Japan in Spring 1996
Zip Dobyns
Marguerite Dar Boggia, a long-time friend and fellow board member of ISAR, sent me an article she wrote about the potential for a crash in the Japanese stock market in April 1996. She pointed out that both the solar and lunar eclipses that month hit the chart for the market. I think that I got the data for that chart from a friend who is a broker in the L.A. area. It reportedly opened for trading on May 16, 1949 at 9 A.M. local time in Tokyo. (UT is 9 hours earlier.)
I have worked with eclipses only intermittently, and have seen many come and go without any really dramatic events. But I confirmed what Marguerite had noticed. At the lunar eclipse on April 4, 1996, the Sun will be on the Market MC and the Moon on the IC. They will also be sextile/trine Pluto in Leo and Mercury in Gemini. At the solar eclipse on April 17, 1996, the Sun-Moon conjunction will square the Market Ascendant though it will also be sextile Uranus and trine Saturn and (more widely) Vesta. Harmony aspects do not guarantee positive results, but there is at least a possibility that the Market will be in the news for events other than a financial disaster.
Marguerite also looked at the secondary progressions which also showed the potential for a challenging time. The Market’s P Ascendant reached a conjunction with Saturn more than 4 years ago. It will be on P Saturn for about another year from the time this article is being written in December 1995. During the two-year time of this aspect, approximately 1995-6, P Ascendant is also square Venus, quincunx Jupiter, and octile P Juno. Since Venus is the natural ruler of Taurus and Saturn and P Ascendant are in the Taurus (2nd) house, the aspects certainly point to a need to be realistic about finances. Jupiter is one of the rulers of the 8th house (joint resources, including return on investments) and Juno, like Pluto, is a key to the same area. Saturn is also a co-ruler of the 8th house as a co-ruler of Aquarius. Uranus, the primary ruler of Aquarius, recently progressed into a quincunx to Jupiter and P Jupiter is just retrograding into a quincunx to natal Uranus. The quincunx or “closet-cleaning” aspect points to changes aimed at improving a situation or to letting something go and moving on. Since both Uranus and Jupiter are mental planets, their double quincunx could signify changes of attitude about the stock market by the public with greater or less trust in it, or there could be changes in regulations. Neptune is the primary ruler of Pisces, which is partly in the 8th house along with Aquarius, so it is also part of the picture. Neptune holds a very long progressed square to the East Point and a quincunx to Mars, but it is not involved in any short-term standard aspects. In a bit under two years, P Sun will reach a square to P Neptune. Since the Sun rules the 2nd house, that could mark a time of financial concern, but by then the P Ascendant will be past the aspects to Saturn, Venus, and Jupiter.
Making specific predictions is always risky in astrology. It is so complex, and there are always so many aspects, some harmony and some stress, that most of the time the situation could go in either direction. In this Stock Market chart progressed to April 1996, P Sun is opposite the Moon and P Moon is square Juno and octile Nipponia, the asteroid for Japan. P Nipponia squares several asteroids which are conjunct N Sun, so it is connected to the Sun in a network of aspects. It is also opposite Tokio while P Tokio in 6 Pisces squares Chiron. Looking at the variety of aspects, I began to wonder whether there might be an event in the spring which would affect the Market, but not produce an overall crash. Some stocks might go down and some might rise.
When working with mundane astrology, there are always more charts which can be checked. We have several charts for Japan after World War II. Their new Constitution became law on May 3, 1947 at 0 A.M. in Tokyo. They were independent of the U.S. on April 28, 1952. I have mostly used a chart set for 0 A.M. that day in Tokyo, but a chart for 10:30 P.M. that night is also in use. When I progressed the Constitution chart and the 0 A.M. Independence chart for April 17, 1996, there were some interesting aspects, especially involving the P Moon and the Ascendant axis. I had looked at both charts after the Kobe earthquake on January 17, 1995, and discovered that the Constitution Ascendant in Kobe was conjunct within 11 minutes of longitude the Tokyo Ascendant in the Independence chart. In the spring of 1996, P Moon in the Constitution chart will be on P Mercury in 22 Cancer opposite the Kobe Ascendant. P Moon in the Independence chart will be in 22 Capricorn on the Tokyo Ascendant. Do these aspects point to another earthquake or to some other event involving Kobe? In both charts, P Moon has conflict aspects to Venus, our key to pleasure, including money. But in the Constitution chart P Mercury and Moon are moving sextile P Mars and moving into trines to Jupiter. In the Independence chart P Moon is sextile Pallas and P Ascendant in the second house. Maybe there will be important developments connected to the land, to housing, or simply to the public’s sense of security, since the Moon can point to all of these. Japan has had and still has challenges, but these charts do not seem to me to point to a country-wide disaster. The Kobe quake was terrible but local. The Japanese government has announced plans for an insurance system similar to the U.S. to prevent major bank failures. This could be part of the action scheduled for the spring of 1996. It would reassure the Japanese public. Legal action such as new regulations involving real estate and the stock market might also take place next spring. The solar ellipse in April will be on Ceres and Jupiter and sextile/trine the lunar nodes in the Independence chart. The lunar eclipse is widely on Mercury, sextile/trine the Moon, and square Chiron. In the Constitution chart, the eclipse Sun-Moon will be on Mercury and sextile/trine the Vertex axis, though they will also square the Ascendant axis. The Lunar eclipse falls on and opposite Mars.
As is commonly the case, astrology is good at showing timing and issues but guessing details is a guess. I did look at some of the asteroids which might be keys to earthquakes, but did not feel they were definitive. I was impressed by P Poseidon’s position on the Descendant in both charts for the country at the time of the Kobe quake, since the ancient world associated him with earthquakes. But the asteroid has left the Descendant in the Constitution chart and is almost out of orb in the Independence chart. The P Moon will oppose it from late March into June, 1996, but in the Constitution chart P Moon does not reach the conjunction with P Poseidon until late summer. Still, if I were going to try a detailed prediction, I would guess another earthquake rather than a stock market crash. It might just be an aftershock in Kobe, or housing or other problems in that area. I keep thinking that if we continue to explore the asteroids, one of these days we may be able to make more detailed astrological predictions in the mundane (world) area. Where humans are concerned, I think astrology shows our psychological states and we have choices in how we manifest these emotions.
When the two April 1996 eclipse charts are calculated for Tokyo, they could point to any of our scenarios, concern over jobs, possible quakes, or financial worries. In the lunar eclipse, Poseidon is on the MC within one degree and Pompeja (named for a famous quake and eruption) is on Nipponia in the 8th house in 22 Capricorn, the Ascendants mentioned for the Japanese charts previously discussed. Pele (another famous earthquake and the volcano goddess of Hawaii) is in 29 Sagittarius square Saturn. Richter (the name of the man known for the scale which measures quakes) in 27 Taurus trines Neptune, and Ani, a city destroyed in a quake, is in 28 Libra square Neptune in the 8th house. That configuration puts Ani opposite the midpoint of Saturn and Richter. Gaea (earth) is in 22 Pisces on the south node of Mercury and opposite the Part of Death and both of them square the Ascendant axis and the north node of Vesta. That looks like enough for the quake potential.
A focus on jobs and/or health issues is suggested by Hestia (the Greek name for Vesta) on the IC. Also, Tokio is conjunct Ceres and Astraea (justice) in Sagittarius (faith) in the 6th house (jobs and health). Since they trine the Sun and are semisextile Jupiter in Capricorn, they could point to an improvement in the work area. Concern with joint resources, return on investments, etc. are suggested by the 8th house Jupiter square the Sun and lunar nodes, by Pluto square the MC and Juno (which is like Pluto) and opposite Venus.
In the solar eclipse calculated for Tokyo, the Part of Death is on the MC along with Zao, named for a volcanic mountain in Japan. Neptune is on the 9th house cusp, just inside the 8th house, conjunct Nipponia and square the Sun-Moon. The latter oppose Pallas. Saturn is on Hel (death) and Podalirius (a healer who can point to the need for healing) and octile Mercury. But Poseidon is less prominent and a focus on justice is suggested, which implies concerns with human actions. Astraea (justice) is on Ceres, the Descendant, Tokio, and Avicenna (healer). Justitia is quincunx the MC. Dike (another key to justice) is on the Sun-Moon, and Themis (divine justice) is on the East Point. They certainly look like a theme, but time will tell us the details. At this point, I might guess that the courts might be dealing with an important case like the cult leader in jail for the nerve gas attacks in the subways. His birth date was published as March 2, 1955 but I have no time or place. The solar eclipse will oppose his Neptune and square his Venus. The bizarre and deadly teaching of David Koresh shocked the world before Pluto even got to Sagittarius. Shoko Asahara’s most deadly attack came on March 20, 1995 when Pluto had just dipped briefly into the sign of religious faith, morals, etc. With Pluto now firmly in Sagittarius for about 12 years, humans had better do some growing.