Asteroid-World Summer 1993

Zip Dobyns

I have been wondering how Scallion would explain the failure of his prediction of a huge earthquake in southern California by early May 1993. My friend who keeps me updated on such things reports that Scallion has pointed to big quakes in the south Pacific, Kamchatka, and other areas as a vindication of his predictions. He writes that the California catastrophes are just postponed and will be even more severe than already described. I’m betting otherwise.

Scallion also notes the increased number of quakes along the California-Nevada border where he has predicted the birth of a new volcano this year or next year. He also predicts a new fracture running up along this border. Plus, he is now quoting the predictions of other “psychics” who mostly agree with him. As I have suggested in the past, I think the psychics are co-creating a dramatic scenario on the astral level of consciousness. Did any of them forecast the floods in the Midwest? I’ve just seen predictions of catastrophes in the southwest and south and a few mentioning the east coast. I suspect they are mostly just tuning in to and adding to the astral creations of Edgar Cayce.

On a more prosaic level, Scallion may also have read the theories being offered by geologists since the Landers quake in 1992. McPhee’s book Assembling California, which I reviewed in the Gemini issue of The Mutable Dilemma, quotes the theory that a new fault line may be opening up which will run more directly north from the southern part of the San Andreas fault. A new journal called Earth also described this theory in their January 1993 issue. Geologists are studying a tectonic feature called the OWL which runs through eastern Oregon and across the state of Washington. The 350 mile gash across the landscape was first recognized in 1945, but it has been more intensively studied since 1986. Some geologists suggest that part of the pressure on the upper, more west-slanting section of the San Andreas Fault may be diverted to a new, just-forming boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate. The new Landers fault might connect with other faults and sheer zones, past the eastern side of the Sierras, across Nevada into Idaho and then to the OWL. It would be ironic if many of the Californians who were scared by psychic predictions into moving to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Idaho have just moved into areas which will have more sizable earthquakes in the future. However, since the age of the OWL is estimated as about 13 million years and it takes thousands of years to accumulate incremental changes to produce big ones, the likelihood of major earth changes in one person’s lifetime is pretty small. Quakes we will have, and they may come in any area along the edges of the major plates. As is obvious from the figures in the Gemini 1993 Mutable Dilemma, most earthquake deaths are from inadequately constructed buildings. The quakes which killed hundreds of thousands of people were either early in this century or in preceding centuries, or they were in less developed countries which could not afford to build to modern codes. The safest of the quake-prone areas are the ones which have stringent building codes. You don’t have to be told which state tops the list.

I wish I could dismiss the destruction of humans by humans as easily as I can the chances of Earth doing incredible flips, though we may have a somewhat expanded quota of quakes and volcanoes during this decade as forecast by astrophysicists working with the Barycenter. If the psychics are not willing or able to learn some astrology to test their unconscious productions, maybe they could make friends with a good astrologer to help them distinguish between astral and physical levels of consciousness. California has its share of real problems which need to be confronted. The economy is continuing to decline which puts pressure on many areas including increased crime, reduced medical care for the poor, schools which are over-crowded, libraries which are shortening their hours, parks and other public infrastructure which need attention, etc. Diverting attention to imaginary catastrophes by nature does not help us confront the real harm done by humans during the Reagan decade of greed. Too often, humans are still acting as if they were living in the Arian Age.

An outstanding example of the ruthlessness of the “might makes right” mentality is visible in the former Yugoslavia which only seems to go from bad to worse. I have written repeatedly about the heliocentric Earth conjunct Mars chart which has pictured the situation quite accurately. Readers will remember that not only was Mars on the MC in Belgrade opposite Sun-Uranus-Neptune and quincunx Saturn and Winchester, but Jupiter was exactly on the Ascendant. The rising Jupiter can lead to over-confidence and hubris which eventually brings down the person or group if they identify with God and think they can do anything they want. The Bosnian Serbians came close to that recently when they shelled the United Nations’ storage facilities. They have been warned that another similar attack will be met with force. They may face NATO air power any day.

The June 14, 1993 issue of the New Republic has an article describing what the authors think is the only possible solution other than continuing to stand by and see the Serbians take over all of Bosnia and kill or drive out all of the Moslems. Pape and Mearsheimer call for a three-way partition of the disputed areas. If the Serbs reject the plan, as is likely since it would involve their giving up quite a good bit of conquered territory, air support would be provided to the Moslems as well as arms to let them do the ground fighting. Once they were strong enough to maintain their new borders, the international community would provide assistance in moving people into the new areas which would be ethnically “pure.” The international community would also need to provide financial support, especially to the new, smaller Bosnia, until the country could rebuild a financial base.

The authors acknowledge the arguments against the plan, including the expulsion of many people from their homes. But they say that assisted, organized moves would be preferable to the terrible treatment of minority ethnic groups which is currently occurring. The authors point out that if the Serbians continue their relatively cost-free conquests, Kosovo is likely to be the next target. The Serbs, who control the police and army there, are beginning to force out the Albanians who are actually an ethnic majority in the area. If the Serbs are not discouraged, eventually we could have the major war that everyone wants to avoid, with Macedonia, Greece, Albania, and Turkey involved. The authors do not mention the fact that the Serbs are not the only ones likely to oppose their plan. The Bosnians are also still adamantly against partition. The authors also do not explain how the international community (which is now sliding deeper into recession) is going to pay for their plan. The U.S. is urged to lead the way, but Clinton is currently fighting for his budget which he hopes will accomplish the (probably impossible) goal of stimulating the economy AND cutting the deficit. Public opinion here is centered on unemployment at home rather than on suffering in other countries.

When we turn to a traditional technique in mundane astrology but add our new friends, the asteroids, the picture does not look any brighter. I have calculated each of the cardinal ingress charts for Belgrade and Sarajevo from 0 Capricorn 1992 to 0 Aries 1995, and they look grim. The following are just a few of the aspects. All listed asteroid aspects are exact within one degree. In the Aries 1993 ingress, Srbija (Serbia) and Dresden were on the MC in Sarajevo, Karma was on the IC, Tacitus (a Roman historian) was on the Ascendant, and three asteroids squared the MC from the sixth house—Bruxelles (Brussels, the headquarters of the European Community), Sumeria (Iraq-Iran), and ARA (American Relief Administration). Europe, the Moslems in the Near East, and the U.S. were all concerned and tried to help by air-dropping food and declaring “safe zones,” but the shelling of Sarajevo continues. Starr was on the Belgrade Ascendant and Beograd (Belgrade) was quincunx it as the Serbian leader stopped outwardly supporting the Bosnian Serbs, only to find that the general he had sent to help was no longer taking orders from him.

In the Cancer 1993 ingress (our current period), Tacitus is more precisely on the Belgrade rather than the Sarajevo Ascendant opposite Pallas and Vesta on the Descendant, square the mean lunar nodes, and octile Slavia (Slavs). History is clearly being made in the area and future humans may look back on this period and compare it to the military expansion of early Rome. The heliocentric asteroids are often as dramatic as the geocentric ones. The Belgrade Ascendant is conjunct H Yugoslavia and H Sphinx (in the original myth, the sphinx was a monster who killed anyone who could not answer his question), and octile H Williams (for Bill Clinton). The Belgrade MC is conjunct G Berolina (Berlin), H Alemannia (Germany) and H Hephaistos (maker of weapons for the gods of Olympus). The Sarajevo MC is conjunct H Tezcatlipoca (Aztec war god who demanded a human sacrifice every day). If possible, the Serbs may hate the Germans more than they do the Moslems. When Clinton started air-dropping food, the Germans were warned that if they participated, the Serbs would try to shoot down the planes. (The continued turmoil and fighting is Somalia is suggested in this ingress by Mars conjunct the asteroid Somalia).

The Libra 1993 ingress has Dresden and Apollo on the Ascendant in Belgrade. Readers may remember that Dresden and Guernica were named for cities where non-combatant civilians were attacked in earlier wars. The Serbs are certainly doing that in many areas, including Sarajevo. Apollo was a sun-god with a very mixed record, sometimes associated with order, music, and harmony, but sometimes described as killing children like the 14 children of Niobe. The asteroids named for a variety of sun-gods can be keys to both power and fame. Pax (peace or the need for it since astrology shows issues, not details) is on the IC in Belgrade but Mars is on the IC in Sarajevo! Does that mean that Belgrade will be talking peace but Sarajevo still fighting? Srbija and Tezcatlipoca are conjunct in the first house and trioctile the Moon in the fifth house. The Moon is also on the Vertex and Icarus, opposite Hephaistos-Antivertex, square ARA. and quincunx Slavia. Armor is on the midpoint of the Belgrade Ascendant/MC, just over one degree from the Sarajevo midpoint, and square America. Phaethon (over-reach that can lead to a crash) is on the Belgrade Part of Death. Winchester (guns) squares a cluster of asteroids in 22-23 Virgo which includes Juno, Guernica, Belgica (Belgium), Ukraine, and Columbia (which could be the district where our capital is located). H Dresden is square the Sarajevo MC, quincunx H Saturn, and octile H Hephaistos. This is not a peaceful chart. This fall could bring either the fall of Sarajevo or the beginning of combat by the (theoretically peace-keeping) U.N. forces.

Russia is making history too, and the U.S. is concerned. In the same Cancer 1993 ingress chart, H Tacitus is conjunct H Russia and H Washingtonia and it is semisextile H America. The triple conjunction of Russia, Tacitus, and Washingtonia in 18 Libra is also exactly quincunx the ingress MC calculated in Moscow. In the same chart calculated for Washington, DC, Industria is on the Ascendant showing our focus on jobs, plus Uranus and Neptune are on the MC and Libitina and Lacrimosa are on the IC. Libitina is not a newly discovered asteroid. It was first sighted in 1950, but its name was recently chosen and it was reported in February 1993 so it is a new addition to my personal collection. It was named for a goddess who presided over the burial of the dead and Roman poets frequently used her name to mean death itself. In the testing I have done so far, Libitina has been dramatically appropriate in a variety of charts. Lacrimosa is associated with whining, deplorable conditions, and sorrow. I wonder at what point Bill Clinton will begin to wonder why he wanted to be president?

The Capricorn 1993 ingress starts out grimly with Pluto in its own sign on the Sarajevo IC to the degree. Does that imply the death of Sarajevo? To further picture desolation, Dresden is the Sarajevo Ascendant while the Belgrade Ascendant is conjunct Union and Apollo suggesting a triumphant union. The rising Chiron is conjunct Srbija, quincunx the Moon, and square Washingtonia, while Beograd (Belgrade), Lucifer and Persephone are on the Belgrade Descendant. Depending one one’s choice of myth, Lucifer can be a light-bringer or a devil. Persephone was kidnapped by Pluto, as most readers will remember. Zhukov, a famous Russian general, is on the Sarajevo Descendant. It is known that some unemployed Russian soldiers are fighting on the side of their fellow Slavs, the Serbs, in Bosnia. Other aspects include Winchester on Neptune which is still within one degree of Uranus, and Uranus square America. The Belgrade midpoint of Ascendant/MC is on Hybris (hubris) for over-confidence. Libitina is on the midpoint of the Antivertexes of Belgrade and Sarajevo with an octile to Hephaistos which is square Gaea (Earth). But if this ingress and the preceding one foreshadow some kind of Serbian triumph, they do not end the fighting as later ingress charts will show. But we will save them for another issue.

I have written repeatedly about the heliocentric Earth conjunct Mars charts, but have only mentioned in passing that the same principle can be applied to any planet when it is conjunct Earth as seen from the Sun. I have been watching these charts calculated for the outer planets since a Mutable Dilemma subscriber, Helen Clerf, told me that they often pinpointed places on Earth where events occurred which fit the nature of the key planet where it was located on one of the angles. The Mars-Earth charts occur at intervals of a little over two years. The Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto heliocentric conjunctions with Earth occur at intervals of a little over one year. The Earth-Pluto conjunction of May 12, 1992 lasts to May 14, 1993, so it covers the Waco, TX disaster. When the 1992 chart is calculated for Waco, Pluto is conjunct the Ascendant within 20 minutes of longitude! Since the timing of the chart is based on the geocentric opposition between the Sun and Pluto, the Sun is simultaneously on the Descendant. Saturn is widely square the angles, Sun, and Pluto from the third house of the media. The East Point in Sagittarius squares the tenth house Jupiter, pointing to the religious issues and bad judgment on both sides. The East Point is also quincunx within one degree the south lunar node in the eighth house and within two degrees Mercury in the sixth house to form a yod. Gaea is on Mercury, signifying the wide coverage of the media which brought the shocking episode to all parts of Earth which possessed TVs. Gothlandia (which I am testing as a key to New York) was also conjunct Mercury, fitting the attention to that city due to the World Trade Center bombing. Also in a massive cluster on Mercury were Seleucus (a Roman general), Cambridge, Dembowska (which seems very Saturnine), Polonia (Poland), Roxane (a Macedonian queen), Massachusetts, and Iphigenia (who was sacrificed to aid the Greeks in the Trojan war.) There is a Cambridge in both Massachusetts and England (and probably many more places) but I haven’t heard any special news about them. Maybe local residents can provide some. The asteroids often bunch up like this, and I usually just ignore the ones about which I lack current information. America is just past the cluster but connected to it by intervening asteroids which overlap within my one-degree limit.

Other asteroids included California on the MC in Waco, and the state was certainly in the limelight as cult members living here were interviewed on TV. Washington, DC was also center stage as our officials consulted presumed academic “experts” and directed the siege, and the chart had Xanthus (another name for Apollo) on Washingtonia and Universitas with the Moon octile the trio. The Antivertex was quincunx Davida (for David Koresh). Libitina in Capricorn was part of a cardinal cross with squares to Utopia which was conjunct Sita (the self-sacrificing Hindu wife in their great epic) in Libra and to Sapientia (wisdom or a need for it) in Aries and an opposition to Amnestia (amnesty or the need for it) in Cancer.

Turning to more current Earth-planet charts, one of the reasons that I had thought we might have some kind of earthquake in California (though not the fantasy giant predicted by the psychics) was that the asteroid California was prominent in some of these charts when they were calculated for Washington, DC. Of course, our federal government is involved when there are local disasters. The heliocentric Earth conjunct Pluto chart for May 14, 1993 in Washington has California on the IC. The Earth conjunct Uranus for July 12, 1993 in Washington has California on the Descendant. The Earth conjunct Saturn for August 14, 1993 in Washington has California square the MC within just minutes of longitude over my one-degree orb. It is also less than three degrees from Saturn, retrograding back into a conjunction. Maybe we should look at the last half of August? Gaea (Earth) is on the Descendant along with H Williams, and Richter (the name of the scale used to measure quake magnitude) is approaching the Descendant, just 15 minutes of longitude over my one-degree orb. When the Saturn-Earth chart is calculated for Los Angeles, the angles are less aspected but if it is done for the area of the big Landers quake in 1992, Neptune and Uranus are exactly square the MC. Washingtonia is conjunct Mars in Libra. America in Virgo is square the mean lunar nodes, quincunx the Washington, DC Ascendant, and opposite Vesta which is on the Antivertex to complete a grand cross in mutable signs and cardinal houses. We are clearly concerned with jobs and ethics.

I wondered whether any of the three Earth conjunction charts just mentioned would have appropriate aspects for the current mid-western floods, so I calculated them for Kansas City and Saint Louis which have both been in the news. Of course, the floods cover a wide area, so the angles will cover a range of degrees through several states. I have an asteroid called Flood which I have never used, but I looked it up in the three charts and found it did have some angle aspects in the flooded areas. The Earth-Saturn conjunction in 1993 will occur on August 19 and G Flood will square the Ascendant in the area west of Saint Louis. H Flood will square the area east of Kansas City. This could mean continued flooding in Missouri into August or just the effort to deal with the results of what has happened so far. Of course the aspects to the angles would extend into states which are north and south of Missouri. In the same Saturn chart, H Kansas squares the Antivertex in Kansas City and the East Point in Washington, DC.

In the Earth-Uranus chart for July 12, 1993, the Kansas City Ascendant is quincunx Uranus and the Saint Louis Ascendant is conjunct Chiron and square Pluto. G Flood squares the Saint Louis Antivertex and H Flood opposes Ceres, goddess of the grain. The major losses have been to fields of growing grain and to homes. In the Earth-Pluto chart for May 14, 1993, G Flood is octile the MC in Washington, DC (which is being asked for financial assistance) and H Flood is octile the Kansas City Antivertex. The local appeals to the federal government are also suggested by the Kansas City MC conjunct America and the Saint Louis MC conjunct Columbia for the District of Columbia. Such aspects suggest extra attention given by the federal government to the mid-west, and Clinton has made repeated trips there to show his concern. In the Saturn chart, Williams is square the MC just west of Saint Louis. In the Uranus chart, Williams is on the Washington, DC Antivertex square the Moon (which is just two degrees from Ceres), and trioctile Vesta which opposes Mars. In the Pluto chart, Williams is conjunct Dembowska (like Saturn) which is square G Flood and octile-trioctile the Washington MC, Chiron, and California.

I have not yet calculated Earth conjunction charts for Neptune or Jupiter and suspect that they would be more relevant to conditions involving water. Though Jupiter is fire, it is also co-ruler of Pisces and was traditionally associated with excessive rain. When I have time, I will check the Jupiter and Neptune charts for the floods (which have also hit south-east Asia, drowning half of Bangladesh) and for the religious disaster near Waco. The more we expand astrology with new techniques and new factors like asteroids, the longer it takes to analyze the world. But eventually we also may increase our predictive power.

We do not yet have the capacity to do a graphic picture of the planetary lines on a map, but our CCRS computer program does calculate the latitude and longitude where the planets aspect the MC-IC and where they are on the Ascendant-Descendant. In the Earth-Pluto chart, Pluto is on the MC at 13 E 39 so its line runs through Berlin (which is worried about finances) and south not far from Rome whose government is in an incredible struggle over corruption and Mafia connections with high officials and current terrorism which is targeting historical treasures, plus the country has one of the highest debt-GNP ratios in the developed world. Pluto is on the Descendant just east of Rangoon, capital of the former Burma, where generals have crushed all liberty.

The Uranus lines are mostly over the ocean in the Earth-Uranus chart. In the Saturn chart, Berlin is again targeted with Saturn on the MC just east of the city and the line running down just west of Sarajevo. Saturn is on the Descendant in the capital of Kampuchea, the former Cambodia.

One of the charts which was discussed in Rob Hand’s workshop at the ARC conference was of a 19 year old girl who was killed in an auto accident. I got the data from Rob and ran the asteroids when I got home. She was born on August 7, 1973 at 1:20 A.M. in Iron Mountain, MI. I was particularly interested in seeing whether Libitina would be prominent and it was! Natal Libitina was in her third house (ruling short trips among other details). P Vesta was conjunct it within seven minutes of longitude when she was killed. P Libitina was conjunct P Mercury (planetary ruler of short trips and also ruler of the girl’s Ascendant) within a half degree. It really filled in the picture, since Mercury is highly important as key to her life force and personal action (the Ascendant) and to the nature of the event which happened on a short trip, and without adding the asteroids, P Mercury only had a semisextile to natal Mercury, an aspect generally considered weak and often ignored.

Of course, there were lots of other aspects. Solar arc Mercury was conjunct the natal Sun but this would not normally be considered a challenging aspect since the natal Sun had mostly harmonious aspects. P Moon was also conjunct the natal Sun. More telling was the P Sun quincunx to P Jupiter in the ninth house which hinted at the desire to run away. Also, P Ascendant was conjunct the south lunar node and P Saturn was conjunct the midpoint of natal Saturn and the south node as well as square Pluto in Libra in the fifth house and octile Libitina and P Vesta in Leo. P Neptune held a long quincunx to the south node and P Mars had moved in to also quincunx Neptune to form a yod. P Uranus had a long opposition to Chiron and P Venus had just started a quincunx to the Antivertex. The patterns clearly point to frustrations around love and relationships.

One of the events while I was in Michigan was the arrest of several suspects in New York who are accused of planning to blow up a variety of targets—both people and buildings. I lose track of the current news when I am traveling, and the only time for the arrest which I heard was shortly after 1:30 A.M. I am using a chart calculated for 1:32 which I hope is close. The date was June 24, 1993. Libitina in Gemini was just coming to a trine to Jupiter and was conjunct Amun which trined Jupiter and the media had a field day with the good news/bad news. It was great that the would-be bombers were caught before they did any damage. It was scary that there might be lots more like them still loose. Hephaistos (weapons) was on the true south lunar node. Gothlandia (which I am watching for NY) squared Venus and was just past a quadruple conjunction of Juno, America, Minerva (wisdom) and Guernica (military violence against civilians). Pluto was trine Sumeria (Iran-Iraq) and sextile Washingtonia as well as opposite Fides, the Roman goddess of faith, oaths, and honesty. Sumeria was also quincunx the Sphinx. Saturn was conjunct Lucifer and Elba, the island where Napoleon was exiled, with all of them on the midpoint of the Ascendant/MC if the 1:32 time is accurate. There were lots more asteroids, but by now readers may be getting bleary-eyed.

My NY source of data has been working overtime lately getting birth dates of prominent people. Unfortunately, I do not have birth times for any of them but in case any readers want to look at the planetary positions, here they are.

Our potential new Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was born in Brooklyn on March 13, 1933. I have seen some glowing endorsements of her brilliance and legal expertise, and hope that she will live up to the predictions by some commentators that she will be an outstanding justice. We can list a few asteroids, since they do not move very far in one day. Gaea (Earth) is on Neptune and Ginsburg’s idealism seems broad enough to fit that picture. Her Virgo stellium includes Mars, south lunar node, Neptune and Jupiter, and I am speculating that she might also have Virgo rising. America may trine Gaea, depending on her time of birth. Washingtonia definitely trines Mars. Karma is conjunct Uranus in Aries with the latter square Pluto in Cancer.

The (now) former head of the FBI, William Sessions, was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas on May 27, 1930. He was born the day of a new moon with Pallas also in early Gemini and Jupiter later in the sign. He has a wide cardinal T-square with Saturn in Capricorn, Uranus in Aries, and Pluto in Cancer for his involvement with power including a final power-struggle with the establishment as he refused to resign and forced Clinton to fire him. Washingtonia was square Pallas, our political asteroid, and during his birth day it started a square to the mean lunar nodes. It was also semisextile Neptune which squared Pallas, fitting his retirement from politics under a cloud of scandal about his finances and the Waco disaster involving the religious cult. America was on his Mars if he was born by late afternoon, and Mercury was conjunct Potomac, (the river which runs through Washington, DC), and square Karma. Phaethon (over-reach) and Merlin (a magician) were on his natal Sun with trines to Columbia but trioctiles to Williams. If I get his birth time, I’ll let you know.

Sessions’ potential replacement is Lewis Freeh who was born in Jersey City, NJ on January 4, 1950. Like Ginsburg, Freeh comes highly recommended by people in his own field. He is a lawyer who has also been a prosecutor and a very young judge, appointed just two years ago. His chart is strongly air, fitting his intellectual brilliance, but since he is also reported to have been a vigorous prosecutor, I suspect that his potential Moon-Pluto conjunction is close which would put his birth time in the latter part of the day. His job will not be easy. P America is on the midpoint of his Saturn/south lunar node. P Washingtonia squares the mean natal nodes. Natal Columbia and Nemesis are conjunct in 0 Aries and if Sessions was born in the evening, P Moon could also be on them sharing a square to P Uranus. Sessions also just started the period when P Sun is octile natal Sun so in solar arc directions, all his directed planets are octile their natal positions. But he is likely to get support from Clinton since P Williams is sextile a quadruple conjunction in 22 Sagittarius that includes Potomac (the river in Washington, DC), Fama (fame), Laverna (goddess of thieves for part of the FBI work) and Eunomia (order and the law). The P mean lunar nodes are sextile-trine Dike (human justice) while Themis (divine justice) is sextile-trine the true lunar nodes. We hope that under his leadership, the FBI will go on catching would-be bombers but treading more cautiously where religious cults are concerned.

Copyright © 1993 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

back to top