Aries 2002 Ingress

As discussed in the preceding article on the Capricorn Ingress of 2001, the entry of the Sun into the four cardinal signs provides keys to the following three months until the next time the Sun enters 0 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn. Traditionally, the Aries ingress is the most important, and offers information on the whole year until the next time the Sun enters Aries. Students of mundane (world) astrology have used these ingress charts for millennia. It is the asteroids, the minor planets, which give a whole new dimension to the ancient technique.

Since the article was written on the Capricorn ‘01 Ingress, the events in Afghanistan have been dramatic. The Taliban who were in control of most of the country, and the al-Qaida terrorist network that had been supported by the Taliban, have mostly fled the cities. As of mid-November, 2001, a variety of local chiefs with their armed bands are jockeying for power in the different regions with their multiethnic citizens. There is an urgent need for the United Nations and the various local leaders to cooperate to establish a broad-based government that will include the Tadjiks, Uzbecs, Azeris, Pashtuns, etc. Everyone fears a return to the inter-tribal war that followed the Soviet departure from the country in the early 1990s.

The theme of the coming Capricorn Ingress in 2001 provided a clear emphasis on the threat of nuclear incidents. But, on observing the current situation just a couple of weeks after writing that article, I wonder whether the concept of “nuclear” might be less specific and more symbolic of the danger of many minor “war lords” splitting like atoms, splintering into chaotic civil war where compromise and cooperation are desperately needed. Hopefully, the involvement of the international community of nations, including several Islamic nations such as Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc. can help to broker a cooperative division of power, and the promise of rebuilding a country devastated by years of civil war and drought can help to persuade the rival mujahedeen to accept compromises.

Can the 2002 Aries Ingress throw additional light on the coming months? The winter of 2001-2 looks deeply conflicted. It will take true wisdom to negotiate a peaceful outcome for this troubled country, and the United States will clearly continue to be involved. As the various native factions hunt down and capture or kill the Taliban and their allies from Pakistan, Chechnya, etc, the U.S. “special forces” are now hunting down the leaders of both the Taliban and the al-Qaida network. Both the native Afghani and their foreign allies have been fleeing to the caves and mountains of Afghanistan, and quite possibly slipping out of the country to join existing cells in other countries, including Pakistan, Algeria, etc. The threat of terrorism in the U.S. is far from over, though the ability of the network to fund and coordinate their plans has certainly been crippled.

The current ephemeris covering 2001 to 2050 lists the Aries ’02 Ingress as falling on March 20, 2002 at 19:17. However, since this ephemeris was calculated using ephemeris time, to get accurate figures, one minute has to be subtracted, giving a UT time of 19:16. The house cusps in Washington D.C. provide an MC of 2 Taurus 18, and an Ascendant of 12 Leo 5. [Editor’s note: I added 25 seconds to the round minute for the chart because the round minute puts the Sun at 29 Pisces 59’ 59”. This adds a few minutes to the longitudes of the MC and Ascendant.] Neptune and Pallas oppose the Ascendant and Mars squares it, so the power struggle potential is present for the coming year. Calculating the angles for New York produces an MC of 5 Taurus 29 and an Ascendant of 15 Leo 17. When we include some asteroids, the fixed cross is reinforced and intensified.

Juno, an asteroid equivalent to Pluto, is on the NY Ascendant, and the local Part of Death in 7 Taurus is on the Sun/Moon midpoint. Life and death still seem to be confronting each other in that beleaguered city. To add to the picture, we have heard a lot about a relatively new term, “hazmat,” the abbreviation of hazardous materials. The term can be applied to the germs of bioterrorism, or to chemicals, or to the radiation dangers connected to nuclear threats. In the Aries ’02 Ingress, the asteroid “hazard” is in 15 Aquarius 39, opposing Juno on the NY Ascendant, plus an asteroid named Ate, considered the personification of evil by the ancient Greeks, is also in 15 Leo with Juno. Damocles, the mythical figure with a sword hanging over his head, joins Hazard in 15 Aquarius 36, and Sumeria in 16 Aquarius 24 is within one degree. Sumeria and Chaldaea are the ancient names of what is now primarily Iraq. There has been ample media coverage discussing the likelihood that Iraq has been developing several varieties of weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical.

Among the relevant asteroids for biological threats, Pasteur was noted for promoting the theory that germs caused illness. Leeuwenhoek developed the microscope that permitted scientists of his day to see the tiny bacteria. Koch was noted for his studies of Anthrax among other bacteria, and Jenner encouraged the use of vaccines to prevent smallpox. In this Aries ’02 Ingress, Pasteur is in 25 Aquarius 59, conjunct Uranus. This could point to a breakthrough in knowledge. Leeuwenhoek is in 23 Cancer 59, octile a close Saturn-Vesta conjunction. Of all the combinations in the zodiac, putting Vesta and Saturn together is potentially either great or terrible. When these two “workaholics” combine their drive to achieve something, a positive choice of accomplishment can be wonderful. A destructive goal can be equally successful but with horrifying consequences.

President Bush is clearly involved, with the asteroids George and Karma in 23 Capricorn connected to Leeuwenhoek, Vesta, and Saturn. Busch, which seems to “work” for Bush despite the slight difference in spelling, is closely conjunct Venus in 15 Aries, so its trine to the NY Ascendant and its network of aspects is a hopeful sign that the authorities may get a “handle” on whoever put out the anthrax letters. Koch in 28 Sagittarius 47 is less optimistic, with its trioctile to Mars in 13 Taurus. Jenner in 22 Pisces opposes one of the death goddesses in 22 Virgo. On the side of optimism, this could mean that Jenner’s vaccine separates us from potential death. Bellerophon, one of our “overreach and crash” mythical figures, is also in a warning position, conjunct Mars and square the Washington D.C. Ascendant. Hephaistos, the maker of weapons for the Greeks of Olympus, is also square the Washington Ascendant from 11 Taurus. The patterns could point to power struggles against bacteria, or using conventional weapons.

Supporting the latter, the asteroid Hiroshima is still prominent, in a cluster in 10 degrees Aquarius with Neptune, faith or fear, Icarus, potential overreach, and Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. But this group also closely trines Saturn and Vesta, with Nemesis and Makover in 9 Libra completing a grand air trine. Knowledge should support success. Pluto is widely trine the NY Ascendant cluster and Venus-Busch, so the fire of innovation and initiative could support the information symbolized by the air. Still we have to remember that the Sun in 0 Aries is exactly trioctile that NY Ascendant, so it is part of the network of conflict aspects involving the fixed signs. Tyr, the Norse name for Mars, is also in the network in 15 Scorpio, while Arabia in 12 Scorpio squares the Washington Ascendant. Another cluster of asteroids exists in 8 Leo, where they hold trioctiles to Fanatica and the lunar nodes. They include Thomas (the preceding Capricorn ’01 Ingress article listed the numerous leaders named Tom), Herberta (named for Herbert Hoover, which could imply the fears of recession, or could point to the role of former President Bush), Ankara, the capital of Turkey, and Ops, the goddess of underground wealth. Since most experts think that access to oil and a possible pipeline across Afghanistan is one reason for our current “war,” these seem appropriate.

The Moon on Atropos, a death goddess, with a square to Mercury and their conjunctions with the midpoints of the nodes and Saturn show that the public is likely to still be feeling much emotional stress. We are not “out of the woods” with this chart. There is still a major focus on power issues and power struggles, but at least the spring looks more optimistic than the coming winter.

Advanced students of mundane astrology will want to relocate the chart to both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both areas also show the inevitable continued turbulence. The chart in Pakistan puts the Moon and Atropos exactly on the Descendant! With its extremist religious schools that have been funded by the extremist Wahhabi sect in Saudi Arabia, it may be in as much danger of a civil war as Afghanistan. What will it take to persuade humans to move toward cooperation and compromise???

Zip Dobyns

Copyright © 2001 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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