Asteroid-World Summer 1997

Zip Dobyns and Mark Pottenger

The Fan of Damocles

Mark Pottenger

Questions about the motion of asteroid (5335) Damocles recently came to our attention, so we are including some information here for anyone curious about it. Damocles has a very elliptical orbit, like Icarus, but on a much larger scale. Icarus only takes a little over 1 year (about 13.5 months) to complete one orbit—Damocles takes about 40 years. Due to its extremely elliptical orbit and the direction of its aphelion, Damocles spends a lot of time in Aquarius. Look at the planetary mandala printout labeled “Damocles from Earth”—this is a geocentric view of Damocles for 40 years. In this map, Earth is near the top left end of the overall ellipse. The rectangular coordinates used to draw the mandala have Aries to the right and Capricorn to the bottom—the slow end of the ellipse is solidly in Aquarius. As Damocles approaches perihelion and perigee, it flips between Aquarius and Pisces. As Damocles approaches aphelion and apogee, it flips between Capricorn and Aquarius. Damocles zips through the other 9 signs (Aries through Sagittarius) in about 3 years around each perihelion.

We have included a second mandala that draws a line between the positions of Damocles and Earth once every 40 days for 40 years. The small circle near the top left is the Earth’s orbit and the large feather or fan shape is Damocles’ orbit. Two more mandalas are included to give a feeling for how far out Damocles goes at aphelion. “Damocles to Uranus” shows that Damocles goes outside the orbit of Uranus, while “Damocles to Neptune” shows that it is well inside the orbit of Neptune.

We include a table below with dates Damocles entered signs. This makes it easy to see the Aquarius-Pisces inbound dance, the dash through Aries through Sagittarius, the Capricorn-Aquarius outbound dance, and the long stretch (over 26 years!) of pure Aquarius.

(5335) Damocles Ingresses into Signs (Direct and Retrograde)

12/ 8/1873 D Aq

6/19/1912 R Cp

7/ 3/1950 D Le

12/13/1985 D Pi

4/10/1901 D Pi

1/31/1913 D Aq

8/23/1950 D Vi

3/26/1989 D Ar

7/12/1901 R Aq

7/29/1913 R Cp

10/ 6/1950 D Li

11/18/1989 R Pi

3/15/1902 D Pi

12/31/1913 D Aq

11/13/1950 D Sc

12/30/1989 D Ar

8/ 9/1902 R Aq

9/12/1914 R Cp

12/20/1950 D Sg

3/17/1990 D Ta

2/22/1903 D Pi

11/21/1914 D Aq

2/ 3/1951 D Cp

5/ 8/1990 D Ge

9/ 3/1903 R Aq

4/10/1941 D Pi

7/ 4/1951 R Sg

6/26/1990 D Cn

1/31/1904 D Pi

7/10/1941 R Aq

10/23/1951 D Cp

8/16/1990 D Le

9/29/1904 R Aq

3/16/1942 D Pi

3/16/1952 D Aq

10/11/1990 D Vi

1/ 6/1905 D Pi

8/ 7/1942 R Aq

6/ 7/1952 R Cp

12/ 9/1990 D Li

4/19/1908 D Ar

2/23/1943 D Pi

2/ 6/1953 D Aq

1/31/1991 D Sc

10/ 4/1908 R Pi

8/31/1943 R Aq

7/21/1953 R Cp

4/14/1991 R Li

2/ 6/1909 D Ar

2/ 3/1944 D Pi

1/ 6/1954 D Aq

5/ 3/1991 R Vi

4/21/1909 D Ta

9/24/1944 R Aq

9/ 2/1954 R Cp

5/17/1991 D Li

6/18/1909 D Ge

1/11/1945 D Pi

11/30/1954 D Aq

7/14/1991 D Sc

8/ 9/1909 D Cn

10/31/1945 R Aq

4/11/1981 D Pi

9/16/1991 D Sg

10/ 2/1909 D Le

12/ 7/1945 D Pi

7/ 9/1981 R Aq

12/ 3/1991 D Cp

1/16/1910 R Cn

5/17/1948 D Ar

3/17/1982 D Pi

4/ 3/1992 D Aq

5/23/1910 D Le

8/27/1948 R Pi

8/ 5/1982 R Aq

5/18/1992 R Cp

7/10/1910 D Vi

3/ 3/1949 D Ar

2/25/1983 D Pi

2/16/1993 D Aq

8/17/1910 D Li

5/28/1949 D Ta

8/28/1983 R Aq

7/ 9/1993 R Cp

9/23/1910 D Sc

8/16/1949 D Ge

2/ 5/1984 D Pi

1/14/1994 D Aq

11/ 6/1910 D Sg

11/ 8/1949 R Ta

9/21/1984 R Aq

8/21/1994 R Cp

1/ 2/1911 D Cp

3/15/1950 D Ge

1/13/1985 D Pi

12/10/1994 D Aq

3/ 6/1912 D Aq

5/ 9/1950 D Cn

10/24/1985 R Aq

4/17/2021 D Pi

A Short And Tragic Life

Zip Dobyns

A recent book called Architects of Time by Martha Lang-Wescott describes a variety of astrological techniques and includes the birth data of several interesting people with her examples. Martha’s book discusses a number of techniques which will be new to many astrologers, and she is one of the few astrologers who regularly uses many of the new asteroids. Her book, thus, supports my frequent remark that no matter what you do to the sky, if you are systematic, you will still see the same order in a slightly different way. “Everything works.”

Gary Gilmore’s chart is one Martha used as an example to illustrate several different techniques. I will be sticking to my most-used system for current events—secondary progressions, plus bringing in some of the asteroids which Martha is not yet using in her work.

Gary was born in McCarney, TX on December 4, 1940 at 6:30 A.M. CST. He was one of those kids sometimes called “throwaways,” abandoned by his mother on November 27, 1944, along with two older siblings. They never saw their mother again. Neither grandmother was able or willing to take the children. The father, who was overseas in the navy, came home long enough to sign them over to Social Services. Gary grew up in several foster homes, on one occasion, having to be transferred when the home burned on February 3, 1947. On January 10, 1948, Gary was sent to an orphanage when his current foster mother became ill. Though he was actually adopted on January 25, 1949, he continued to have problems. He spent some of his adolescence in jail, but was taken in by an uncle and aunt in Salt Lake City after one release in 1976. However, when his first serious girl friend rejected him in the summer of 1976, he killed two men, a gas station attendant and a motel manager. Both men were shot in the back when they were not resisting in any way—one on July 19 and the other on July 20. Gary was arrested on July 22, his trial started on October 5, and he was convicted on October 7. He was executed on January 17, 1977. Given his choice of methods, he chose a firing squad. He commented at the end that he had not lived very well but he hoped he could die well. Compare the speed (under 6 months) and the outcome of this process with O.J.’s trial.

We have to wonder what kind of character can produce such a life of chronic traumatic events. Every chart is a unique combination of the same twelve basic desires/drives, so everyone is dealing with the same dilemmas, seeking to integrate the conflicting desires which are inherent in life. But some people seem able to find compromises with relative ease while others keep knocking their heads or being clobbered by events outside their control.

Gary’s chart demonstrates the potential to change the world with an emphasis on fire and earth, the steam roller combination, and on the fixed quality for a persisting will. But such an individual can change the world in constructive or in destructive ways. He had a fixed sign T-square including Uranus in Taurus, Vesta in Leo, and Mercury, Ceres, and his Ascendant in Scorpio, with the Moon widely connected in Aquarius. A second fixed T-square included Saturn and Jupiter in Taurus, Chiron and Pluto in Leo, and Pallas, Mars, and Venus in Scorpio. If we averaged the degrees of each of the T-squares, we would find the Moon fairly close to the midpoint of the two configurations. In effect, his Aquarian Moon (expressed in his life by a variety of mother-figures he attracted) was not only symbolizing the freedom-closeness dilemma; it was in conflict with most of Gary’s nature. Obviously, a mother who abandons her children has chosen freedom over mothering. But the same conflict has to exist in her children for them to be born to such a mother. They may learn from her bad example to work out compromises. Gary did not learn, and until we do, we keep experiencing the same consequences. Gary kept attracting mother-figures who would be taken away, often by circumstances beyond their control, right up to the girl friend who left voluntarily, reopening that original wound from 1944.

Anything important in the nature is going to be said in many ways in the chart. Gary had planets in all three signs of freedom, Aries, Sagittarius, and Aquarius, and the placement of two of them in the first and 4rh houses shows that they were strongly present from the beginning of his life. The Moon, like the fourth house, is a key to the personal subconscious at the beginning of life, so its presence in Aquarius plus one of its nodes in the Aquarian house repeat the message. But Gary also had six factors in Scorpio, including Mars and the Ascendant, keys to identity from the beginning. Scorpio wants a mate, Venus and Pallas want a mate. But Mars and the first house want independence. The fixed quality resists control. When the need for freedom and for control are stronger than the need for closeness, the universe says “OK. You can be free. We will take away your mother-figures and let you do your own thing.” When we learn to compromise, we can manage to have some freedom and some closeness, but the fixed emphasis in Gary’s chart suggests that he found it very hard to compromise.

Gary’s chart in Salt Lake City produced an Ascendant of 16 Scorpio, which squared his natal Moon within 2 degrees, and his local MC in 26 Leo reinforced his Uranus-Vesta-Ceres T-square. Plus, in one of those stunning asteroid feats which I never get used to, the asteroid with his first name was on the local IC in 26 Aquarius! Asteroid Nicole, the name of his rejecting girl friend, was in 24 Aquarius, joining one of his fixed sign T-squares. At his execution, Gary’s P Part of Death was in 25 Aquarius on his local IC and the midpoint of Gary/Nicole and square Ceres. Could we have a more graphic picture? The asteroid named Gilmore for Gary’s last name was in 10 Libra octile Ceres. What are the odds of a person with a chronic mother hang-up having both of his name asteroids in exact conflict aspects to Ceres, the asteroid of mother?

P Nicole during those fatal final months was in 8 Pisces octile the Saturn/south lunar node midpoint in 23 Aries and trioctile Saturn/north node in 23 Cancer. P Gary was in 10 Pisces square his natal East Point and P Ceres in 10 Sagittarius and P Hel in 11 Gemini. P Gilmore had reached 18 Libra to conjunct Gary’s Ascendant/MC midpoint and square his P Salt Lake 8th house cusp in Cancer and both his P Mercury and P Sun in Capricorn. P Hephaistos, the maker of weapons, completed a grand cross from Aries. Both P Mercury and P Sun were also conjunct the south node of Pluto and the P Sun had reached the natal Antivertex and the south node of Saturn.

There are so many relevant asteroids, it is hard to choose, but everyone who has been following this saga should be wondering about Winchester, our asteroid for guns. If asteroids are meaningful, and Winchester is connected with guns, it has to be prominent in the chart of a man who killed two other men with a gun and then chose that way to die himself in the last U.S. execution by a firing squad. At his death, Natal Winchester was in 3 Sagittarius 30 with P Mars conjunct it and P Moon opposed to it!!! P Winchester was in 13 Sagittarius on Gary’s P Ascendant in Salt Lake. His P local Ascendant was still on his natal Sun when he killed the two men in the preceding July, and his P south node of Mars was also on his natal Sun, square P Gary, and opposite P Hel.

If we believe that life continues, that we are a persisting but also constantly changing, evolving collection of habits, the water factors in astrology are theoretically the ones which provide the greatest insight into the subconscious habits carried on, whether on earth in a physical body or in other forms of life. The Moon and its nodes are major keys to the personal subconscious. We need to integrate the two nodes, to form a partnership between them so they work together, The south node shows a lesson, and after we learn it, we have something to give to the world. Problems may come from underdoing or overdoing the principle of the south node at the expense of the north node. The problems may involve the signs or houses or both. Gary’s conjunction of the Part of Death with his true south node in 8 Aries was a dramatic statement of his challenge, and it was reinforced by an exact octile to Uranus and trioctile to Mercury. During his final, fatal year, the P north node of Mars was on his south lunar node, his Part of Death, and natal Photographica. P Phaethon (overreach) had been moving over his P south node and it squared P Libitina, the Roman goddess of death. Natal Hela in 11 Taurus was quincunx the natal Sun, and P Hela had returned to 12 Taurus 56, where it remained quincunx the Sun, P local Ascendant, and P Winchester.

Many other relevant asteroids could be listed, and of course there were appropriate aspects with the traditional factors. Gary’s P Ascendant was conjunct P Orpheus whose love led him to his death, square Neptune, and it had just reached Gary’s 2nd house cusp opposite the 8th cusp, one of the keys to endings. Juno had retrograded to conjunct the MC and oppose the IC, another key to endings. The water principle, including the water houses, symbolizes the subconscious side of the mind, the past, and the time to let it go to permit a new beginning with the fire which follows water in the order of the elements. P East Point, an auxiliary Ascendant, was on Icarus, another asteroid for overreach. P local Antivertex was on the P local Part of Death in 27 Capricorn, quincunx Vesta and the Descendant and octile natal Sun. P local MC opposed Nemesis. When Gary started his final path of destruction, his P Moon was quincunx his P Ascendant and opposite his natal Ascendant. The shadow of his unresolved relationship with the mother principle hung over his new peer relationship. Could psychotherapy have reached him or was he too stuck in his fixed nature? At this point, there is no way to know, but we can keep seeking to understand the psychological principles of astrology, working toward the day when the troubled Garys of the world can use astrology to gain insight into their conflicts and hopefully start to resolve them before they destroy themselves or others.

A chart for income tax withholding?

Taxes and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) have been in the news lately, as they are periodically. A number of government agencies are disliked by a variety of groups, but the IRS may be the most hated agency. The ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) in cooperation with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) may run a close second, at least among the militias, and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) plays the role of big, bad wolf to natural health people.

The alternative health devotees fear the FDA, which is threatening to force individuals to get prescriptions to purchase herbs and vitamins. The latest threat involves an international effort spear-headed by the big German drug companies to cut down the accessibility of vitamins and herbs to help them sell more drugs. Anyone who values health freedom might write to their Congressional representatives to express an opinion on this move. The proposed law is called Codex Alimentarius. Hopefully, since there are some big companies which sell vitamins and herbs, they may have more clout than “ordinary” citizens who wish to stay in charge of their own health.

The IRS is being attacked from several directions. They are accused of giving inaccurate advice to citizens calling for help on tax questions, of using harassing tactics against citizens in their efforts to collect taxes, of computer errors which can drag on for years while the citizens try to clear their records and prove the IRS has made a mistake, etc. In recent years, the IRS has been doing fewer audits of wealthy individuals and many more of people with modest incomes, and they are accused of doing this because the wealthy can afford high priced lawyers to defend themselves while most people lack the means for an effective defense. One of the persistent reports claims that the computer system used by the IRS is hopelessly outmoded and inefficient and that the money Congress appropriated to modernize the system was mishandled and/or insufficient to do the job. I have mentioned in previous articles that a politically far-right commentator has been predicting the downfall of Clinton almost since his term began, and so far he has been consistently wrong. He said that Clinton would be impeached before the 1996 elections, or at least could never be reelected, so his latest prediction on the IRS should be taken with a large grain of salt. He rants about the illegality of the income tax, which he considers unconstitutional, calling it legalized theft, and he claims that the IRS will be so undone by faulty computer programs that it will be destroyed on January 1, 2000. Obviously, his current prediction, like the previous ones on Clinton, is wishful thinking. But he is not alone in predicting major trouble on January 1, 2000 for computers which have not been programmed to handle four-digit years. The IRS is said, by others and not just Jack Wheeler, to be really struggling with an outmoded computer system which is far from ready for 2000. If the programs which have been using two digits for the year have not been corrected by then, the shift to dates of 00 will be assumed to refer to 1900 and many records could disappear or be incredibly scrambled.

After reading a number of articles on this subject, I started wondering whether we could find accurate data to do charts on the beginning of income taxes in the U.S. I e-mailed my Internet friend, Doc Cottle, who has been very helpful in the past in tracking down historical data, and he did his usual great job of library research. According to the Congressional Record, the income tax legislation was part of a much larger package with many amendments, and the whole thing was passed on October 4, 1913. The income tax portion of the bill was done by October 3 and some references give that date for its passage, but Congress adjourned at 11:30 that night without passing the bill itself. Based on its location in the 35 page record for the day it passed, Doc suggests that this might have occurred in the neighborhood of 12:30 P.M.

I did a chart for that time, but have not had any time to check it against events in the years since then. It does have some interesting features, including Mercury on the MC and Pluto on the Descendant, with a Sagittarius Ascendant on the Galactic Center and Jupiter rising in Capricorn, but until I have had a chance to work more with it, I am just giving the data in case readers want to explore it.

Doc dug up several other dates which were relevant to the passage of the Constitutional amendment which made the law possible. The 16th amendment was proposed to the legislatures of the states on July 12, 1909, and was declared to have been ratified by the legislatures of 38 states on February 25, 1913. Dates are given for the ratification by several states, and Wyoming claimed to be the state which provided the two-thirds needed on February 3. 1913. This is rather ironic, since Wyoming is now the home of many groups which are resisting the power of the federal government, though Idaho and Montana probably have even more dissidents. So far, we do not have a precise time for the Wyoming ratification or the October 4 passage of the new law. However, Doc located a book called Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1913, with appendices. The last paragraph on page 5 says that the law was to go into effect immediately when passed, and that what we now call tax withholding should begin on November 1, 1913. When a future date is set for the beginning of a new political law, it goes into effect at 0 A.M., so the chart I will be discussing is actually for tax withholding rather than the original passage of the tax law. Maybe we will eventually get more on the formation of the IRS, but the tax withholding chart is well worth our attention. Its aspects, including asteroids, are really dramatic when calculated for 0 A.M. on January 1, 2000.

The chart is calculated for Washington, DC, but I also looked at the angles in New York, since that is the financial center in our country. At midnight, the Sun is, of course, near the IC. The signs of Taurus on the MC and Sun in Scorpio are appropriate for action involving finances. Taurus is the sign of one’s individual income, possessions, and pleasures, while Scorpio relates to joint income, possessions and pleasures, including debts, taxes, return on investments, pensions, etc. When this law went into effect, the executive branch of the government gained increased power over the finances of citizens. The East Point squares the MC and Sun, with the New York East Point more closely square, aspecting the Sun within a fraction of a degree. But the Government was pleased with the situation. Venus, ruling the MC, was sextile the Ascendant, and Mercury, ruling the Gemini which was part of the 10th house, was trine the East Point. Saturn, the natural ruler of the MC, was closely sextile the Ascendant. Pallas, an asteroid associated with social causes, was close to Mercury, so it shared the trine, and the Moon and Ceres were trine the Ascendant, suggesting the law could benefit the general public.

Other harmonious aspects included Jupiter trine the MC and sextile Chiron and Juno in the 8th house, while Mars and Neptune were sextile/trine the lunar nodes across the 2nd and 8th houses, the houses of personal finances and joint finances. Obviously, the withholding law let the government gain resources to meet its needs and increase its power. Pluto’s conjunction with the Antivertex in Cancer connected it to a grand water trine to the Sun in Scorpio, the sign of Pluto, and to Chiron and Juno in the natural house of Pluto. This configuration could provide help to the public, Cancer, or simply facilitate the acquisition of resources, of public funds for public purposes. Mars was sextile/trine the lunar nodes, and its rulership of the 9th house connects it to laws, courts, and ethics. Its placement in the 12th house reinforces ethical issues. In a fully functioning democracy, the collected funds would be used for the public good. In what is closer to an oligarchy where the elite control the levers of power, the elite are the main beneficiaries. The rich get richer.

At the same time, there were also conflict aspects. Every horoscope has a mixture of both harmony and conflict aspects. Uranus and Vesta in Aquarius squared the Sun-MC opposition, showing the potential for tax rebellion by workers who fought against this restriction of their freedom. The East Point (and Neptune more widely) formed a grand cross in mostly fixed signs and mutable houses. The fixed signs include issues of money and power while the mutable houses bring in issues of beliefs and ethics along with questions involving realism in dealing with the world we inhabit. There was also a grand cross in mutable signs and mostly fixed houses to reinforce the differences in opinions and beliefs.

I did not think that the chart was particularly impressive until I included the asteroids and progressed it to 2000. A New Moon will occur during the last two months of 1999, marking the beginning of a new 30-year cycle, and P Moon will be on P Uranus by January 2000. The Sun-Moon conjunction is in the sign of Aquarius, connecting it to modern technology, including computers, and in the house of Virgo, the ability to do one’s job effectively. Even more dramatically, the Sun-Moon conjunction is within one degree of P Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, and the latter is within one degree of P Uranus, the ruler of Aquarius. To reinforce the focus on technology, P Venus and P Jupiter will be conjunct in one degree of Aquarius. However, since Venus and Jupiter are sextile natal Mercury in 1 Sagittarius, I think the emphasis shows an intense focus on working on the computer problems, but a good chance that they will be mostly fixed, though maybe in the nick of time just before the deadline. Since the P Ascendant is in 2 Scorpio, past the square to Jupiter but still square P Venus, there will probably be loose ends still needing to be tied up, but I do not expect a catastrophic meltdown.

Other aspects include P East Point past an opposition to the MC and a square to Vesta, which are appropriate for the intense effort to fix the problem during the latter years of this century. P East Point will have just started across the IC in New York for possible Wall Street actions or reactions, and the NY P MC will be square the natal MC axis. No financial experts with any sense are hoping for a crash in the world’s financial system, but a few radical right wingers, like some fundamentalist Christians and New Agers, think they will survive while others perish. P East Point will be about to reach a semisextile to Venus, which might mark the working out of the loose ends during January. Or, that aspect could be starting at the beginning of January IF the law actually took effect one minute after midnight rather than at 0 A.M. Some authorities suggest that such legal charts should be drawn for that one minute later. P Pallas will be sextile natal Sun and moving toward a trine to the MC, aspects which support the likelihood that we will not have the shutdown of government services that the doomsayers would like. Also, P Pallas will have recently ended an opposition to the retrograde P Mars, while a quincunx to P MC will not have reached the one-degree orb to put it into effect.

There are Mars and MC aspects pointing to the intense efforts to deal with the problem prior to the end of 1999. The P MC opposes and P Mars is quincunx to P Uranus, and P MC squares the natal Sun though P Mars trines it. The patterns seem appropriate for major effort but also some success. Demonstrating the way that astrology keeps saying the same thing, P Uranus is holding a long-term conjunction with the midpoint of Vesta/Uranus in 7 Aquarius. Both P Mars and P MC are also aspecting the midpoint of Venus/Mercury, the rulers of the signs in the 10th house, to repeat the message. P Uranus has also held a square to natal Sun for some years, so the computer problems are not likely to be totally behind the IRS. An additional and very important aspect is the long-term trine of P Saturn to natal Vesta. This aspects connects our primary earth planet and earth asteroid in earth houses in air signs, strongly suggesting basic intelligence and competence despite the problems. The problems are certainly also there, with P Saturn square Juno, a Plutonian asteroid in the natural house of Pluto for joint resources, debts, taxes, etc. P Chiron has just started a square to the Moon which will last for many years, so the arguments over the ethics of taxes will not go away. The elite, led by millionaire Steve Forbes and Congressional Republican leaders, would like to eliminate the income tax, replacing it with a flat tax and sales taxes, to guarantee that the rich will get even richer. Both the Washington and NY Antivertexes will be crossing the Moon, ending squares to Chiron, but square Juno, semisextile Jupiter, and moving into squares to P Vesta, reinforcing the ethical confrontations in the signs of beliefs and values. I was initially puzzled by the lack of long-term, progressed aspects involving Pluto, since it is such an important part of the picture when dealing with joint resources. If we calculated the chart for two minutes after midnight, P Pluto would have reached an octile to the NY MC and it does have a trioctile to the south node of Mars in 14 Scorpio 43 as well as the Arabic Part of Uranus in 13 Scorpio 48. These aspects fit the increasing tension in the country, whether it involves computer competence or questions of basic tax justice. But I was reassured about the validity of the chart when I noticed that P Pluto was on the midpoint of Ascendant/MC at 29 Gemini 15. That aspect carries the same meaning as having Pluto conjunct both of these primary angles, and is a strong support for the chart as a useful picture of Pluto affairs.

As usual, when I added the extra asteroids, I was blown away! For Jack Wheeler, who claims the income tax is legalized robbery, Laverna, the goddess of thieves, was on the MC. Phaethon, overreach, opposed the Sun in 8 Taurus. A cluster on the Sun and/or the IC included Nephthys, an Egyptian goddess associated with the underworld with Plutonian overtones, Aletheia, the Greek goddess of truth, for the question of honesty in reported taxes, Prometheus, who rebelled against the ruling gods, and Fides, a Roman goddess of faith, oaths, and honesty. The tax withholding law is very effective in enforcing honesty for salaried workers, but a lot of under-the-counter work for cash or self-employment undoubtedly escapes the system.

Two asteroids which could be partly connected to taxes are Godiva and Coventry. Godiva made her famous nude ride in Coventry to protest the excessive taxes levied on her people by her foreign, conqueror husband. Natal Godiva was on Vesta in this chart, so P Saturn maintains a trine to it. P Godiva at 2000 will be on the mean north lunar node, octile P Mercury, P Moon, and P Uranus for the struggle to get the system functional. Natal Coventry was in 12 Libra, over one degree from Venus but square Jupiter and trine Godiva. P Coventry will be in 17 Scorpio conjunct Anubis (a death god) and Midas (wealth as a curse) and square the natal Ascendant. The system will be struggling.

We have two asteroids for computers; ASCII for the common character set and The NORC, named for an early navy computer. Would you believe that natal ASCII was in 7 Aquarius 55 on the midpoint of Vesta/Uranus and P Uranus, opposed by P MC and quincunx P Mars? P ASCII in 15 Pisces will be conjunct the P north lunar node, octile P Jupiter, but trine the P East Point in New York. It seems possible that some NY leaders may have enough sense to help the IRS handle the immense challenge of re-writing a lot of computer programs. The NORC was natally in 7 Capricorn 50, so P Mars will oppose it and P MC will be quincunx it! P The NORC in 13 Aquarius 58 will square the NY MC and will trine natal Venus.

Many other relevant asteroids could be mentioned. P Rockefellia (named for the Rockefellers and possibly standing for big oil or big money) is in 19 Taurus opposite P Midas and still square the natal Ascendant. The powers at the top may dislike taxes but they can often evade them and they do not really want the system to crash. P Washingtonia (for our capital) is retrograding over the 2nd house P south lunar node, pointing to a financial lesson. P America in 28 Libra signifies anxiety with a square to Neptune, but it also will trine P Urania, and the latter will conjunct P Pluto, supporting a possible “fix.”. Though P Saturn will have trines to Vesta and Godiva, it also holds a long term conjunction to Dionysus, which was named for a god not noted for common sense. Another overreach character, P Phaethon, will be in 22 Aries opposite P Karma in 22 Libra. As one of those grace notes which would not be meaningful to most people unless they had lived in California or were very knowledgeable about taxes, natal Jarvis was in 7 Virgo, so P Phaethon and P Karma are octile/trioctile to it. Jarvis was one of the two men who led the tax revolt in California in the 1980s. The names of our political leaders are also aspected. P Gingerich is on P Juno trine the New York East Point. P Phaethon opposes natal Hillary and Albertina (for Al Gore), and it is quincunx P Hillary, with Albertina connected since it is within one degree of P Hillary. Both of the Clintons and Al Gore are struggling with legal issues which are part of the 9th house principle. Natal Williams is just out-of-orb for a conjunction with the natal IC, but connected by overlapping orbs to other factors. P Williams in 27 Sagittarius is quincunx Neptune. Bill Clinton must share in the general concern. A catastrophe in January 2000 would still be on his watch. As far as I know, only one person had four asteroids named in his honor—Herbert Hoover. He was a hero to much of the world for help he organized prior to becoming president of the U.S. in time to preside over our big depression. His asteroids are America, Herberta, Hooveria, and ARA for the American Relief Administration. Prominent aspects involving his asteroids could point to financial problems and/or to help provided in times of need. P Herberta will be crossing the natal IC and octile P ARA at 2000. P America has been listed previously as square to Neptune, but it will also sextile P Williams and trine P Urania which may be a variation on Uranus. P Hooveria in 0 Aquarius has mixed aspects including a conjunction with P Icarus (overreach) in 29 Capricorn and P Jupiter, a quincunx to Pluto, and an octile to P ASCII and P north lunar node. P Coventry, listed earlier, is on natal ARA. Since astrology shows issues, not details, these patterns could signify both help being provided to solve the problems and the urgent need for help. The asteroids just keep pointing to the issues. The P Ascendant will be on natal Atlantis, with its cautionary message about the use of power, and P Atlantis in 9 Sagittarius will be quincunx the natal MC for some kind of changes in the use of power or the actions of people in power positions. It will also square natal Washingtonia and Eunomia, one of the “Hours” who presided over the order of nature.

To summarize, there are many tension aspects showing the pressure being felt by the people who are responsible for enforcing the tax system. There is also enough harmony to make a total meltdown unlikely. We test our theories by guessing outcomes, always remembering that astrology provides an amazing picture of the issues, but the details, the resultant events, depend on human actions.

Copyright © 1997 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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