"Therefore
the moon,
the governess of floods,
Pale
in her anger,
washes all the air…"
-A Midsummer's Night Dream
William Shakespeare
washes all the air…"
-A Midsummer's Night Dream
William Shakespeare
Penumbral eclipses are “very subtle,” says Deborah Byrd on Earthsky.org, adding “The eclipse never progresses to reach the dramatic minutes of totality. At best, at mid-eclipse, very observant people will notice a dark shading on the moon’s face. Others will look and notice nothing at all.”
Despite this reassurance, the August 18th full
moon, penumbral lunar eclipse—lunar eclipses only happen at full moons—packed a
vicious punch in both Louisiana and California. Not surprisingly, the eclipse
shadow fell over the U.S. (and a large part of South America, possibly
affecting swimmer Ryan Lochte’s behavior in that regrettable Rio gas station
incident). Although visibility is said to enhance the power of an eclipse, its
effects can be felt whether it’s seen or not—Louisiana and California have
definitely been feeling those effects.
Beginning early on August 11th, a wave of storms
produced unprecedented flood levels across 20 Louisiana parishes. The rainfall reportedly
dumped 7.1 trillion gallons of water,
killing 13 people and destroying the homes and livelihoods of thousands. The long-term
damage to people’s lives is probably incalculable. This event has been called
the “worst U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy.” That’s saying
a lot.
As for California, the Blue Cut Fire began on a hiking trail
in the San Gabriel Montains in San Bernardino County. First reported on the
morning of August 16th (exact time noted in chart to come), the
fire’s unusually rapid spread forced 82,000+ people to evacuate. As of Sunday
(8/21), the fire has burned 37,000 acres of land, destroyed 96 homes and 213
other structures. It’s still only 83% contained. No human deaths thus far, but
one rancher lost 135 of her livestock.
California has dealt with wild fires over and over again
during the severe drought it’s experienced since 2011—and in fact, there are 5 additional fires raging in California at this writing (some as
little as 10% contained), but the Blue Cut fire captured more attention because it surprised many with its unusually
rapid, aggressive spread. Even more unfortunately, California’s “fire
season”—which used to be a yearly, 30-60 day affair—has become a new normal year-round.
Clearly, the magnitude and unprecedented ferocity of both Louisiana and California disasters
greatly exceeds what we would expect from a “subtle” penumbral eclipse. So what
else is going on here?
More than
meets the eye
Here’s where astrology and climate science intersect, and I
won’t pretend to understand all the nuances, but variations in ocean
temperatures seem to play a key role in producing these monstrous disasters.
The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) governs the cycle of warm and cool
Pacific Ocean temperatures, which in turn governs cool or warm fronts in the weather
systems we experience.
Both science and astrology credit the Sun and Moon with influencing weather
systems that produce floods and droughts, but astrology has always looked
to lunar eclipses (powerful full moons) as especially potent periods for extreme
weather-related events. It’s not just as simple as that, however: if we
consider the bigger picture of ocean temperatures and cyclical realities like
the ENSO, we can see that outer planetary dynamics are at stake as well. Much
more research needs to be done in this area, but the correlations in the charts
we’ll consider here are seen over and over again in natural disaster charts.
To illustrate the impact of both the eclipse and that bigger
planetary picture, let’s consider the triwheel for this latest disaster in
Louisiana, using the Louisiana statehood chart (set for sunrise—no exact time
known), the “birth” of the flooding event on August 11th, and the
August 18th eclipse. All charts are set for Baton Rouge.
First, a note
about impact periods
As we’ll see with this August 18th eclipse, it’s
not unusual for eclipses to manifest in events that precede the eclipse day itself. Eclipse expert Bill Meridian cites
renowned astrologer Charles Jayne as saying that the effects of lunar eclipses
can be felt “for about 6 weeks before and after the lunar eclipse.”[1] In this case, this round
of Louisiana flooding began a mere week prior to the eclipse, so we’re well
within the allowable time orb.
Triwheel #1: (inner wheel) Radix, Louisiana Statehood, April 30, 1812,
5:23 a.m. LMT (dawn chart, no exact time known), Baton Rouge, LA;
(middle wheel) Radix, Louisiana
Flooding 2016, August 11, 2016, 6:00 a.m. DST (approximate, based on
reports), Baton Rouge, LA; (outer wheel) Lunar Eclipse 8-2016,
August 18, 2016, 4:26:27 a.m. DST, Baton Rouge, LA.
Eclipse
opposition points. The first thing that leaps off the page here is
the powerful set of oppositions stretching across all three charts from Virgo
to Pisces. Before we examine these, however, we should first consider
the Eclipse
opposition itself—cutting across the angular 4th and 10th
houses of Louisiana’s statehood chart from 25°+Leo (Sun) to
25°+Aquarius (Moon) and forming an interchart
Grand Square with Louisiana’s natal Mercury-Uranus opposition
in fixed signs Taurus and Scorpio. A fixed eclipse clashing with existing fixed
energies (with Uranus involved, no less) was aptly illustrated by the rising
waters pouring over fixed levees as though they weren’t even there.
One victim reported that after every home he had helped
sandbag in his area was lost in moments, he simply gave up and waited for the
inevitable. Another woman reported that more than ten members of her family in
the area lost their homes. Clearly, the impact of this event was deeply
physical, local and life threatening—reflecting the assault on LA’s Taurus-Scorpio
opposition. It didn’t help that Eclipse Uranus (Aries) also fell inconjunct
LA’s Uranus and sextile-trine the Eclipse
Moon-Sun.
On August
11th. If we look at the storm’s inception on August 11th (middle
wheel), we see that the Moon conjoined LA Uranus, triggering
that point’s potential for deadly crisis
(Scorpio), and the Sun
was already square LA’s natal Mercury-Uranus. When Hurricane Katrina hit in
August, 2005, LA’s Uranus was pulled into a fixed transiting t-square with Mars
(Taurus) and Neptune (Aquarius), so this point in the LA chart has proved to be
volatile in past events.
It’s easy to see how the enormity of this current event
unfolded from there, as well: by Eclipse day, the Moon had
moved into full opposition with the Sun (full Moon) and in the process, squaring
its August 11th position and LA Uranus. This
certainly intensified the pressure, especially considering Eclipse Uranus’s
involvement here from aggressive Aries (discussed above).
Full Moons generally denote rising tides and sea levels, but the devastating way in which these waters overwhelmed southern Louisiana over those days speaks to the additional stresses involved in these charts.
Full Moons generally denote rising tides and sea levels, but the devastating way in which these waters overwhelmed southern Louisiana over those days speaks to the additional stresses involved in these charts.
Uranus has a way of
ripping open a situation where there is potential for trauma, but in these
charts, Neptune, Jupiter and Chiron express the inexorably rising
waters in almost literal terms: Neptune (ruler of Pisces) rules oceans and the “big
picture” of water-related climate conditions; Jupiter rules expansive
growth, and as co-ruler of Pisces, also impacts
the same climate conditions; and Chiron rules wounding/healing
events.
The wounds inflicted by natural disasters are clear to see;
whether healing follows down the road will probably depend on the extent to
which the victims are supported with compassion (Chiron in Pisces). Even
in the U.S., flood victims (especially poor ones)—depending on the mercy (and
political whims) of others—are subject to the same forces that refugees trying
to reach Europe encounter.
Virgo-Pisces
oppositions. We can now see how this complex of aspects functioned in
this story: expansive waters are certainly represented by the Jupiter-Neptune
opposition, and the unprecedented, historical
nature of the flooding speaks to this opposition being conjoined the transiting Nodal
axis.
The entire configuration, including Eclipse Node-Venus-Mercury-Jupiter
in Virgo and Eclipse Chiron-SNode-Neptune in Virgo, forms
an interchart mutable T-Square with Louisiana’s natal Neptune (Sagittarius) and
Pluto
(Pisces). Factor in Eclipse Saturn conjoining Louisiana’s
Neptune and it’s easy to see why the chaotic onslaught of flood waters
caught so many by surprise and has created such enormous, deadly damage.
Interchart
Grand Square: LA Venus (Gemini) opposes
LA Moon (Sagittarius); this axis squares Eclipse Jupiter (Virgo) opposite
Eclipse Chiron (Pisces). The people of Louisiana are represented by
their Sagittarius Moon, which is also pulled into the T-square
described above through its squares to Eclipse Jupiter,
Mercury and Chiron. In this Grand Square, however, we see how
chaotic the fortunes of Louisiana residents (Moon-Venus) became in
this disaster.
The Eclipse opposition itself trines and
sextiles LA’s Moon-Venus from Leo and Aquarius, which may yet
prove to be benevolent once assistance starts reaching people, but these
so-called “soft” aspects often help unleash negative
forces in natural disasters, as well. Flood events are particularly prone to
this type of unleashing—the door of opportunity
is opened (sextile) so the flow of
energy (trine) can rush in.
Interchart
Grand Square: Eclipse Mars-Saturn
(Sagittarius) oppose LA Mars (Gemini); this axis squares LA Nodal axis-Chiron
(Virgo-Pisces). A mutable stand-off like this is often
mind-boggling and almost mindlessly destructive, as well, like a cosmic game of
52-Card Pickup. In fact, this grand
square brings to mind two bored warrior
gods (both Mars) deciding to go on a killing spree just to get their adrenalin pumping. Then leave the mess (52 cards) for
someone else to clean up!
Interestingly, the day the storm began (August 11th-middle
wheel), Venus in Virgo also lined up with this mutable grand square (by
Eclipse day, it had moved into the band of oppositions discussed above). Venus
is exalted in Pisces, but in “fall” in Virgo,
so its usual beneficence was strained when the storms began. In a
strange way, Venus may have actually enabled
Neptune’s outpouring and Mars-Saturn’s
destructiveness; as the event unfolded (middle wheel), Venus was widely opposed
to Eclipse
Neptune and Eclipse Node, as well.
California’s
Blue Cut fire
In this event, we see that the same eclipse and transiting planetary
dynamics that drove the torrential flooding in Louisiana also drove the
unprecedented ferocity of this California wild fire. In fact, what may not seem
logical makes perfect scientific sense, too: the same ocean-related climate
factors that produce flood conditions also
produce drought conditions in other areas--it's all about the vulnerabilities of the respective areas.
Despite some improving rainfalls since 2015, California is still struggling through the severe drought that took over in 2011, meaning the Blue Cut hiking trail was an easy target for whatever sparked the blaze. Let’s consider the triwheel setting the onset of this fire against the State of California nativity and the August 18th eclipse:
Despite some improving rainfalls since 2015, California is still struggling through the severe drought that took over in 2011, meaning the Blue Cut hiking trail was an easy target for whatever sparked the blaze. Let’s consider the triwheel setting the onset of this fire against the State of California nativity and the August 18th eclipse:
Triwheel #2: (inner wheel) Radix, Statehood of California,, September 9,
1850, 9:38 a.m. LMT, San Jose, CA; (middle wheel) First Report-Blue
Cut Fire-California, August 16, 2016, 10:36 a.m. DST, San Bernardino, CA (exact longitude/latitude
data used); (outer wheel) Lunar Eclipse 8-2016, August 18, 2016, 2:26:27 a.m. DST, San Bernardino, CA (same as middle wheel).
As you might imagine, the middle and outer wheels are very
similar here because the fire was first reported on August 16th and
the Eclipse fell on August 18th. The timing of the middle and outer
wheels is exact, however, so we can glean important information about the
angles of those charts. The timing of the California chart is perhaps exact as
well (the chart came from a reputable data base), but I could not find a source
to verify this information.
The Eclipse
opposition. This tense fixed opposition (Sun in Leo opposite Moon in
Aquarius) cuts across what is presumably California’s (CA’s) natal 4th-10th
axis, compromising their land, structures (homes, especially), and
their infrastructure. The Eclipse Sun falls trine the State’s
fiery, dry Aries stellium of Saturn-Pluto-Uranus and the Eclipse
Moon falls sextile CA’s Uranus-Pluto.
The Eclipse points form the same aspects
with Eclipse
Uranus (Aries), which conjoins CA’s entire Aries
stellium! These opportunistic aspects explain why the fire was able to
take off and spread with such ferocity from day one. As we’ll discuss below in
regards to Eclipse Pluto, this incendiary problem is likely to get worse
before it gets better.
Interchart
T-Square, a destined passage and a chronic problem. As with
Louisiana’s chart, the California chart is caught up in the tense mutable
energies at play in this Eclipse chart. Here, the Eclipse Nodal axis-Venus conjoin
CA’s Sun (all Virgo) and oppose Eclipse Neptune-SNode (Pisces); all of
this squares
Eclipse Mars-Saturn (Sagittarius), which conjoins CA’s Chiron
(Sagittarius). Neptune and the Nodal axis have been transiting together
for some time, gaining influence over vulnerable regions; here, Venus
seems to facilitate the wounding (Chiron) being afflicted by these long
term cosmic conditions.
Eclipse
Mars-Saturn in fire sign Sagittarius certainly speaks to the
type of wounding California families are experiencing in this particular fire, and more generally, in their increasingly fire-prone environment. This fiery
Mars-Saturn
also squares CA’s Neptune (Pisces), suggesting that the drying
effects of the state’s long-term drought are still being felt.
The state’s natal Chiron-Neptune square reflects California’s
chronic weakness when it comes to water supplies, as well. Just as a carelessly
discarded cigarette butt can spark a blaze that destroys thousands of acres and
disrupt thousands of lives, a cosmic “trigger” such as an eclipse can tap into
a location’s vulnerabilities and set off a crisis.
Eclipse
Pluto (Capricorn) squares CA Saturn (Aries). This has also
been a long-term transit that tracks the course of its 4+ year drought pretty
closely. The drought has forced serious infrastructure changes and a host of
new laws and regulations regarding water use by California residents—all within
Saturn-Pluto’s wheelhouse.
As transiting Pluto continues into an
even closer square with CA’s Saturn and then to the state’s Uranus-Pluto
conjunction (and as transiting Uranus in Aries continues
to trigger this whole stellium), California residents may have no
choice but to abandon the most fire-prone areas. Cliimatologists were hoping
that the current El Niño cycle would make an appreciable difference with
rainfall, but these aspects suggest that it will be at least 2020 before the
worst of this is over. By 2020, there will be even more powerful forces
squaring the State’s Aries stellium from Capricorn, as well, so these issues
will continue to need serious attention going forward.
Eclipse
Pluto trines Eclipse Venus-Node-CA Jupiter (all Virgo) and sextiles Eclipse
Neptune-SNode. We get a glimpse here of why California’s
economy is surprisingly resilient, notwithstanding the constant pressure of
wild fires. The precious nature (Venus) of water resources (Neptune) to California’s
people (Moon) is seen with CA’s Neptune (Pisces) trine CA’s Venus-Moon
(Scorpio)—this certainly reflects why figuring out how to tap into the once
mighty Colorado River was the key to turning California’s deserts into
habitable land.
Finally, a boon
or a bust? Because of its disaster-prone geology, Californians are ever
alert to the rumblings of the earth. Fires and earthquakes are connected
phenomena in California history, so anything that shakes the earth only adds to
their fire vulnerabilities. Eclipse Jupiter-Mercury (Virgo) are conjoined
CA’s
Jupiter here, opposing Eclipse MC-Chiron (Pisces), with the State’s Jupiter return becoming exact this
September still opposite transiting Chiron.
Jupiter's return will unfortunately create a more perfect quincunx aspect with CA’s Uranus-Pluto in Aries, opening up the opportunity for a wounding (Chiron) earth-fire event. Transiting Uranus will still be conjunct CA’s Aries stellium at that point, increasing the likelihood of a volatile fall season.
Jupiter's return will unfortunately create a more perfect quincunx aspect with CA’s Uranus-Pluto in Aries, opening up the opportunity for a wounding (Chiron) earth-fire event. Transiting Uranus will still be conjunct CA’s Aries stellium at that point, increasing the likelihood of a volatile fall season.
The takeaway. We have to be
wondering, from our safe, dry cozy dwellings, if Louisiana and California are a
microcosm for what could become a much broader swath of catastrophe across the
nation in years ahead. As we've seen repeatedly over the past decade, our U.S. coastal regions seem to be increasingly
vulnerable to fires as well as
to floods—but can we leap to the conclusion that this vulnerability signals a troubling
pattern or a larger warning about the long term? Are these coastal states our “canary in the
coal mine” for irreversible climate change? Should people be moving away from
flood- and fire-prone regions because things are only going to get worse
instead of better?
Thankfully, an entire new field of science, promoted by the
United Nations and others—the “science
of attributing extreme events”—has sprung up to research these questions.
The fact that the climate is changing is a given—we don’t have to believe it because we can see it all around us. Astrology can play
a role in understanding climate dynamics and in zeroing in on local vulnerabilities,
but Science will always want (as it should) to confirm any assumptions and
theories with concrete data.
Hopefully Science and Astrology can work together more closely as these critical issues evolve!
Hopefully Science and Astrology can work together more closely as these critical issues evolve!
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.
[1]
Bill Meridian, The Predictive Power of
Eclipse Paths, Cycles Research Publication, New York, 2010, p. 11.