Unearthing Some Old Charts

It's been a while since I posted here but as I explained in a post on my Astrological Meanderings blog, I've been without Astrolog for quite some time now. I also lost my data files and have had to rebuild them. I was fortunate enough however, to come across four copies of astrological charts from long, long ago. These were:

• my first friend at University: Steve Ross (see Figure 1)
• my brother Peter (see Figure 2)
• my father (see Figure 3)
• the time I realised that I'd won a new car (see Figure 4)

Steve Ross was born in Melbourne on September 28th 1948 at 10:10pm according to the data in the chart. I lost contact with him sometime in 1976. Internet searches haven't turned up any information about him.

Figure 1

Of course I remembered that my brother Peter was born on November 28th 1953 but I wasn't sure of the exact time, although I did recall that he had Capricorn rising. The time turned out to 7:15am. I haven't seen Peter since 1987 but he's still alive and has become an athletic coach of some renown.

Figure 2

Likewise I knew my father was born on January 9th 1924 and that he had 0 degrees of Virgo rising (even if I didn't know the exact time). The time turns out to 9pm or thereabouts.

Figure 3

The car win took place in 1986, on October 2nd 1986 at 1:15pm. It was quite a day and I remember it well.  The win came via a so-called "scratchie".

Figure 4

I'll now add this data to my Airtable database.

73rd Solar Return Approaches

Figure 1 shows the current transits as they affect my natal chart, a day before the Sun returns to the exact position it occupied at the time of my birth.

Figure 1

What struck me was the looming opposition of transiting Saturn to my natal Saturn. I'd forgotten how important the transits of this planet to its natal position have been in my past. Figure 2 shows the time in years since my birth when the planet has been in square, conjunction and opposition to its natal position. Of course these times are not exact because the ignore retrograde motion but they represent approximations.

Figure 2

All these times are associated with important events in my life and in particular the last opposition, soon after my 44th birthday in 1993, was quite dramatic in many ways. Could this coming opposition turn out to be similarly dramatic? Things are stirring, that's for sure. Time will tell.

Saturn in currently moving forward through Aquarius and will station in 25°15' on June 4th 2022. It will retreat to 18°35' by October 23rd 2022 and then move swiftly forward to an exact opposition in 0°01' of Pisces on March 8th 2023. After moving forward into Pisces, it will later retrograde before stationing in 0°30' Pisces on November 4th 2023. The full force of the aspect will probably be felt around that time. The 73.64 years shown in Figure 2 is a rough average of all these backwards and forwards motions of the planet.

It's interesting to note that transiting Pluto just hovers around Jupiter and my MC over this entire period. When Saturn stations opposite its natal position in November of 2023, Pluto is in 28°02' of Capricorn. Currently, on April 1st of 2022, it is in 28°24' of Capricorn! 

Update on the Mars-Venus Conjunction

The Mars-Venus conjunction of mid-February has passed and another conjunction of the two planets is about to occur. Figure 1 shows a chart in which the two planets are almost conjunct and right on the horizon here in Jakarta. Pluto as can be seen is very, very close by.

Figure 1

The two planets remain close together over the next few days. For example, currently (early Saturday morning) Mars is 28d55m of Capricorn and Venus is 28d45m. On Monday, at the same time, Mars will be in 0d25m Aquarius and Venus will be in 0d29m with the latter beginning to move slowly away.

This conjunction occurs in a sensitive area of my chart so I'll have to wait and see if there are any marked inner or outer effects. So far, all is quiet. I'll report back in a few days.

Mars-Venus Conjunction

In my last post, writing about the influence of Ceres in my natal chart, I wrote "It would seem to indicate a time of material well-being". Today Ceres stationed in 27°50' of Taurus and is now moving forward. Yesterday, my son and daughter-in-law bought me an iPhone 12 to replace my ageing Samsung A52 that I took possession of in April of 2017, almost five years ago now. For this, and other things, it is indeed "a time of material well-being".

Coming up on February 16th is the conjunction of Mars and Venus in 16°53' of Capricorn. At the time of this conjunction, the Sun and Moon are in a close opposition in 28°-27° of Aquarius and Leo. Pluto in 27°26' Capricorn is involved in this aspect and continues to dominate my chart, standing at the MC and casting aspects to many of my natal planets. Ceres and the North Node of the Moon surround my natal Moon. 

The Mars-Venus conjunction itself links to my natal Moon and Saturn via the sesquiquadrate aspect and also to natal Neptune by square. Figure 1 shows the annotated chart.

Figure 1

The Sun-Moon opposition is transient of course but the other aspects are substantial. The Sabian Symbol for the 17th degree of Capricorn is described by Dane Rudhyar as follows:

PHASE 287 (CAPRICORN 17°): A REPRESSED WOMAN FINDS A PSYCHOLOGICAL RELEASE IN NUDISM.

KEYNOTE: The escape from bondage to social inhibitions and a reliance upon the wisdom of the body.

Under the pressure of religions that have created a sharp and unwholesome division between soul and body, society has produced strict codes of values regarding the play of natural instincts, and has glorified them under the name of "decency" and "modesty." The growing trend toward nudism — which of course has nothing to do with the "pornographic" display of one's body — is a welcome protest against the depressing and neurosis-generating puritanism of the past. Men and women are demanding a psychologically as well as physically healthful freedom of the body as a means of overcoming the hypocrisy and constrictions of social behaviour.

In this second stage symbol we see how our society has been able to repress and distort the natural activity of the human body and its sensitivity to the elements. Thus a contrast is established between healthy youth at play and the neurotic subservience to a socio-religious tradition. The symbol is a call for RELEASE FROM INHIBITIONS.

As a male, the reference to "a repressed woman" would indicate my anima and the activation of this degree would indicate an opportunity to give expression in some form to this archetype that has been denied full and unfettered expression in consciousness.

Transiting North Node of Moon

At the moment (mid-afternoon of December 20th 2021), Ceres (retrograde) and the North Node of the Moon are almost conjunct in the first degree of Gemini. On January 2nd, the transiting node will be conjunct my natal Moon. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

This is a largely positive influence. Ceres will retrograde until it reaches 27°50' on January 14th and so for the next month or so Ceres will be "dancing" over my natal Moon and the transiting North Node of the Moon. Figure 2 shows a painting that depicts Ceres.

Figure 2: source

The accompanying commentary is:

Goddess of grains and the harvest, Ceres holds some corn cobs in her right hand while, with the left, she holds a horn of plenty. Two nymphs fill the cornucopia with fruits, symbolizing the Earth's generosity. The subject is inspired by Ovid's mythological tales. In this collaboration between two artists, something quite frequent among Flemish painters, Rubens made the figures of the goddess and her companions, while Snyders, a specialist in still lifes and animals, depicted the fruit, the monkey at the bottom, and the birds. Rubens himself brought this work to Spain in 1628. In 1636, it was already hanging on the walls of Madrid's Alcázar Palace.

It would seem to indicate a time of material well-being.

Chiron is still very active as it moves forward through 8° of Aries. It will form a trine with natal Chiron on January 22nd 2022 before reaching the conjunction with my Mars-Venus on January 31st. Pluto continues to move toward a conjunction with my MC on January 6th of 2022.

Sun-Moon Conjunction November 5th 2021

Figure 1 shows the transits for the occasion of the Sun-Moon conjunction of November 5th 2021, superimposed on my natal chart.

Figure 1

The conjunction occurs in 12°40' of Scorpio which places it almost exactly quinqunx my natal Sun in 12°47' Aries and opposite transiting Uranus, retrograde in 12°47' of Taurus. The conjunction of course is quite transient and no eclipse is involved, so its impact may not be important. Transiting Uranus is exactly semi-sextile my natal Sun and this is a much more persistent aspect. 

It can also be seen that my progressed Moon in 7°22' Aquarius is conjunct transiting Saturn in 7°23'. The two thus form part of a Grand Cross with the midpoint of Ceres-Pluto, transiting Uranus and the Sun-Moon conjunction. Again this may be of little consequence, so I'll wait and see if anything of significance transpires.

The Sun-Moon conjunction opposite transiting Uranus could play out on the world stage as well and Figure 2 shows a chart, with annotations, for the moment of the conjunction in Basel. This city is where the BIS, Bank for International Settlements, is located and where the banksters may be planning to make a surprising announcement.

Figure 2

August 19th 2021

For various reasons, the date of August 19th 2021 has been playing on my mind but today I just drew up a chart for the mid-morning of that date in Jakarta, at a time when the Ascendant is conjunct the South Node of my natal Moon. It's an interesting chart in itself because every planet is involved in an aspect of one sort or another, with many overlapping interactions. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

It's only a transient chart with the Moon moving especially fast but for the time of 9:35am, Mars and Mercury are almost exactly conjunct in terms of both latitude and longitude (12°47' v 12°44' and 0°59'N v 0°55N respectively). These two planets are in a grand trine with the Moon and Uranus. 

There is an interesting YOD-type pattern formed between the Sun, Moon, Jupiter and Chiron. It's not strictly speaking a YOD because that involves two quincunx (150°) aspects and a sextile (60°) whereas here the two aspects are sesquiquadrate (135°) and the other aspect is a square (90°). 

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of it all. The date is not far off.