Asteroid-World Fall 1996

Zip Dobyns

China is becoming an increasingly formidable power in the world, with its huge population and expanding economy including rapidly developing technology. Frequently, the cost to U.S. companies who want to sell to the Chinese market requires their building factories to produce the goods in China and sharing the U.S. developed technology with local partners. The November 1996 issue of Strategic Investment, one of the newsletters I receive, includes an article by Lord Rees-Mogg estimating that China’s economy will be larger than the U.S. by 1999. The per capita income of individuals in China would still be less than one quarter of the average citizen in the U.S., but Rees-Mogg expects China to continue growing rapidly. He estimates that its GDP could become twice as large as the American GDP by some point in the period 2005 to 2010, by which time individual incomes may be half that of U.S. citizens and they may be catching up in technological knowledge. The possibility of civil war and a breakup in China’s monolithic power remains, but if they continue as a single totalitarian state, they are likely to be a source of anxiety to more than their immediate neighbors.

We have a tentative chart for the official beginning of Communist China, which was formally declared with a ceremony on October 1, 1949, reportedly at 3:15 P.M. in Peking, now known as Beijing. The UT would be 8 hours earlier. However, this time is far from certain. We may be helped in our efforts to understand China and its potentials from the chart for the time when China takes over full power in Hong Kong. Britain took power in Hong Kong after defeating China and it is officially relinquishing that power on July 1, 1997 at 0 A.M. local time. As in mainland China, the time in Greenwich is eight hours earlier.

The horoscope for that time can be read as a “new” China with its added territory, and it is not an encouraging chart for the rest of the world. There is a major cardinal cross which includes Aries rising, Mars in Libra in the seventh house, and the Sun in Cancer square both. The MC completes a cardinal cross. When the chart is calculated for Beijing, which will hold the power, the Sun is exactly square the Ascendant and Mars is exactly opposite the East Point. Also disquieting is a conjunction in Aries in the first house between Saturn and Vesta, while Pluto in its own eighth house is trioctile them and Juno, another Pluto, squares them. In my experience, aspects involving Vesta, Pluto, and Saturn are the most ruthless of any combination in astrology. They rule the three obsessive-compulsive sides of life and show the potential of being focused to the point of ignoring everything else. If the person or institution is focused on goals which are widely positive, they can do marvelous things. But if they are focused on narrow personal goals, they can be enormously destructive to anyone or anything which might interfere with the personal goals.

The presence of Mars in double Libra, both the sign and the house, is an additional warning flag. As our readers know by now, a key to personal identity placed in a house or sign of other people shows the tendency to feel that personal power could be threatened by the power of others. The subjects may give in, try to keep all the power, or retreat from closeness for self-protection. On the positive side, they may work out compromises, have healthy, game-playing competition, or help others. In a confident person (or institution), the Cancer stellium which is present in this chart could choose the helping option. But a water emphasis is only nurturing when the subject feels strong and safe enough. Without strong faith in oneself or in a higher power, a water emphasis can lead to intense self-absorption and selfishness as the subject clutches for personal security. A mixture of strong fire expressed as a feeling of entitlement combined with strong water for insecurity plus Mars in the seventh can lead to a defensive bully, a Hitler. To make it even stronger, Mars exactly squares the MC and opposes the East Point when the chart is calculated for Beijing.

Adding the Saturn-Vesta conjunction in Aries in the first house with its conflict aspects to both Pluto and Juno looks like a potentially dangerous mix. On top of all of the preceding, the angles of personal identity, Ascendant, East Point, and Antivertex, form a grand trine to Pluto and Venus which is another key to identity as a ruler of Taurus in the first house. The grand fire trine involving several forms of letter one is an emphatic statement of entitlement. “I have the right and the power to do what I want.” Yet the Aries angles are square the Cancer as well as octile the Moon to repeat the potential for emotional insecurity and defensive feelings. Another obvious expression of the Aries-Cancer conflicts could be the repression of the general public by the ruling elite.

The volatile and temperamental mixture of water insecurity and fire arrogance seems appropriate for China’s current relationship with the rest of the world, so it looks as if the takeover of Hong Kong will mean more of the same. The most hopeful features in the chart are the Aquarius planets, especially Jupiter there trine Chiron in Libra. They support China’s expanding technological skills but they also encourage talking rather than fighting. However, Chiron’s square to Neptune indicates some type of conflict involving faith, values, ethics, etc. Both Neptune in Capricorn and the south lunar node in double Pisces reiterate a lesson in that area. The most obvious form of the lesson involves a possible lack of empathy and compassion and the danger of abusing personal power. Saturn is both the natural and actual ruler of the tenth house and its position in the sign and house of Aries can be expressed as “My will is Law.” Venus, another key to identity, is in double Leo where it can say “I am King.” The Aquarius shows an eventual potential for more democracy, but I’m afraid it is likely to be a long time coming.

The grand fire trine involving keys to personal identity suggests that China will continue to increase its power and self-confidence. Another key to success is Jupiter’s conjunction with the midpoint of the Beijing Ascendant/MC. It provides the same meaning as having Jupiter conjunct both of these major angles, adding “I am God” to the identification with the Law and the King. Obviously, there is a real danger of overreaching in the personal ambitions and use of power. We have already seen that in the bombastic threats against Taiwan and the uproar over a tiny, worthless island which is also claimed by Japan.

Adding some of the “extras” available in astrology just repeated the same message. The nodes of Pluto will be in 20 Cancer and Capricorn so they will square Vesta and Saturn. The south node of Vesta in 18 Capricorn is also within a one-degree square to Vesta and is opposite Juno. The south node of Mars is exactly opposite the Beijing Ascendant and square the N Sun. The midpoint of Saturn/south lunar node, which I read as a major lesson, is on the Beijing East Point opposite the Beijing Part of Death and square Saturn/north node and the asteroid Ate. Both the “true” and “mean” lunar nodes seem to work, so both are included in our charts. I have not worked much with Ate, but the Greeks described her as truly evil, a source of major misfortune in the world. This is not a pretty picture. The Hong Kong Part of Death is in 24 Virgo on the mean north lunar node, though more than one degree from the true north node.

Many other relevant asteroids could be noted. One was called Peking for China’s capital before the spelling of its name was changed. It will be in 14 Aries square Mercury, suggesting continued conflict with the media and neighbors. The asteroid China will be in 25 Gemini on Eleutheria, the goddess of freedom, with a trine to Chiron so it supports the hope that the people of China will eventually be more free. The asteroid Juewa was also named for China and it will be in 21 Virgo in a yod to Jupiter and Vesta. The double quincunx or yod is an indication of changes—often major ones. These can include working conditions or workers, health, knowledge including new technology, and freedom. In time, P north lunar node will retrograde so it will move into and hold the yod to Vesta and Jupiter for years.

In light of the apparent arrogance in the chart, I checked the asteroids for potential overreach: Icarus, Phaethon, and Hybris. Dionysus and Bacchus can also point to excesses. Icarus will be in 16 Leo conjunct the asteroid named for the United Nations and trioctile the Antivertex. China is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which gives it veto power so it can block actions favored by many UN members. Icarus is also conjunct the asteroid named Flood. Both China and India are currently building huge, very controversial dams in areas subject to major earthquakes which could damage them, producing massive losses of life. An intriguing cluster of asteroids in eight to nine Virgo includes Richter (for the scale measuring the magnitude of quakes), Sisyphus (who had to keep rolling a rock up a hill after it rolled down), Nemesis (who punished those who flouted Themis, divine law), and America. Themis will be in 29 Leo quincunx Neptune to support the warning. Phaethon will be in 9 Gemini square the Virgo cluster to say it again. Hybris in 10 Pisces 3 produces a T-square with the rest. Osiris, an Egyptian god who was dismembered, will be retrograding in 8 Sagittarius 24 where it finishes the mutable cross with a square to America and a quincunx to the Sun. Again, we do not have a pretty picture but it is a graphic one. You wonder who picked this date for the event?

Additional asteroids which could be worth watching would be the ones named for some of the countries which deal with China. I mentioned above that America was in the mutable cross with several asteroids of overreach. The combination might be interpreted as China or America or both tending to go too far in their interactions with each other. Brita, the asteroid named for England, will be on the second house cusp when they relinquish their last control in Hong Kong, suggesting a financial impact, though, as above, the effect might be on either country or both. Many wealthy citizens of Hong Kong have already acquired citizenship in other countries and moved the bulk of their money out. The Vancouver area of Canada has been a favorite target. It has the mildest climate in Canada. China has a long frontier with Siberia and the asteroid Russia opposes Jupiter in the Hong Kong takeover chart. As previously mentioned, oppositions can be manifested as partnerships or competition or can alternate between the two and periodic separations. China and Russia have certainly done all of those in the past and presumably will continue as uneasy neighbors. Hela is conjunct Russia within one degree, but it is direct and Jupiter is retrograde so they are separating. Hopefully, the deadly confrontations between the two countries are in the past.

The asteroids Tokio and Nipponia (Japan) will be conjunct in 13 and 14 Taurus with mostly harmonious aspects despite the periodic tension between the two countries. At least for the near future, sextiles to Ceres and Mercury and semisextiles to Peking look like continuing financial interactions which could be constructive. Japan has made major investments in China in recent years. P China will be octile to Tokio in time, but not for at least 5 years. Aspects involving the progressed angles also focus on the period starting around 2002 as an important time. The P MC in Beijing begins an opposition to the N Sun in about 3 years and the P Hong Kong Ascendant will square N Sun about the same time. But I would be most concerned when the Beijing P Ascendant reaches the Saturn-Vesta conjunction in five to seven years from the initiation of the chart in July 1997. The P MC in Hong Kong will be opposite N Sun at that time, and the Hong Kong P Ascendant will be opposite P Mars. The latter will start an opposition to N Mars before the end of 1997, and the trioctile of P Mars to Jupiter will reach a one-degree orb before the end of the summer of 1997, so China will be on guard and capable of poor judgment in its dealing with other countries pretty much from the beginning of the chart. In other words, China in the next few years is likely to go on much as it has in recent years.

I do not think they will make a serious move against Taiwan for at least a few years. The asteroid Taiwan will be in 15 Gemini 46 with a sextile to Peking and a semisextile to Mercury, though it is also square Nobel in 14 Virgo, the asteroid of explosives. There could be more rocket and missile confrontations similar to the demonstrations when Taiwan voted democratically against becoming again a part of China. The asteroid Taiwan is also octile Epeios, the inventor of the Trojan horse which enabled the Greeks to conquer Troy through trickery, in 0 Taurus. That suggests that when China does move against Taiwan it could initially involve trickery. In a few years, P Epeios will complete a grand fixed cross with Venus, Karma in 3 Scorpio, and Siva in 3 Aquarius for potential power struggles.

At the official takeover, the asteroid China will be conjunct Eleutheria (freedom) as the country takes away some of Hong Kong’s freedom. Eleutheria will be square Europa (Europe) in 26 Pisces, showing the frustration of the European community, and Europa’s quincunx to Atlantis in 27 Leo fits their concern over China’s abuse of power. Atlantis will be on Daedalus, a mythical figure who was clever but with con-artist tendencies, and Daedalus will be on Themis, divine justice. Daedalus in 28 Leo will be quincunx Neptune in Capricorn to further emphasize ethical issues involving the use of power. Themis suggests that a serious abuse of power will eventually bring repercussions, but they might be a long time coming. Europa will also be opposite and China and Eleutheria will square Recha, an asteroid I am watching as a potential key to tolerance. Asteroids in 10 to 12 degrees of the fixed signs will form octiles or trioctile to the mutable T-square. They include a warrior in the Trojan War in Taurus, Troja (for the Trojan War) in Leo, Kassandra who predicted doom, was always right but never believed, in Scorpio, and Damocles in Aquarius. This configuration certainly shows tension, but many details are possible. They could range from growing trade imbalances to China’s sales of weapons including nuclear components to countries like North Korea, Iran, Libya, etc. The Trojan War involved a European nation, Greece, fighting a near-eastern one, Troy. Some of the combatants also came from Africa. History never repeats precisely, but we keep meeting the same issues until we learn to compromise.

Those who enjoy studying mundane astrology can watch the events during the next few years and compare them with the asteroids. Before we leave the chart, a few heliocentric positions of asteroids are worth noting. When working with an event chart which I will not be progressing, at least for some time, I often put the heliocentric factors in the outer ring. They are often meaningful in the geocentric houses, even though their positions can only be symbolic when they are placed where they would be seen if we were looking from the Sun. Some of the interesting heliocentric asteroids include Ulysses (a Greek warrior in the Trojan war) and Metis (wisdom) on the Beijing Ascendant, Ate, the goddess of evil, on the IC in Beijing, Nobel (dynamite) on the Hong Kong Descendant, and Dionysus on the Hong Kong MC. Metis is the only encouraging one in that group, and unfortunately, since astrology shows issues, not details, it could mean a need for wisdom in Beijing. We will hope that the tension in this chart will stay on the psychological level and not take physical form.

I have written several times in past issues of The Mutable Dilemma or Asteroid-World about the new technique discovered by Helen Clerf, one of our subscribers. Helen found that charts calculated for times when the Sun opposed the major planets and for places where dramatic events occurred which fit the nature of the planet often had the Sun-planet opposition on the chart angles. One theory to make sense of this observation is that when the Sun opposes a planet as seen from earth, a heliocentric view from the Sun would see the planet conjunct the earth. The chart could be interpreted as a key to how the earth would handle the nature of that planet in the interval before the next similar aspect. Sun-Mars oppositions occur slightly more than two years apart (the synodic period). The slower outer planets repeat their oppositions to the Sun in a little more than one year. When the Sun-Pluto opposition prior to the volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens was calculated for St. Helens, Pluto was on the Ascendant. When the Sun-Uranus opposition prior to the Chernobyl explosion was calculated for Chernobyl, Uranus was on the Ascendant. The Sun-Pluto opposition prior to the Branch Davidian tragedy at Waco, Texas had Pluto on the Ascendant in Waco. The Sun-Mars opposition shortly before the Gulf War started had Mars on the MC in Baghdad. The next one had Mars on the MC in Yugoslavia for the horrifying Bosnian destruction. The current one ends and a new period starts on March 17, 1997 at 7:55:01 UT. It could be an important key to the situation in California for the interval up to April 24, 1999 when we will have the next Sun opposition to Mars.

I have been telling Californians for years that they did not need to worry about the state falling into the ocean. Obviously, we will go on having earthquakes, but with freeway bridges now being retrofitted and public buildings being reinforced, they should not produce the massive loss of life seen in Kobe, Japan. The Kobe quake was one year after the Northridge, California quake and almost exactly the same magnitude, but it killed over 5,000 people in contrast to a few dozen in California. But if this chart technique is reliable, and only much more time and the study of many more charts will tell us that, we should see something important during this coming two years. The Mars-Sun opposition falls on the MC-IC axis in Los Angeles and areas somewhat east of it. The exact conjunction with the angles is around one hundred and forty-five miles east of L.A., but a one-degree orb on either side would cover about sixty miles each way. This could include the San Andreas Fault which slices across southern California from the Salton Sea, angling west after passing Los Angeles to extend into the ocean just below San Francisco. The three degree orb which most astrologers consider reasonable for planet-angle conjunctions covers most of southern California. Of course, the pattern continues north across Oregon, Washington, and up through Canada, but since the coast angles to the west, the zone with Mars-Sun on the MC-IC will be more inland in the northern regions. Spokane, Washington is very close to the line.

When this chart, keeping the UT the same, is calculated for San Francisco, Pluto is conjunct the Ascendant within three minutes of longitude. Though Pluto is not the source planet for the chart, its placement on an angle should carry some kind of meaning. Since astrology shows principles, both charts could signify many possible details. The prominent Mars in southern California could point to fires. We are currently having more rain than usual, which means lush growth, and, when the rains stop in the summer and the vegetation dries, major fire danger. Mars could also warn of possible riots or increased crime in the cities as the cuts in welfare and health care start to bite deeper and people become more desperate. The Los Angeles East Point is exactly square the Sun-Mars opposition and the mutable signs point to ethical issues (Sagittarius and Pisces) with Virgo adding jobs and health to the picture. Yet, there is a grand trine in earth signs and houses, so many people will be doing well. The second house is loaded and it includes Jupiter closely sextile the Ascendant on one side and Saturn on the other with Saturn trine the Ascendant for the whole coastal area. Overall, the chart does not look like catastrophe in spite of the warning of lessons shown by the south lunar node conjunct the Sun and sharing its aspects and the Moon quincunx the L.A. Ascendant and Jupiter to form a yod. The message may just be that the rich will be getting conspicuously richer and the poor losing what little they had.

One thinks of floods first when looking at Pluto on the Ascendant in northern California. These could hit inland areas due to spring rains or melting snow in the mountains. Tidal waves from quakes in the Pacific would also be possible. As we move north up the west coast, the Ascendant moves into earlier degrees of Sagittarius, so it moves away from Pluto. More deaths from AIDS would be a logical guess except that the latest news is that new drugs are working and keeping the HIV in check if not curing people. As in L.A., riots and crime could increase, mostly hitting the people at the bottom. Juno is exactly trine the MC in San Francisco and much of the coast farther north, while Venus is close to the IC, offering some reassurance. But Juno’s square to Ceres would fit job and financial tensions for some workers or for some who want to work but can’t find jobs which pay a living wage. Vesta’s square to Pluto and the San Francisco Ascendant repeats that potential.

There are many interesting asteroids, with the angles in Los Angeles especially highlighted. Starr on the Ascendant and Apollo, a sun god, on the Descendant suggest fame (or notoriety?) for L.A. On the positive side, Hollywood may continue to boom with the new market in videos expanding their market. If a major tragedy or crisis hits, the media of the world will cover it. Nipponia (Japan) on the IC says that country will be important to the people of southern California. There are major ports in both Los Angeles and San Diego which handle shipping to the Far East. The Pacific region is projected to be the most commercially important in the world in the coming century. Juewa, which was named for China, is square Pluto and opposite Vesta, so our trade imbalance with China is likely to remain a problem. Vesta is also conjunct Poseidon on one side and Icarus on the other. Poseidon was the Greek god of the ocean while Icarus was noted for overreach which led to his death. That could be saying that too many jobs are moving across the ocean.

Even more uncomfortable scenarios are suggested by the presence of both the Part of Death and Potomac, a river in our nation’s capital, on Starr so they are connected to the L.A. Ascendant while Columbia (for the District of) is on the Descendant. If the city does have a crisis involving death, the federal government will be involved. Since the asteroid Washingtonia in 20 Gemini squares the San Francisco MC, the feds could be involved in more than one event in California or a single event could have broad repercussions.

Biela was named for a comet which split and then disappeared. I have written previously about the evidence that fragments of Biela hitting earth caused the “great” Chicago fire along with devastating fires which destroyed major areas in Michigan and Wisconsin on the same night, killing thousands of people. In one list of new asteroid names, three were given names associated with catastrophe from the skies: Biela, Tunguska, and Gubbio. I am continuing to watch for any mundane horoscope that is a general cycle chart which is applicable to the whole earth which features all three of these asteroids. We would then look to see what areas of earth have angle aspects to the relevant asteroids. This Sun-Mars chart may be one of them, with Biela in 11 Pisces square the L.A. Ascendant within one minute of longitude.

Medea, who killed her children, is exactly square Sun-Mars, so this pattern relates to the whole earth. It is connected to southern California because it is on the East Point on a longitude line running north/south just a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The asteroid Watts, carrying the same name as the L.A. district famous for an earlier riot, is in 6 Gemini, just over one degree from an opposition to Pluto, but connected to it by other asteroids with overlapping orbs. Helio, a sun god for prominence, and Anacostia are quincunx Watts from Scorpio. Anacostia is another river in Washington, DC and is the location of the FBI headquarters. Vesta and Hooveria (named for the President who presided over the start of our depression of the 1930s) are closely conjunct and square Watts. The Watts area of L.A. is largely inhabited by minorities. It can continue to be economically blighted at the same time that Disney makes millions.

The asteroid Tunguska was named for a catastrophic fire which was theoretically caused by a comet that exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia. King, the asteroid named for Martin Luther King, the fighter for civil rights for blacks, is in 21 Libra conjunct Tunguska and trioctile Watts. The asteroid Chicago is conjunct Tunguska to remind us of its fire which may have been caused by a cometary fragment. Recent media articles and books have noted the increasing concern about such events, and astronomers are now more closely monitoring the region of space around earth, looking for small asteroids whose orbits cross the earth’s orbit. In this Sun-Mars chart, the asteroid Spacewatch is in 9 Aries 41 conjunct Saturn on one side and California in 10 Aries 23 on the other side. The third asteroid associated with disaster from space is Gubbio, named for the town in Italy where scientists identified an iridium layer thought to have resulted from the impact on earth of a large asteroid. Iridium is rare on earth but common in other space bodies. In this Sun-Mars chart, Siva, the Hindu god of destruction, is on Gubbio and on the San Francisco Antivertex.

Before our readers become as alarmed as Scallion’s followers who have moved out of California, we need to remember that astrology pictures our mental state. I like to call it the “state of the cosmic mind.” Astronomers in California and Arizona are leading the effort to spot approaching cosmic debris. Exploding an object headed for earth, as some writers have suggested, would not be helpful. The fires covering three states in October 1871 were probably due to many small pieces of Biela hitting a wide region in earth. But with forewarning, rockets could “nudge” a space object enough to change its orbit slightly so it would miss earth. This Sun-Mars chart could point to media hoopla about an actual near-miss (with or without any intervention from earth), or even a movie made in California about the subject which would get enormous publicity. The harmony aspects already mentioned do NOT support a truly epic catastrophe, but the chart does point to some kind of turbulence. Trying to predict details with astrology is always a guess. Astrology shows us psychological principles and the times when they will be emphasized in the consciousness of living beings.

Since this chart covers a period of just over two years, relevant events are possible any time during that interval. I have not worked enough with such cycle charts to know whether progressions can be used. If they are valid tools, the P Moon will cross the Los Angeles 8th house cusp in the spring of 1997, and the P MC in L.A. will cross Mars and oppose the Sun through 1998-9, until the new chart goes into effect in April 1999. Of course, if major events have occurred during that interval, there could be lasting consequences long after the start of the next two-year Mars-Sun cycle. Transiting Saturn will conjunct California almost immediately after the inception of the chart, in late March and early April 1997. In cycle charts based on one or two factors, they are considered the most important timers for events, so interested readers can watch the periods when the transiting Sun and Mars form aspects to the factors in the original chart. For example, T Mars will return to its natal position and oppose the Sun in mid-June, 1997. It will oppose Saturn and then California in the second week of July 1997. We might need extra fire-fighters in the coming summer.

Astrology is very much a “work in progress.” We learn from comparing charts with life situations. These heliocentric conjunctions of our earth with a planet are new tools. It will take much more time and many more charts to test the technique.

As previously indicated, mundane cycle charts are relevant to the whole earth and can be calculated for any region to produce local houses. They are normally calculated for the capital cities of countries to gain information about the general state of the country. When this Mars-Sun opposition is calculated for Washington, DC, the MC in 9 Scorpio has very mixed aspects, including a grand trine in water signs and earth houses to Vesta and the Moon. This configuration supports the potential for work success and financial security for at least some people. But the MC is also octile/trioctile Venus and the Sun-Mars opposition, square Uranus and Jupiter, and quincunx Saturn, so conflict involving power and ideals is also suggested. The grand trine in earth signs between Juno, Mars, and Pallas and Neptune is strengthened by the Ascendant trine to Juno: a re-statement of work and financial success for some. The chart does not look like major catastrophe, but with the first house stellium in Aquarius we will continue to talk a lot about individual freedom, and rebellion remains possible along with technological progress.

Asteroids on the angles show continued concern focused on the usual countries. Russia is on the Descendant as we continue our uneasy partnership with that troubled country. Germania and China are on the IC along with Bacchus. Pele is connected since it is within one degree of Germania. Pele is a goddess of volcanoes and earthquakes, and both are possible in the west coast states. Germany has been a source of stability in the world in recent years and I hope will continue to be so, but unrest connected to the neo-Nazis is possible. China is more a source of concern, so the possibility of irrational excesses associated with Bacchus are more likely connected to China. Somalia squares the MC from 9 Leo, so we may remain wary of that region with its tribal warfare. Kleopatra, historical queen of Egypt, on the MC implies concern for the leaders of Egypt.

New York remains the primary financial center of the U.S. and its MC-IC axis participates in a grand cross in fixed signs. Winchester (guns) and Makover (change) are on the MC square Jupiter, Chaldaea (Iran/Iraq), and Srbija (Serbia) in Aquarius, opposite Moskva (Moscow) in Taurus, and square Atlantis (abuse of power) in Leo. Nefertiti in 13 Leo is connected to the cross with overlapping orbs. Egypt is very important in the U.S. effort to pacify the Mid-East area, and the attempts of fundamentalist Moslems to overthrow the secular government are a source of anxiety in Washington. The presence of asteroids named for two former pharaohs suggests that these two years are crucially important and could bring changes in leadership. The fact that they are the only two known female rulers of Egypt is intriguing. There are several asteroids named for Egyptian gods, but one of the most prominent of the Egyptian asteroids is Ptolemaeus, the famous astrologer. His asteroid is conjunct Pluto square Vesta, describing the frustration of the workers. Another relevant asteroid is Ra-Shalom, which was named for the first break-through in the Egypt-Israeli peace accord. In this chart, it is 28 Aries conjunct Fama and Hel. I hope this is not signaling a temporary death of the peace effort. Ra-Shalom is also trioctile Potomac and the MC/Ascendant midpoint in 12 Aries, two pointers to our capital, and Hel and Fama are square Neptune, connecting the whole network.

Additional Mid-East asteroids include Arabia opposite the Moon and Iphigenia. The latter was a teen-aged girl sacrificed to help the Greeks defeat Troy. America and Nemesis are both on the 8th house cusp and quincunx Sumeria in 27 Capricorn, another asteroid named for the area now occupied by Iraq and Iran. Our involvement with the Balkan area is repeated with Croatia on the Washington, DC Antivertex and Beograd (Belgrade) octile the NY MC. Washingtonia for our capital squares Slavia, the people of Serbia and Russia. Yugoslavia in 21 Cancer is quincunx Croatia and the Washington Antivertex. The NY Ascendant is on Asia, and its East Point on Uranus. Bill Clinton will have his hands full trying to pacify the world, and it looks like some excitement in New York as well.

We do not have asteroids named for Korea, either South or North, but I calculated the Mars-Sun chart for Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, which seems to be sliding into disaster with many of its people facing starvation. The Ascendant there is 5 Pisces 26 conjunct Juewa, an asteroid named for China, opposite Vesta and square Pluto. Lachesis, one of the Fates, is on the MC and on Hephaistos (weapons) and Dike (another Fate goddess). The Part of Death in 23 Taurus is octile Saturn in the local 8th house in Aries, and the Ascendant ruler, Mercury, is also there, implying that death could be self-inflicted. This may not be by conscious choice. Mercury is quincunx Chiron as well as the Ascendant, and with a sextile to the MC it participates in two yods. The fanatical political beliefs of the leaders of North Korea are responsible for separating their people from the rest of the world and putting them into extreme jeopardy. A military takeover is possible during this period, probably with cooperation from China. Since the Pyongyang East Point is on America and Nemesis, we will be involved in some way. The Pyongyang Antivertex opposes Libitina, a death goddess, so their own actions could produce or avert death. Astrology shows issues, but we can handle them in a variety of ways.

Many more asteroids could be mentioned, and the chart could be calculated for many other areas of the world. Belgrade has a very mixed picture with the MC on Jupiter but octile-trioctile the Sun-Mars opposition and the midpoint of the major angles is close to a conjunction with Saturn. Saturn is exactly on the midpoint in Sarajevo and much of Bosnia. Phaethon, an overreach asteroid, is on the Antivertex in the whole area, and Juno (another Pluto) is on the East Point. The grand cross in fixed signs which was listed in the discussion of the chart in Washington and New York is also hitting the angles here. The NY MC is 12 Scorpio and the Belgrade MC is 11 Aquarius 44, showing the two countries facing a power issue. Prior to the Dayton agreement, we used an economic boycott to try to stop Serbian aggression against Bosnia. Milosevic is currently fighting for his power in Belgrade, and whether or not he succeeds in holding it for a while, a protracted period of tension is shown. Connected to the MC and Jupiter by overlapping orbs are Chaldaea (Iraq/Iran), Srbija (Serbia), Union, Hopi (peace?), Justitia (justice), and Harmonia (harmony). All of these are relevant to the primary issue, and the positive potentials are present, but the MC also opposes Atlantis (abuse of power) and squares Winchester (guns), Makover (change which could be by military force since it is conjunct Winchester), Moskva (Moscow so Russia is involved) and Gawain, the Arthurian knight noted for holding on to grudges and always getting even. Gawain certainly does fit the arousal of ancient enmities which Milosevic managed in order to maintain his power. If the primary hate mongers, Milosevic, Karadzic, and Mladic could be removed from power, the Balkans might realize the harmony and peace and union of those MC asteroids.

Mundane students who have computers can easily calculate the chart for any other areas of the earth which are of interest, but time and space are finite so we have to close the current issue.

Copyright © 1996 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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