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Women are always essential to any national crisis! |
"Some Americans are in denial, and others are feeling despair. Both
sentiments are understandable. We all have a choice to make. We can look
at the coming fire and let it burn. We can hunker down, and hope to
wait it out—or we can work together to get through it with as little
damage as possible.
This country has faced massive threats before and
risen to the challenge; we can do it again. We just need to decide to
make it happen."
Neptune loves a good bit of twisted irony, of course, so here's the thing: today, the less we get out and about, the less we go to work, the more we're doing for the nation's COVID-19 response! So the more passively cooperative we are, the better. I suspect that's a temporary reality, however: at some point the contributions we can all make to suppressing and outliving this virus within our borders will become more clear. As the damage to our economy crystallizes in people's lives, we'll have a better idea what's needed and how we can help.
For today, however, I thought we'd explore more deeply the astrological origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Astrologers expend a lot of mental energy trying to
determine the most representational dates and times for critical events, and trying to cast accurate
charts during this Corona virus pandemic is no exception. In fact, there are
several possible “birth charts” for the COVID-19 virus, depending upon how we frame
its inception. For instance, do we look to its very first actual case in Wuhan, China? Or to the first case that Chinese
authorities reported to the World Health Organization?
The first instance would
reportedly be on November 17, 2019; the second on December 31st,
more than a month later. The intervening time between these two instances
represents the lag time during which Chinese leaders tried to cover up the
outbreak.
From Guardian.com:
“The first case of someone suffering from Covid-19 can be
traced back to 17 November, according to media reports on unpublished Chinese
government data.
The report, in the South China Morning Post,
said Chinese authorities had identified at least 266 people who contracted the
virus last year and who came under medical surveillance, and the earliest case
was 17 November – weeks before authorities announced the emergence of the new
virus.
The Chinese government was widely criticised over attempts
to cover up the outbreak in the early weeks, including crackdowns on doctors
who tried to warn colleagues about a new Sars-like virus which was emerging in
the city of Wuhan in Hubei province.
The data obtained by the Post, which the Guardian has not
been able to verify, said a 55-year-old from Hubei province could have been the
first person to contract Covid-19. For about one month after that date there
were one to five new cases reported each day, the report said, and by 20
December there were 60 confirmed cases.
The virus, which is now a pandemic, has infected at least
128,343 people across the world and killed 4,702. Of those who have contracted
the virus since it began, 68,324 people have recovered.”
Given this information, I’m inclined to regard
November 17th as being the more accurate inception date than December
31st, some 60+ cases later, even if the Dec. 31st report
to the WHO made China’s outbreak “official.”
In fact, I’ve studied these charts and they’re both quite
dramatic, as we’ll see ahead. The differences between them are interesting,
too, and may explain why China announced the onset of the outbreak when it
did—more on this in a bit.
First, however, let’s consider the actual first case, reported on November 17th in Chart #1 below.
Chart #1: First
COVID-19 case (actual), November 17, 2019, 12 p.m. ST (no exact time), Wuhan
(Hubei), China. Tropical Equal Houses,
True Node.
Obviously, it’s impossible to know at what exact time
this first COVID-19 case surfaced, so we can’t be certain of the angles, houses
or Moon
placement in this chart.
Saturn and Uranus co-rule Aquarius
ASC; Saturn/Uranus (midpoint, Pisces) conjoins Neptune (Pisces). Saturn and
Uranus
pit traditional, conservative approaches to problem-solving against
less traditional, innovative approaches, but the midpoint represented here
reflects the government’s choice to cover-up (Neptune) the early cases.
If the Aquarius ASC is accurate, it suggests that the government may
have experienced serious resistance from its people at that juncture: Ruling
planet Uranus also squares ASC from Taurus. in fact, there were
protests after people learned about the cover-up and about how badly the
government treated Doctor Lin
Wenliang, the so-called “whistleblower” doctor who tried to warn
other medical workers about the cases he was seeing.
It’s interesting that Jupiter
is in late Sagittarius here, conjunct the GC (Galactic Center): this
point is often activated in whistle-blower
situations, and Jupiter certainly fits the commitment and generosity of the
doctor.
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Whistleblower Dr. Lin Wenliang was reprimanded for spreading "fake news." |
Unfortunately, there was no happy ending in this story, however: having contracted the
virus in the course of patient care, Lin died on February 7, 2020, triggering
even more protests.
Grand-Square:
Saturn-Pluto conjoin (Capricorn) and
oppose Moon (Cancer); this axis squares Mars (Libra) opposite Eris-Uranus
(Aries-Taurus). These aspects fit the situation so
well that we might consider the timing to be fairly accurate. Some of the
square aspects here are a bit wide, but given the heavy cardinal dynamics in
play, we can allow for this. The point being made here is that the People were under great stress, subject
to heavy governmental restrictions (12th house Saturn-Pluto)
in the midst of a dynamic, disruptive and volatile situation (Mars
opposite Eris-Uranus).
If Mars does indeed rule the 3rd
and 10th houses from the 9th, we can see how
fraught communications and travel became all of a sudden, as restrictions began
surfacing as soon as the government took control of the narrative. In
retrospect, the government’s heavy-handedness appears to have helped “flatten
the curve” of the epidemic within
Chinese borders.
Of course, hard aspects between Mars-Pluto and Mars-Uranus
are bound to be volatile—the only thing moderating the situation here
might be that Mars isn’t at its most potent in Venus-ruled Libra. It entered
its home sign Scorpio a mere three days later, however, so the situation
became more intense and “martial” by then. By the time China officially
announced its first COVID-19 cases to the WHO on December 31st, it’s
likely that the control mechanisms and systems were in place to put the nation
in virtual lockdown.
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Year of the Rat got off to a very difficult start this time! |
And all this just a month before Chinese New Year, a time when millions of Chinese travel back and
forth for family celebrations!
Grand
Water Trine: Mercury (Scorpio) trines
Moon (Cancer) trines Neptune (Pisces). In November the Chinese
people were still being kept in the dark about the dangerous situation
developing—we see the spread of delusion designed to manipulate the public in
this grand trine, but also the potential spread of the virus itself—Neptune
rules epidemics, and the infection numbers were multiplying
exponentially from day one. Propaganda and willful downplaying/deception only
enabled the spread—we experienced that here in the U.S., as well, in those early
weeks when Trump was trying to downplay
the seriousness of the problem.
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China made heavy-handed use of a police presence in its COVID-19 response. |
Venus (Sagittarius) conjoins Jupiter
(Sagittarius), squares Neptune (Pisces) and inconjoins Moon (Cancer). The
Sagittarius
points here may have protected the people somewhat, by inspiring them
to accept the situation philosophically and to follow their leaders’ guidance.
That made for very frustrating times (inconjunct), undoubtedly, however it’s
possible that the death toll could have been much worse than it was.
Nodal Axis (Cancer-Capricorn)
squares Chiron (Aries)-opposite-Juno-Part of Fortune (Libra). If
accurate, the 6th-12th house placement of the Nodal
axis certainly fits the health-related situation that surfaced with
this event (Saturn-Pluto in the 12th speaks to the heavy
institutional framework China set up to deal with the outbreak). Chiron
speaks to the wounds about to be inflicted on the Chinese
people—perhaps especially on relationships and wives (Juno).
A paper
published by the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology reported that there was a gender
disparity in mortality rates: the
probability of men who contracted the virus dying was 4.7%; while the same for
women was 2.8%. This squares with the 8th house Juno, although the Chiron-opposite-Part
of Fortune points to a more general pain and loss and possible economic
disruption.
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Check out WHO guidelines for the COVID-19 virus here. |
The
official COVID-19 announcement
Chart
#1 was fairly heavily focused on the stresses on the Chinese
people (Moon), whereas the December 31st chart for the
announcement privileges the government’s position and the challenges it faced
in protecting its population. Cover-up attempt aside, we know that the Chinese
government is very deliberate in its actions, and astrology is well-respected
as a planning tool there, so perhaps they did some electional work to determine
an optimal day for their announcement. We don’t know if they elected to make
their announcement at noon, however, so again, it’s difficult to take the
angles and/or houses and Moon placement too seriously here.
With that said, let’s consider Chart #2 below.
Chart
#2: COVID-19 Announcement (China), December 31, 2019, 12 pm ST,
Wuhan (Hubei), China. Tropical Equal
Houses, True Node.
Sun conjoins So. Node-Jupiter-Mercury
(Capricorn). If the timing is more-or-less accurate, this potent
Saturnian gathering happens at the top of the chart and pulls in the Capricorn
MC. China did project an authoritative, if not brutally authoritarian
approach to its COVID-19 response, and the messaging (Mercury) went from being
murky and manipulative in November (Scorpio) to disciplined and
demanding (Capricorn) by the end of December.
Jupiter’s involvement
here may have been well-timed for the success of their message (conjunct
Mercury)
and their response in general. Reports have highlighted how organized and
step-by-step their approach was to identifying the potentially infected and exposed,
and then how swiftly they took action to quarantine such individuals in
specially designated or constructed quarters—all effective, if heavy-handed Capricorn
tactics.
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China's Xi recently visited the Wuhan epicenter. |
Xi Jinping’s government has been quick to crow about its
effectiveness, comparing their “strong” use of power to America’s less
centralized and less organized approach. As we’ve seen in the Trump White House, the powers-that-be in China haven't hesitated to take political advantage from this crisis, as well. Even so, the
facts reflect that Beijing was able to scale up its efforts to meet the scope
of the challenge in pretty short order—a feat that does look instructive, considering
where the U.S. is at right now.
This scalability was perhaps another way in
which Jupiter supported Beijing's efforts. Of course, well-led democracies are more than capable of mobilizing
against a crisis too—it's not that autocracy works better; it simply makes issuing orders less complicated because choice and human rights have been eliminated from the equation. Competence shouldn't have an ideology, should it?
Mercury (Capricorn) trines Uranus (Rx,
Taurus). China's WHO announcement was shocking news, obviously, but the fact
that there were cases of an unknown virus in China was already reported by that
time, so the key point here is that other aspects of Chinese life were about to
get the shock treatment: transportation, communications, working life,
commerce, and so on.
Mars (Scorpio) widely sextiles Saturn-Pluto
(Capricorn). These aspects enhanced the government’s ability to crackdown
on human rights for the sake of the virus fight, of course – we shouldn’t
minimize how difficult life must have been for people under this heavy-handed
approach. We also shouldn’t minimize how the virus unleashed an even more
oppressive surveillance (Scorpio) state than normal over
there, and it also fostered xenophobia and anti-foreigner sentiment.
Time magazine reported that foreigners have
been treated like scapegoats in China—especially if they had been traveling—much
as Trump is trying to frame COVID-19 as
a “Chinese virus,” unleashing anti-Asian demagoguery. Is he just trying to “punch
back” and oblivious to how his actions are impacting Asian-Americans? He’s
been asked repeatedly about his insistence on using that racist label, but thus
far he refuses to take the point and back down.
Moon widely conjoins Neptune
(Pisces) and sextiles So. Node-Jupiter-Mercury (Capricorn) and Uranus (Taurus).
Again, we’re not certain that this Moon placement is
accurate, however given the 13 degree range of the Moon in any given day, it
can’t be too far off. It would have moved quickly into closer conjunction with Neptune
as the day went on, too, which probably reflects the vagaries of
quarantine and possible unclear messaging regarding new measures being imposed
as the government developed its response.
People who had traveled were immediately quarantined
in commandeered hotels and were fed three meals a day—much like prison (the 12th
house placement makes sense here).
The shock (Uranus) delivered to Chinese daily
life is certainly represented here, but the people (Moon) seemed poised
to respond to the impacts on the economy and travel, education, commerce and so
on (Mercury)
with relative ease. This Moon also trines No. Node (Cancer), which
suggests a level of cooperation with the prevailing trend—we’ve discussed the
benefits of the collective
focus of Chinese culture in a previous post—this seems to be reflected
here.
Chiron (Aries) squares Nodal Axis
(Cancer-Capricorn). There’s no denying that COVID-19 has
been a brutally wounding phenomenon and it’s far from over, although China
reported its first day without
a new infection in Hubei province today (3/19), so there’s progress, and
that should make us all hopeful. Yes,
it’s possible to get beyond this dismal passage in human life (Nodal
axis)—now, if we could stop falling back into default scapegoating
games designed to pump up leadership egos (So. Node conjoins Jupiter and Sun
(Capricorn) and just accept that we’re all in this together!
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The mask is a powerful symbol for these times. |
Final
thoughts
I began this piece talking about the different ways the
origins of the COVID-19 pandemic could be charted, depending upon the context and frame we
give it. One question we didn’t get to is about the virus's origins in each country
where it has spread since manifesting in China in November 2019. Would those
more local charts tell us something important that we can’t get from the origin
charts? I plan to attempt a chart for the first U.S. case, however I don’t
expect too much original information from this. Each outbreak could take on a
local “flavor,” I suppose, but it’s essentially the same pandemic.
Besides, the
word pandemic itself tells us that
this is a worldwide phenomenon, even
if we can pinpoint where it all began. So maybe it’s better to simply keep that globalized
mindset—that we’re all (and I mean all) in this together.
This situation changes and evolves by day, so my plan for
this site is to focus more on short, quickly-addressed and easily illustrated
topics that might just help us keep pace with those changes. I also plan to cover some topics and individuals who are getting short shrift these days--did we just have the strangest election primaries, or what?! History is filled with lessons for times such as these, of
course, so we’ll spend some time thumbing through dusty old tomes to harvest
whatever nuggets of wisdom have broken the surface.
Let’s not forget that spring
is upon us, whether we’re sheltering in place or not! Nothing says we can’t
enjoy walks in nature, bicycle rides, gardening (I see a “victory garden” in my
own future), leisurely breaks on a park bench with a good book, etc.—as long as
we’re abiding by local recommendations for social distancing, etc. You may not
have a balcony and a piano you can roll out onto it to serenade your neighbors
with (as in Spain, I hear), but I’m sure we can all imagine small ways to
lighten someone’s load! We’re in this for a number of months ahead – we’ll take
a stab at wondering how long in the
next post!
Stay tuned!
Raye
Robertson is a practicing astrologer, writer and former educator. 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.
She is
also available to read individual charts—contact her at: robertsonraye@gmail.com.
© Raye Robertson 2020. All
rights reserved.
Excellent as always
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