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Panic or Pandemic?
The Swine Flu Outbreak
During the plagues of ancient Rome and again during the Black Death of the Middle Ages, Neptune was in Aquarius.
And now Neptune is in Aquarius yet again as Swine Flu panic sweeps the planet.
Neptune has been in Aquarius for decades and so far it has been a dormant virus. In May, however, it stirs to life
during its successive conjunctions with Jupiter and Chiron. The former is reputedly a healing influence. Jupiter
is expansive, however, and it indicates a rapid spread of contagion.
Of course, this duo is just as likely to produce hyperbole and mass hysteria as well as religious zealotry.
It will also churn out a succession of quacks, crackpots, and false prophets.
Mercury is retrograde for most of May [2009] -- and making repeated squares to Jupiter and Neptune. All of
which indicates big talk, empty promises, and misinformation. It is also likely to inspire starry-eyed optimism, always
a mistake when Mercury is retrograde. Even more so when Saturn turns direct.
Saturn turns direct May 16 [2009]. From then on, it lumbers relentlessly toward another opposition to Uranus in
September -- an influence that intensifies over the next few months. This is a hallmark of hard times and social upheaval.
It is going to be a long hot summer, flu-related or not.
Disruptive Pluto, which has been wreaking havoc with the economy, also has a link to an historic pandemic.
Pluto was in 3 degrees of Cancer -- conjunct the U.S. Venus -- when the Spanish Flu broke out during World War I and
claimed millions of lives worldwide. In the end, the flu killed more people than the war, and resulted in the deadliest
month in American history.
Pluto was in 3 degrees of Capricorn -- opposite the U.S. Venus -- and exactly opposite its Spanish Flu position when
the Swine Flu epidemic broke out in Mexico.
The cyclic resonance is impressive but we shouldn't infer that history will repeat chapter and verse. It is "only"
a red flag.
As much as anything, Jupiter conjunct Neptune foments escapism and the illusion of invincibility. But
we live in a Fool's Paradise at our peril with Pluto lurking in the wings.
Pluto governs evolution and transformation. The Spanish Flu first appeared in March 1918 at Fort Riley, Kansas,*
and was carried overseas by American troops, where it thrived -- and mutated -- in the filthy conditions of trench warfare.
That mutation turned this flu strain into a killer.
Pluto also governs rebirth and resurrection, and it will transit 3 degrees of Capricorn again next winter, just in time
for the flu season. We haven't heard the last of this.
*Despite its name, the Spanish Flu did not originate in Spain. The epidemic broke out during
a time of heavy wartime censorship and news of the outbreak was initially suppressed. Spain, however, was
a neutral country with a relatively free press. News of the pandemic was first published in Spain; hence it
was called the "Spanish" Flu.
George Parker
| 1918 Spanish Flu Outbreak |
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About this chart. The time is arbitary, based on the scheduled morning sick call at Fort Riley.
Sharp-eyed astrologers will note that Pluto is not the only correspondence between past and present. Both Uranus and
Saturn are due to transit the position of the Spanish Flu Mars. Uranus stops short of an opposition this summer but
Saturn conjoins the Spanish Flu Mars this fall. And together, Saturn and Uranus gang up on that Mars next year.
The Eclipse of the Century
This is the Big One. July's total eclipse of the Sun is the longest of the 21st century.
The world won't see its like again for 123 years.
And as luck would have it, we miss out on the show in North America where the eclipse is "under
the earth," it happens after dark. But this could mean that we dodge the bullet.
Where Darkness Falls
Eclipses are regarded as ill omens and they are strongest where they cast a shadow. This one
is visible as a total eclipse in a path that cuts through India, Nepal, Bengladesh, Bhutan, northern Burma, central China,
southern Japan, and the South Pacific. It is a partial eclipse in eastern Asia, including North and South Koreas, as
well as Indonesia and the Pacific Ocean.
Solar eclipses are linked to famine, disasters, and the fall of rulers, as well as earthquakes,
eruptions, and rioting. They often manifest ahead of time, like the rumblings of a volcano before it erupts.
For example, the eclipse darkens western China, the scene of fierce ethnic clashes that broke out during the Full Moon
(the "invisible eclipse") two weeks before when mobs of majority Han Chinese battled indigenous Muslims.
The eclipse is in Cancer, a sign associated with tribal loyalties and our territorial instincts.
Moreover, it is in the "critical" 29th degree -- the breaking point. This places it close to our national
Mercury and opposite the U.S. Pluto. Mercury governs commerce, transport, and travel.
An eclipse in Cancer is said to make sea travel dangerous. Air travel over water
may also be hazardous, particularly trans-Pacific flights. For about the next six months, it is a risky time to be an
American abroad.
The Godzilla of All Supermoons
In Washington and the entire country, the Eclipse of the Century passes sight unseen, which purportedly
negates the effect. But the Sun never sets on American interests. We'll be drawn in, somehow.
Moreover, this isn't "just" the Eclipse of the Century, it is a perigee New Moon -- a Supermoon.
We don't have to see a Supermoon to experience it. Coinciding with a total eclipse makes this the
Godzilla of All Supermoons.
The chart below is set for the time of maximum eclipse, not the customary New Moon (they are only
a minute apart). We'll have other supermoons -- there is a slew of them this summer -- but there won't be a longer total
eclipse of the Sun until June 13, 2132.
Omens and Portents
Venus squares Saturn on the day of the eclipse, a global influence. In world terms, this is
a marker for adversity, scarcity, and the failure of diplomacy. On a personal level, it registers as alienation and
estrangement.
This alignment is especially strong in Washington, DC, where Saturn is setting, opposite the Ascendant.
The Ascendant -- the cusp of the First House -- represents the People. Neptune, the Ascendant ruler, is in the Twelfth
House, describing malaise, helplessness, and escapism, be it through bongs, booze, or an obsession with celebrities.
But Uranus is actually in the First House, and Uranus is linked to uprisings and rebellions.
Eventually, during the life span of this chart, Saturn opposes Uranus. Grass roots unrest continues to smolder and it could
erupt in a wildfire.
Uranus is within range of a square to Pluto which forms between now and next summer. Imperious
Pluto is in the Tenth House, the president's house. President Obama will draw fire from the restless masses. Heads
will roll in high places but the hatchet is in the President's hands.
Us vs. Them
The newly discovered dwarf planets are muscling their way into astrological consciousness.
And two of them stick out like sore thumbs in the eclipse chart.
Quaoar and Ixion are opposite Venus; all form a T-cross with Saturn -- and a Grand Cross with the
Washington Ascendant. In the Ninth House, Quaoar and Ixion highlight the sore spots: foreign affairs, court appointments,
and mass media credibility.
Prophets of doom monopolize air time and global warming is the mantra of the moment. But cold,
cruel Saturn calls the shots and as temperatures dip, the reception turns chilly -- in more ways than one.
The eclipse is in clannish Cancer, and it falls in the economic axis of the U.S. birth chart.
Foreigners are perceived as a threat; anti-immigrant grumbling could turn into a mass movement. Bread and butter are
at the bottom of it all. There isn't enough to go around.
Sleeping Giant
The effect of an eclipse lasts long after the fact. As the longest total eclipse of the Sun
in our lifetimes, this one casts a shadow over the remainder of the year. By classical reckoning, the effect could last
for six and a half years.
An eclipse is like a sleeping giant. It may lie dormant for months until triggered by a transiting
planet. But for the United States, the jolt comes sooner, rather than later.
As the eclipse unfolds, Venus and Mars are nearing critical points in the U.S. chart. They
make contact immediately afterwards -- conjunctions to America's Mars and Uranus, respectively, prominent in such events as
the Civil War and the first use of nuclear weapons. Before we know it, we are embroiled in a crisis -- and it is the
start of something big.
Changing Times
Whether by drought or deluge, eclipses impact the weather. But their effect is not limited
to meteorology. There is also a link to seismic activity and political instability, which often go hand-in-hand.
As China was rocked by ethnic civil war, it was also struck by an earthquake. Anchorage, Alaska,
was hit by an earthquake that preceded the resignation of Governor Sarah Palin. A May earthquake in Honduras was
followed by a military coup in July.
An eclipse is a sign that the Cosmos is recycling. Epochs end, dynasties fall, and empires
pass into history. The ripples reach us on a personal level, as well -- it is when we part company, learn to let go,
and get by with less.
None of this is pleasant, which accounts for an eclipse's foreboding reputation. But
for every chapter that closes, a new one begins, and we are offered a chance to rewrite our saga. A metamorphosis is
arduous but it produces an improved model. It is time to leave the cocoon.
George Parker
Like Karma, Like Son
Coincidence or family curse?
They came 36 years apart and in places hundreds of miles from each other yet there were haunting echoes in the deaths
of John F. Kennedy and the son who bore his name.
Both passings were tragic, untimely, and violent. For people old enough to remember President Kennedy's assassination,
it seemed like deja vu when news broke that his son's plane was missing.
The aircraft's last radar contact was at 9:39 PM on July 16, 1999, when it was the end of a "precipitous dive" into the
sea off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. A chart for the moment shows Uranus rising, in its own sign, Aquarius.
| JFK Jr Plane Crash |
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Uranus governs sudden and unforeseen events, including accidents. In modern astrology, it rules the chart, i.e,
the event. In classical astrology, the ruler is Saturn.
In the crash chart, Saturn squares Uranus from its position in the Third House, the zone of short trips. It was
to have been a short flight from North Caldwell, New Jersey, to Martha's Vineyard, taking about an hour.
Thirty-sex years earlier, when an assassin's bullet ended a presidency, Aquarius was rising in Dallas. Uranus was
in a powerful position, beginning its setting phase in "the house of the enemy," as it squared Mercury at the zenith.
Mercury opposed the U.S. Uranus. The chart below describes a violent attack on the head of state.
| JFK Assassination |
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Saturn, the traditional ruler, is in the Twelfth House of secret enemies, which includes assassins and snipers.
This is also the house of curses, karma, and self-undoing.
The Twelfth House is highlighted in the crash chart, as well. It holds Neptune as well as Uranus, and Neptune is
opposite a retrograde Mercury. The chart suggests pilot error, the official finding. But the fateful moment was
the time of take-off.
Had Kennedy left 15-20 minutes earlier, he would have landed safely. Visual flight rules were posted but when he
reached his destination after sunset, the island was blanketed in a misty haze as thick as a pea-soup fog. Disoriented,
Kennedy nosedived into the sea.
The death of John F. Kennedy, Jr., generated wall-to-wall coverage that often seemed hysterical. Young Kennedy
was a celebrity but journalism was his chosen field; he never held public office.
Yet his death, coming as Pluto opposed our national Uranus -- as Mercury had done in Dallas -- resonated in the mass
consciousness.
The reverberations were also cosmic. The chart below compares the events and it is worth a thousand words.
| Comparison of assassination and crash. |
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What's going on here.
The crash chart is in the outer ring in red, arranged around the assassination chart in blue.
The crash and assassination Ascendants are within 5 degrees of each other, a conjunction. Saturn
and/or Uranus rule both charts.
The assassination Saturn conjoins the crash Uranus. Saturn conjoins the assassination Ascendant
from the Twelfth House, Uranus the crash Ascendant from the same house. Both planets are within two degrees of each
other.
The crash Saturn squares the assassination Saturn. Both oppose and square the assassination Neptune,
respectively, forming a T-square that includes the crash Uranus.
The crash Pluto conjoins the assassination Mercury; both oppose the U.S. Uranus, and square the assassination
Uranus.
Oddly, the crash Mercury trines the assassination Mercury; together they form a grand trine
with the assassination Jupiter and crash Pluto. Obviously, this was not enough to avert disaster but it does account
for the enormous media coverage and endless panegyrics.
Finally, the crash Moon conjoins the assassination Pluto by 1.5 degrees and exactly conjoins the assassination
Vertex, a point denoting fated encounters and circumstances.
Was it meant to happen? Be it karma, coincidence, or family curse, it certainly looks that way. But as is
often the case with acts of fate, the actual cause was a fateful decision at a critical moment.
The chart for the plane's take-off (8:38 PM. North Caldwell, NJ) yields an "invalid" Ascendant in the last degrees of
Capricorn. A late Ascendant -- over 27 degrees of any sign -- indicates the action is taken too late. (Conversely,
an early Ascendant -- less than 3 degrees -- shows the action is premature.)
Neptune was on the rise, opposing Mercury, both in a grand cross with Mars and Jupiter. Neptune rules fog, vapor,
and the sea. The late take-off ensured an encounter with a haze that proved fatal.
The decision was the pilot's but there are too many links between the tragedies to write them off as happenstance,
the result of bad timing, nothing more.
The Twelfth House, Saturn, and Pluto are linked to karma. Some may read this as the infamous Kennedy curse.
But Neptune is implicated in both events. Neptune symbolizes superstition but it also rules unsolved mysteries.
We'll never know for sure.
George Parker
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