 08

Moon 29 Taurus 12
Pluto 00Sagittarius 30

Sun 00 Aries 00
Rahu 28 Pisces 57

The Mars Neptune conjunction stands out here just as it did with the Leo ingress for New Orleans. What's more it is angular here by virtue of the square aspect it makes to the MC. The luminaries are also both closely afflicted here just as they were for the Capsolar chart. This is clearly a difficult chart and foreshadows the losses from water that Katrina brought upon the Gulf coast.

What is also fascinating about this chart is that at the time Katrina struck on August 29th, Mars at 22 Aries was exactly conjoining the MC and squaring the ingress Mars-Neptune conjunction.






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Bush v. Katrina

These are dark days for President Bush.  He has been widely criticized for his handling of the rescue effort after hurricane Katrina from both sides of the political spectrum.  His already low approval ratings are certain to drop further in light of the public perception of incompetence and lack of concern for the plight of the Katrina's victims.  It may turn out that hurricane Katrina may be able to reveal the Bush administration's shortcomings more effectively than the Democrats every could.   His current problems can be seen in his horoscope.

 

Transit Saturn is very close to his ascendant, just two degrees away.  This is rarely a good time for any person and speaks to the sense of isolation he is experiencing.  We may also surmise that the Saturn ascendant affliction in his chart represents something of the destruction in the US generally, since the president's chart is a proxy for the nation as a whole. 

 

At the time of the hurricane, transit Mars was exactly quincunxing his chart ruler Moon.  The Moon is important not only because it is Bush's chart ruler but it also serves as his 3rd level dasha lord and so the Moon will be more sensitive to transit influences.  He is currently running Saturn-Jupiter-Moon.

 

Transit Jupiter was also conjunct the Moon, which may be a favourable influence at times.  However, the problem with this contact is that Jupiter rules the 6th of conflict and health (this pertains both to Bush himself and the country).  Also Jupiter's dispositor natally and by transit is Mercury and transit Mercury fell at 25 Cancer.  This was subject to the malefic rays of natal Ketu at 26 Scorpio.  This linkage with malefic Ketu transformed the Jupiter conjunction with the Moon into something less than positive.

 

Most obviously, however, the transit Jupiter was conjoined with transit Ketu within 3 degrees.  This projected a negative influence on Jupiter and promoted Jupiter's more malefic side.  Naturally, Moon was also conjoined this malefic Ketu.

 

Other measurements also point to problems.  Secondary progressed Moon 21S29 is contraparallel natal Saturn 21N02.  This is a very difficult energy to handle and usually accompanies a time of loss and separation. 

 

Secondary progressed Mars 6S04 is also parallel natal Jupiter 5S56.  Although this is a very slow moving progression and introduces a violent Martian element to daily life over a period of months, the tightness of orb here strongly implicates it in the overall picture of affliction and the Katrina disaster.

 

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More signs of August gloom

One other interesting configuration taking shape that bodes badly for the US this month can be seen in the so-called POTUS chart, which stands for President of the United States and represents the time when the first US president George Washington took the oath of office on Apr 30 1789 at 12.55 pm in New York.  This chart has about 9 Leo rising.

 

Transit Rahu 22Pi38 is dead on natal Mars 22Pi37 in the 8th house suggesting sudden violence that results in death while transit Saturn 9Cn25 falls under the exact 9th house aspect of natal Rahu 8Sc47.  The negative side of these two malefics are more likely to come out now and points to sorrow and possible destruction.  Things don't get much better in the weeks ahead however as Saturn applies to a close 10th house aspect upon natal Venus 11Ar45. 

 

Previous afflictions to this Mars at 22 Pisces have yielded major events.  In Apr 1968, Dr ML King was killed as transit Saturn exactly conjoined natal Mars.  Two months later, Presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy was also killed as transit Rahu was exactly conjunct that same Mars.

 

This picture again supports the notion of a destructive and sudden attack amd loss of life.  This chart is running Rahu-Rahu-Saturn.  Rahu is placed in the 4th house of population and land and its dispositor Mars is in the 8th house.  This is not a good combination for commodious living. 

 

In my brief experience, I have found the 1789 chart to be a useful chart, especially when used in tandem with other significant US charts such as the 1776 chart and the current inauguration chart.

 

Chris

 

 

 

http://modernvedicastrology.com

 

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August Affliction USA

While I've been crying wolf for some months now about the likelihood of a major destructive event hitting the USA, we are now entering another highly dangerous period for a possible terror attach in August.  This is another timing window that would allow the long term factors that have been in place for 4 months or more to kick in and play out their karma. 

 

A closer look at the relevant US charts is reviving my innate pessimism regarding the violence and hardship of the coming days.  Tr Mars will square the near stationary Mercury that is right on top of the US Rahu using any July 4th chart you wish. That, combined with tr Saturn on the equal 8th cusp of the Kelleher chart, and the Mars aspect to Bush's lagna/Mercury/Pluto, is a bit too affliction for any horoscope to handle without some loss of life.  Some kind of sudden destructive event is very likely in the next couple weeks, especially from Aug 12 -17th.  To cement the deal, Cheney's chart puts that Tr Saturn on the equal 12th house cusp and Tr Mars spot on the 9th house Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.

 

Clearly, this will be an event that makes international headlines and disrupts normal life.  If Ladbrokes was taking bets on it, I would be going long on a terror attack against the US or its forces.  Other scenarios are possible including an international incident involving a foreign country such as Iran or North Korea.  In any event, this would not be a good time to be in the market or the US dollar.  The financial manifestations are both a prediction and also an indicator of the instability that is the likely result of the event.

 

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The Future of Astrology

The Future of Astrology

 

What does the future hold for astrology?  Although I wasn't around in the 60s, my sense is astrology is not more popular now than in its heyday.  Part of the reason is the change in social mood from an optimistic post 60s period, early new agey rising tide of curiosity about the esoteric realm to the more straight ahead drone of money-grub that pervades our world today.   That claim could be challenged too with the popularity of second wave new age type movements such as Buddhism, yoga, etc but it's impotant to remember how much all of these are commodied and integrated into the cash nexus that so thoroughly dominates these days.  When my Rosocrucian-inclined grandfather gave readings 50 years ago, he wouldn't have dreamed of taking a penny for looking at a chart.  Nowadays, most want money in compensation for their time. With the acceleration of life these days and everyone feeling so rushed, we feel our time is that much more valuable.  And so rightly or wrongly, we equate value with money. 

 

Another perhaps larger reason for the relative ghettoization of astrology is the indifferent or poor quality of most astrologers.  Astrology could perhaps get away with more dubiousness in the early days of the Age of Aquarius, but when time marches on and people come to expect real results, I don't know that most astrologers offer a product that most people want to buy (or use).  Sure, there will always be a small minority of the population who are spiritual seekers (or lost souls or just plain superstitious people) who have a natural interest is non-mainstream ways of understanding the self and they have traditionally been the consumers of astrology.  This group doesn't change much.  

 

A second group might be situated next to them on the openness spectrum who may be open to the possibility of astrology but who are not really that interested in self discovery so much as being open to different modes of thought to help them lead happier more productive lives.  I would include people who use yoga or alternative medicine to improve their health in this group, and say investors on Wall St who use the work of astrologers to make money in the stock market.  In both cases, tangible and mundane benefits are the goal. 

 

We could also conceive of a third group here (or perhaps a sub-group of the above)  that aren't that interested in mundane benefits but rather see astrologers as alternative therapists to assist them with emotional confusion and torment, in the same way as a psychologist might.  The benefit here is less tangible but more emotional -- which may be considered tangible by some people but either way, it's certainly less mundane that the preceeding group.  This kind of humanistic/Jungian astrology has been up and running since the 1960s, along with the expansion of mainstream therapy for the spiritually-bereft who are trying to fill the hole that God and religion has left in the wake of the long process of secularization that occurred in the 20th century.  It's possible that astrology has an opportunity to grow in this group, but I don't know the trends that well here.   The growth of Buddhism recently would appear to address the needs of this group directly and in that sense, would represent a loss for astrology in the free market, zero sum game we can call the Unconventional Solutions to Conundrums of Existence in this Ever Changing World. 

 

The quality of astrologers doesn't matter much for the first group of the already spiritually-inclined.  They will be entranced regardless of how useful or accurate the astrologer is.  The second group however has higher demands in terms of where they cast their lot (and their cash).  It has to actually help them in some tangible way or else they will go elsewhere.  The third group would also be responsive to varying quality of astrologers, therapists, gurus, doctrinal writings, celebrity endorsements (Richard Gere or  Beastie Boys' Buddhist Bassist Adam Yauch) or whatever form of engagement they take to relieve them of their psychic stresses. 

 

I'm not convinced that most astrologers have got any better in terms of predictive competence in the last 30 years to be useful to this second tangible/mundane group.   Until astrologers get better, then astrology will be more or less stuck in the post-new age ghetto.

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Tokyo earthquake July 24

While I didn't use the word "earthquake" in my July Update and
World Forecast, here's what I wrote about Japan using the May 5,
1947 00.00 chart:


"With transit Rahu closing in on natal 4th lord Mars in the 3rd
house in July, Japan may experience some instability at home.
This energy is most focused around July 23rd when Mars conjoins
4th house Mercury and aspects the 7th house cusp. This event
looks destructive to me, especially since the chart is running
a Mars subperiod. It may also be related to the volatility in the
region, given the difficulties in the China chart. "


So I was very close with the date and the fact that I saw a
destructive event, although I left it open as to whether it would
be man-made or natural destruction. It was posted on the
mundane-astrology list on yahoogroups on July 10th.

It's not to say that the 1947 chart is THE correct Japan chart, but
like last October's quake, the event is clearly seen using this
chart.

Many astrologers don't use the national chart for earthquakes,
assuming that a man-made creation like a constitution cannot
possibly correlate with natural disasters such as earthquakes.
In my experience, this view is incorrect. It is usually very easy
to see major disruptions in a national chart. The trick is to find
the right one!

My approach is to use the national chart for a country and then try to
assess its correctness (and usefulness) by making predictions against
it. That way, we can get a better handle on what really works, rather
than sifting through the post facto morass of possible factors and
pulling out those astrological artifacts that confirm our own biases.

I think making predictions and then following up on them is what
astrology is all about. To be an astrologer and not to make
predictions is a bit like learning a foreign language and not being
able to speak it with a native. Conjugating verb tenses (je suis, tu
es, il est, nous sommes...) one has learned from a book only takes
you so far on the streets of Paris and will not help you find dinner.

Neptune affliction by Ketu: mystery diseases?

We should pay extra attention to any stories in the media these days involving unusual or unknown diseases. That's because Neptune and Ketu are in close aspect with each other (or rather, Ketu is aspecting Neptune) and both planets are linked to illness and disease. Neptune in particular is the significator for disease, so it comes as no surprise that news reports out of China state that 17 farmers have died from a mysterious disease in the past two weeks.

I am expecting that this disease will grow in severity and that other health problems will be in the news during the next few weeks while the trine aspect is within a few degrees.

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UK bombings and aftermath

Well all that negative energy I was wondering about has perhaps
manifested, although it's strange that it hasn't hit the US at all
despite the various afflictions to the US chart.

One thing is for sure -- the UK is afflicted at this time, and I'm
kicking myself for not having spotted it. I would also look at the
Jan 1, 1801 chart for the UK when it officially became the United
Kingdom.

By Vedic reckoning the 1801 chart has some obvious afflictions for
today: a nodal return so that Ketu was conjunct Ketu in the 1st
house, and transit Mars -- lord of the 3rd house of transport -- was
exactly conjunct natal Rahu. Nodes are usually bad news, especially
when configured with malefics.

On the Political astrology list, I had thought that this time around
July 5th would feature some significant destructive event, albeit in
the US. Here's what I posted there on June 2nd:

"Certainly there are a lot of afflictions to the USA chart on July
5th. It's possible that something fairly major will go down that day
(+/-1 day) I don't think Bush is going to cop it at that time,
although I don't know enough about the astrology of assassination to
rule out some sort of an attempt.

My sense is it's more likely to be something that affects the country
as a whole rather than Bush personally. His Saturn-Jupiter dasha
period just doesn't seem afflicted enough for him to die. I think his
time may come next year after Mercury's major period starts in the
spring."

So while I was off by two days and got the place of the event quite
wrong, it seems inescapable that this is the event that shows up in
the US-related charts. It's possible that another attack is possible
in the coming days, but I doubt it.

It's interesting too that so many foresaw a threat to Bush's life at
this time. I didn't, but I wasn't clever enough to predict a fall
from a bicycle at the G8. Bush collided with a UK security officer
in a rainy bike ride. He suffered only minor scrapes. That's what a
good dasha period can do for you: when Mars aspects your lagnesh
Moon, you only fall off bikes instead of perhaps making a early exit
from this mortal coil.



In my most recent July Update and World Forecast posted on the
mundane-astrology list posted July 10th, I wondered if there might be a
problem with the UK investigation:

"With Mercury stationing in the close proximity of Rahu and Mercury
being the ruling planet of the UK chart, look for some confusion in
the coming days in the second half of July. This may well signal the
anti-Muslim backlash that has been feared in the wake of the
bombings. Perhaps the Mercury will also hamper police
investigations into the attacks and may make it more difficult than
usual to find the perpetrators. False leads are likely, possibly
even an arrest of thewrong persons."

On July 23rd, the London police shot and killed an innocent Brazilian man who was wearing a heavy coat and ran away from police. This is a tragic fulfilling of the Mercury-Rahu potential in the UK chart.

http://modernvedicastrology.com

Relocation tips

When relocating to another city, you can usually see transits to angles of the relocated chart. This can be a boon for narrowing down possibilities as well as timing moves.

As we know, moves often occur when separating planets such as Saturn, Uranus, Pluto, Rahu and Ketu aspect the angles (and by angles I refer to the Ascendant/Descendat and the MC/IC). However, what is less well known is that one usually has transits to the angles in the new location as well. This is more easily observed when the new city is far away from the original place of residence.

A Korean client of mine recently moved to Toronto from Seoul. When she arrived in Toronto, transit Saturn conjoined her relocated ascendant in Toronto within two degrees while the nodes aspected her relocated MC/IC. This is a fairly typical pattern.

USA: a difficult summer

As indicated previously, the USA is ripe for a major destructive event this year. My early prediction for March-April proved to be wrong (or premature).

The 2005 inauguration chart for Bush provides another clue for the likely timing. With Saturn now in Cancer, it is applying to oppose the 10th house Sun this summer. At the same time, transit Rahu is applying to a trine aspect to 8th house Mars. These transits are in orb now, suggesting that an event may not be far off, and that the US is entering a period of instability from June through August.

More specifically, the period of June 5 - 9 looks problematic as Saturn crosses the IC. A natural disaster is more likely at this time, and given the Sun's opposition to natal Mars on the 9th, it seems that the government or the president will be directly affected. This is most likely to represent pressure and stress brought to bear on him.

The next potentially difficult period is June 30 - July 3.

I would also watch July 20 - 25 carefully. When Mars conjoins 1st house Rahu, it creates conditions for violence.

Canadian Parliament : Act 2

So where are we now? The Liberals survived by the narrowest of margins on May 19 only the defection of a prominent Tory MP to their side. It is unclear how stable parliament will be now, especially since the Tories have their 4 opposition days coming up starting on May 31 whbere they can table non-confidence motions.

I'm a bit surprised by these developments, since I was
certain that the Canada chart showed sufficient
disruption to indicate a spring election. While the
Gomery commission has fueled a politically damaging
scandal for the Liberals, this has so far manifested only
in falling poll numbers, a stalemate in Parliament, and political uncertainty that has driven the dollar down below 80 cents. The height of the revelations of the scandal took
place during the Saturn station when Saturn squared
the Canada ascendant.

I say "so far" because other non-confidence votes are
possible in the coming days and weeks. The next
Opposition Day in the Commons is May 31st. It is very
possible that the Tories will attempt to bring the
govt down. But what could change to change the vote
outcome? For one thing, independent MP Chuck
Cadman is battling cancer and there is no guarantee
that he could make it back to Ottawa for yet another
vote. And since he sits as an independent, there can
be no pairing off of MP from either side of the house
to allow for sickness.

In any event, the Uranus station is still going to
qunicunx the Sun/IC/Uranus conjunction in June and at
that time transit Rahu (north node) will be that much
closer to the Ascendant of the midnight chart. So I
expect the instability ought to continue for some time
to come. And I will stick with my original prediction
that the Liberal government will fall by early July.
Last summer I had specified a June or July election
for this destabilizing configuration involving Uranus
and Rahu.

Yankees hit bottom

The baseball season is under way and much to everyone's surprise, the New York Yankees find themselves tied for last place with the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the AL East. This despite the biggest payroll in baseball of over $200 million.

The Yankee woes made me wonder again about the correct time of the April 22 1903 Yankee chart. The 4.30 pm time that's out there didn't seem to fit too well and now seems to fit even less so: that chart has 14 Virgo rising which puts Jupiter very close to the ascendant. Hardly what one would expect from a terrible start of 11-18.

After looking at it, I reckon the Saturn Rahu square may be involved and therefore perhaps a time of 3.05 should be considered. This creates an ascendant of about 27 Leo. This has Saturn making its 3rd house aspect to the Ascendant while the Rahu-Ketu station at 28 Pisces-Virgo falls on the 6-12 equal house cusps.

And Leo works better for the Yankees because chart ruler Sun would then be in its highest degree of exaltation at 9 Aries. Perfect for the most successful sports franchise in the world.

Let's see how their fortunes improve once the nodes begin to move again later in May.

USA: March 25th and all is well

Well, March 22nd came and went and nothing much happened in the USA or anywhere else. And thus I watched the usual media spew with that peculiarly astrological sense of emptiness. No news is good news, unless you're an astrologer, and worse, one who has been predicting something major to go down.

As I indicated previously, however, this is at least a month-long window of some danger that shouldn't be ignored with the passing of a single day earmarked in a psychic's imagination. There are still many loose planetary threads out there that may yet weave themselves into something tangible.

A solar eclipse is upcoming on April 8th and this coincides with Mars at 20 Capricorn (Lahiri ayanamsha). This will likely bring an act of violence and destruction as it aspects the ascendant of the 2005 Bush inauguration chart while conjoining the 10th house Neptune there. Interestingly, that transiting Mars will also be opposing the Houck USA chart's Moon and opposing the Grimes USA chart's ascendant -- give or take a degree or two. So that period right around the eclipse looks unstable.

I would say that the danger will have passed after mid April. If nothing significant happens by then, then I will say I made a wrong prediction.

Until then, I'm still reading keeping my eyes and ears open.

http://modernvedicastrology.com

Canadian Politics: PM Paul Martin on last legs

There are a number of indicators that point strongly to the imminent defeat of the Liberal government under Paul Martin.

Looking at his oath of office taken on July 20 2004 10.30 am EDT in Ottawa, he is running Venus Moon dasha and Uranus is opposing the Moon and will station within one degree of it and only two degrees from the ascendant. The pigeon-toed PM will wake up one fine June morning and realize he's toast. It seems unlikely that even Bono can bail him out this time. Transit Neptune also opposes a fallen 6H Mars so that gives further support to imminent scandal or demise. With the Gomery commission still ongoing, it is very possible that Martin will not escape significant allegations. These may come to light in April when transit Mars joins Neptune around 18-24 degrees of Capricorn.

In the Canada chart, this June station of Uranus at 16AQ will closely qunicunx Canada's Moon. In my experience, any close outer planet aspects to the lights or the ascendant usually betoken a change of government. In all likelihood then, the Conservatives under Stephen Harper will take over by July at the latest.

Au revoir, Paul.

Countdown

As mentioned in my forecast, there are a large number of astrological factors coming together now that point to a major destructive event taking place in the USA sometime in March or early April. I believe the most likely manifestation of the event is an earthquake in the Los Angeles area. A number of the workable USA charts show obvious tense aspects involving Pluto. This is a long term affliction however that can least for a year or two. What makes the current time frame more highly charged is the presence of two stations by slow-moving planets, namely Saturn on March 22 and Pluto on March 29. While both planets are capable of triggering events of major significance on their own, the simultaneous stations points to a very powerful event.

Of the three major USA chart I use, the Houck chart is perhaps the least indicative of a major event at this time although it too strongly suggests that the next month or so will contain some difficulty. The lunar returns, for example, bring Saturn and Neptune on the angles. These planets indicate harm and suffering and disease. The LR chart of February 22 has Saturn culminating while Neptune makes a perfect square to the MC-IC. LR Mars squares the natal Moon-Rahu conjunction. The LR chart of March 21 is no less afflicted as Saturn rises within one degree of the ascendant and LR Mars aspects the MC-IC within one degree. The MC-IC in turn lies in exact aspect to natal Pluto. Together, the charts suggest death and destruction on a large scale.

The chart for the incorporation of the City of Los Angeles (April 4 1850), is also highly afflicted. Natal Venus sits in the first degree of Aries (Lahiri ayanamsha) and therefore it is under the concurrent influence of Rahu and Pluto. This double influence puts Venus and it significations (pleasure, happiness, art, women, etc) under significant pressure. If one uses the midnight chart, then the LR of March 5 has Pluto within 2 degrees from the LR descendant and Uranus conjunct the LR MC within just one minute!

The Saturn station will cast its most malefic 10th house aspect to the IC (within 5 degrees) and the Sun (within 3 degrees) and Venus (within 4 degrees). While none are extremely close, the fact that three important points will be influenced by a powerfully stationing Saturn in late March is significant. Moreover, the Saturn aspect is to the 4th house of home, land, and earth which clearly suggests an earthquake or some other destructive event such as a major terror attack. At this point in my thinking, however, I think an earthquake is much more likely.

On my website, I indicated that the earliest possible date for the event would be March 15. This fits neatly with transit Mars' square to Venus/Uranus in the Los Angeles chart near that date. More exactly, Mars comes square to Venus on the 13th and then to Uranus on the 17th. Mars then moves a bit further to square Pluto on the 21st.

Another significant triggering influence is the station of Mercury at 20 Pisces on March 19th. This falls exactly on natal Saturn in the Los Angeles chart within one degree. An afflicted Mercury such as this means interrrupted or damaged transportation and communication. Both manifestations would be evidenced after an earthquake or attack.

I will post more thoughts in this space in the coming days.

Tsunami Reflections

While spending some time here in Bangkok, Thailand, I've had the opportunity to think about ways in which this disaster could have been predicted. Besides looking at the various national charts of the countries affected, Vedic astrologers have long used the Pisces New Moon charts cast for the national capital to discern future events for the next 12 months.

The traditional Indian approach is to use only the geocentric Moon position and cast the chart from that. However, recently there has been an upsurge in interest in the topocentric or parallax-corrected chart which assesses the position of the Moon from the perspective of the observer on the surface of the Earth rather than from the centre of the Earth.

Here are some of the key data from the countries most affected.

Geocentric Topocentric

Bangkok, Thailand Asc 23 AQ Asc 1 AQ
MC 26 SC MC 8 SC

Pluto 28 SC (2* conj MC) Mars 5 TA (3* conj IC)
Mars 5 TA (1* sextile with new moon)
Sun/Moon 6 PI

Jakarta, Indonesia Asc 1 PI Asc 7 AQ
MC 2SG MC 10 SC
Pluto 28 SC(4* conj MC) Mars 5TA (2* square Asc)
Uranus 10 AQ (exact square MC)

Colombo, Sri Lanka Asc 1 AQ Asc 14 CP
MC 7 SC MC 21 LI
Mars 5TA(1* square Asc) Venus 22AR (1* conj IC)
Rahu 18AR (3* conj IC)

Certainly one indicator of trouble in 2004 is the close sextile between Mars and the Sun/Moon within one degree. however, since this applies to all countries, we need to look more carefully to the angular hits for specific national capitals.

While we see some appropriate hits here including Mars, Pluto and Uranus, there are some puzzles as well. With the exception of the topocentric Indonesia chart, there isn't a chart that stands out to the extent that one might expect. And why have Venus and Rahu angular in the Sri Lanka topo chart? Sure one could make an argument that it represents harm to tourists, but surely they were only a small percentage (<5%?) of the casualties there. If any chart should have had a Venus affliction, it should have been Thailand where foreign tourist casualties comprised up to
50% of total casualties.

For this reason, I think it makes more sense to look at both charts as a pair that one puts together. So for the Thailand chart, we can see Pluto on the angles in the geocentric chart and Mars near the IC in the topo chart. Together, the two charts begin to represent the worst natural disaster in Thai history.

All in all, these charts are a little underwhelming for an event on this massive scale although it is clear from these charts that the year did not bode well for any of the countries involved. As always, it is difficult to rely on only one chart.






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