The Cosmos really outdid itself this
past week, spinning a web of synchronous Events, writ large. As the title here
suggests, in the space of three days, we learned of three world-shaking
developments—a breathtaking scientific discovery, a long-overdue convergence of
East and West, and last, but certainly not least, a dramatic exit on the part
of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. With the benefit of a few days’
hindsight, it seems to me that this week will be remembered for some time to
come—not just for what happened, but
for the astrological dynamics in play. Let’s briefly consider each event and
then examine highlights from each chart.
The
“Chirp heard ‘round the universe”
On
Febuary 11th, scientists collaborating with LIGO (Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and
the Virgo Interferometer announced the “first observation of gravitational
waves”—what the news has since called the “Chirp heard ‘round the Universe.”
According to the announcement, this signal (named GW150914) was formed by two
inspiraling black holes colliding and merging. Not only was this a magnificent
discovery on its own scientific merits, but the fact that it confirms Albert
Einstein’s theory of general relativity—presented in November 1915—is simply
mind-blowing.
East
meets West
This incredible week only picked up
momentum from there: if two black holes can meet up and issue a “statement,”
then why can’t two Earth-bound religious leaders do the same? Just such a
meeting transpired on February 12—two years in the planning (and secret until
the week prior)—as Pope Francis I of the Roman Catholic Church and Patriarch
Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, embraced and sat down together in
an airport VIP lounge in Havana, Cuba. The Pope, of course, meets with hundreds
of dignitaries in a year, but this meeting was long overdue—from about 1054
AD—when the so-called Great Schism split what then constituted Christianity
into Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic persuasions. In Havana, the church
leaders signed and issued a joint declaration expressing solidarity and a call
to end the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa.
Cue
upstage…
Then, right on cue to upstage both of
the above history-making events, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found
deceased the morning of the 13th in a south Texas hunting lodge suite, of apparent
natural causes. Leaving a super sensitive, conservative void on the Court,
Scalia’s death triggered a political drama befitting this Grand Opera-loving
Justice—much more to come, undoubtedly. Colliding black holes and embracing
religious leaders have nothing on this scene:
fervent choruses on the Right shrieking “No! No! No!…Obama will not name the new justice!...on the Left,
molto vivace voices counter, “Yes! Yes! Yes! He will! All we need to complete
the drama is Bugs Bunny conducting the orchestra.
What is the sound of two political black holes colliding, we
might wonder? Judging by the charts for the above events, it must sound a lot
like Saturn and Neptune squaring off, and Saturn-Uranus trining—all against the backdrop of the Uranus-Pluto square and a waning Saturn-Pluto cycle. A bar or two of
the “Anvil Chorus,” perhaps? In fact, just by virtue of their close timing, all
three events express siimilarly dramatic outer planetary dynamics. Just when you think the
story of these cycles is getting old, the Cosmos hammers that anvil all over
again, sparking unimagined possibilities.
“Gravitational
Wave detected” chart
First a quick caveat before we consider
chart highlights. Even though the imagery provided by Saturn-square-Neptune
makes February 12 the perfect, symbolic day for the LIGO announcement—i.e.,
Saturn = Gravity; Neptune = Waves—I’ve cast the chart for the published moment
the “chirp” was first heard in September 2015 at the LIGO observatory in
Livingston, Louisiana. Saturn and
Neptune were quite prominent then, as well, although still applying to their
square.
4th house
angular Saturn is at powerful 29°+Scorpio, square 12th
house Mars- Ascendant (Leo) and applying to a wide square with 7th
house Neptune (Pisces). In its role as the
ruler of gravitational force and the space-time dimensions thereof, Saturn is
truly the “heavy” here, pulling all eyes to the bottom of the chart. The 29th
degree of any sign packs a punch—in Scorpio, even more so. With Pluto disposing
Scorpio, the power of Saturn’s placement is magnified and radiated throughout
the chart via Pluto’s square with Uranus—reflecting the technology involved in
this magnificent scientific moment. In fact, Uranus’ role in the 8th
house of this chart deserves closer attention.
Uranus in Aries trines 12th
house Venus-Mars-Ascendant in Leo; Uranus opposes Mercury (Libra); Uranus-Pluto
(Capricorn) square is in force. What a beautiful
expression of Uranus’ role in this discovery—by trine, opening a door
(Ascendant) to one of the mysteries (8th house) of the Universe and
revealing its hidden treasures (12th house Venus) and potential for
further activity (Mars). By dispositor connections, we ping
from Mars in Leo to Sun in Virgo to Mercury in Libra, which is situated opposite
Uranus—all of which reflects the nature of this fortunate,
technologically-enabled “signal detection” event. Such an active network also
suggests a strong potential for future communication and learning.
1st house
Jupiter in Virgo opposes Neptune and trines 5th house Pluto in
Capricorn. 1st house Sun in Virgo opposes 7th house
Chiron in Pisces. My thanks to Theodore
White for pointing out the serendipitous Jupiter placement here. The discovery
was made by a collaboration between LIGO and
the Virgo inferometer in Pisa,
Italy, so Jupiter in Virgo couldn’t be a better fit, bolstering our dreams of more
deeply understanding (Jupiter-Neptune) the universe. The academic prestige (and
possibly financial) advantage bestowed by this discovery should be considerable,
with Jupiter trine Pluto. Sun opposite Chiron suggests that, as with
everything, this power could be leveraged for both light and dark purposes.
As noted above, this momentous “Chirp”
also confirmed Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, presented in
Berlin, Germany just over one hundred years ago, on November 15, 1915. Uranus and
Jupiter were both strong in that chart, suggesting a fortuitous scientific
discovery of universal importance, with Uranus in Aquarius, Jupiter in Pisces. Jupiter
fell trine Saturn (Pisces-Cancer) and Neptune opposed Einstein’s Aquarius Node.
Not surprisingly, the LIGO chart is deeply connected to both Einstein’s natal
and the Relativity charts. Kudos to all
involved!
Pope
Francis I & Patriarch Kirill (ROC) meet in Havana to issue Joint Declaration.
Based on the approximate
time mentioned in the link provided, I’ve cast the chart for February 12, 2
p.m. in Havana, Cuba.
Mutable T-Square:
Jupiter-Node in Virgo oppose Chiron-MC in Pisces and square Saturn in
Sagittarius. This beautiful configuration
certainly expresses the spirit of this historical meeting: Religious “servants”
(Jupiter-Node in Virgo) meet to express a spiritual goal (MC) of healing
divisions (Saturn disposed by Jupiter) and opposing persecution (Chiron).
Moon conjoins Uranus in
Aries and together square Mercury-Venus-Pluto in Capricorn; Moon-Uranus trine
Saturn. The radical compassion (Uranus-Moon) represented
by the leaders’ actions gains power (Pluto disposed by Saturn), enhanced by the
media distribution of the story (the Mercury-Uranus square is wide, but
strengthened by the stellium). As co-rulers of Aquarius, the Saturn-Uranus
trine adds supports for the cooperative, collective intent of the groundbreaking
declaration that resulted from this meeting.
Yod: Uranus-Moon
inconjunct both Mars in Scorpio and Jupiter in Virgo (which are sextile each
other); Jupiter trines, while Mars sextiles Venus-Pluto; Pluto disposes Mars;
Mars squares Sun in Aquarius. Seriously
frustrating power considerations are at stake in the declaration issued by the
two leaders, befitting the war-torn, no-win situations in which the current
persecution against Christians is happening. The Mars-Jupiter sextile suggests
the leaders seized an opportune moment to energize awareness of these issues. Strong
sextiles between Jupiter and Mars, and between Mars and Pluto-Venus support the
Pope’s consistent agenda of linking war, persecution and other injustices to
poverty and exploited resources.
Transcending (Neptune) deeply entrenched
divisions (Saturn) for the sake of larger, humanitarian needs seems to be the
major take-away from the Pope’s meeting with the Patriarch; how these leaders
will apply the powerful energies of that meeting towards closer Catholic-Orthodox
relations remains to be seen. The Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union both
crumbled under a Saturn-Neptune conjunction—why
not East-West divisions?!
Biwheel:
(inner) Justice Antonin Scalia birth; (outer) Justice Scalia found deceased in
Shafter, Texas lodge (cast for time reported
in the news). Perhaps the most dramatic chart of the trio is this biwheel
between Scalia’s natal chart and his death announcement. No time of death has
been published to my knowledge, but the news did report that when the judge
hadn’t shown up for breakfast by 11:30 a.m. on the 13th, the lodge
manager entered his room and found him deceased. Despite the uncertain time, the
biwheel provides an incredible study in hard mutable aspects—it’s not difficult
to see how the justice’s death was so quickly twisted to political advantage,
ideological tensions and an intense media flurry. Unfortunately, a sign of the astro-political
times!
Interchart T Square:
Transiting (T) Saturn (Sagittarius) squares T Jupiter-North Node-Natal Neptune
(Virgo) conjunction, opposite T Chiron-South Node (Pisces) conjoined Natal Sun.
T Saturn widely conjoins Natal Jupiter (Sag). This
breathtaking convergence of hard Saturn-Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron-Node aspects
reflects the chaos that ensued just moments after Scalia’s death was announced
and suggests that his health was also in turmoil. Scalia’s Sun (heart), 6th
and Asc/8th house rulers (Neptune-Jupiter; Venus) are afflicted
(Sun, Neptune and Jupiter by T Chiron-Nodal axis and T Saturn square; Venus by
T Mars in Scorpio), suggesting a heart attack death is quite conceivable.
T Uranus (Aries)
conjoins and T Saturn trines Natal 6th house Mars; T Mars (Scorpio)
forms interchart T-square with Natal Pluto (Cancer) and Natal Sun. The
shocking, “out-of-the-blue” nature of a heart attack is reflected in transiting
Uranus’s impact on Scalia’s 6th house of health. In the grand trine
it forms with Scalia’s Pluto and Sun, transiting Mars seems to have triggered
and reinforced an existing affliction. Rest in peace, Justice Scalia.
Much
more to come on this as Election 2016 unfolds…stay tuned!
Raye Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former university English instructor. A graduate of the Faculty of Astrological Studies (U.K.), Raye focuses on mundane, collective-oriented astrology, with a particular interest in current affairs, culture and media, the astrology of generations, and public concerns such as education and health. Several of her articles on these topics have been featured in The Mountain Astrologer and other publications over the years. Raye can be contacted by comment here, or at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2016. All rights reserved.