David, in response to the book review on “The Art of Forecasting using Solar Returns ” brought some interesting ‘modern’ astrological correspondences to Cyclon Nargis. I promised to look at the charts and so will present what I have found in the following article.
First and foremost before beginning with a cold analysis of the charts I would like to express my deepest commiseration for the many thousands of people in Burma who have suffered this event.
Next it must be clear that we are analysing an event, but a similar method, more or less in reverse could be applied if on were engaged in forecasting. One needs time to forecast mundane charts for nations, as there are so many charts and so many possible events. An event chart is easier, as we know what we are looking for. An event chart provides the practice needed to deal with a forecasting situation.
Now what would be the best method in dealing with such a question? Mundane charts are like the layers of an onion each nestled in each other, and one needs an eye for what to look for. As we are dealing with a tropical storm, Mercury (winds, storm) and Jupiter (rain) along with any difficult configurations with the two malefic planets Mars and Saturn would be the best beginning point for any consideration. You see, any set of aspects or configurations won’t do, they have to show the scenario. There must be a thread that goes from one chart to the next. The charts to look at are nestled one in the other, from smaller to larger celestial events. Let me list them here:
- lunar return
- solar return
- solar ingress
- lunar eclipse
- solar eclipse
- grand conjunctions
- radix
If we have a radix chart then we can use it. Burma is notable as its proclamation of independence was chosen by astrology!
Burma Jan 4. 1948 4:20am Rangoon
It is usually a good idea to find a link with the radix, so a lunar or solar return is a good place to start. Let us begin with the more current, the lunar return for April, 19, 2008:
The first thing that we notice is that the Moon is in the centre of a T-Cross to Mars and Jupiter, recalling that the Moon is Lady 8 in the radix chart. The beam of the lunar return (l.r.) T-Cross is positioned in the 2/8 radix house axis. Lord of the l.r. Ascendant is Mercury in l.r. 8th house (danger to lives and the economy). The antiscion of l.r. is conjunct SN l.r. in the 12th house. Mars is Lord 8 of the lunar return. Jupiter is Lord 4. Notice that Mars L8 l.r. is in house 8 radix. We notice also that the 12th house cusp of the lunar return is conjunct radix Saturn. There is another Saturn activation. The lunar eclipse of 21 February was at 1 Virgo conjuncts Saturn in the 12th house of the lunar return. So the lunar return already has something of a catastrophe warning. Now is there a storm connection. Is Mercury involved further? Yes and here is where we pick up the thread leading into the solar return chart. Mercury of the solar return (s.r.) at 22 Capricorn conjuncts Jupiter at the foot of the lunar return T-Cross. There is another tie-in with the lunar eclipse. Mercury of the lunar eclipse is conjunct the 8th house cusp of the solar return at 8 Aquarius.
The solar return has other features. What catches my eye is that Sirius is conjunct the Ascendant. Sirius, was for the Egyptians, the star associated with the Nile-inundation. The Ascendant also falls in the 8th house of the radix chart. This is not so good. This is intensified further as the Moon L1 of s.r. is at 16 Scorpio, conjunct the 12th house cusp of the radix. The Ascendant is also in opposition to radix Sun. We also find the s.r. Saturn at 8 Virgo conjunct radix Mars, L12 of the radix. Mars is also in the 12th house of the solar return.
So we see lots of nasty things happening in these charts, and I haven’t brought in an outer planet yet. It seems to me that the influence of the outers is isolated. The Mercury, storm cue is also found in the Ingress chart. Mercury (L 3/12) in the ingress is at 7 Pisces conjunct ingress Venus at 9 Pisces. They are in opposition to Saturn (L 7/8 ). Mercury is therefore exactly in opposition to the radix position of Mars and also in opposition to Saturn of the solar return. The Ingress also has Cancer on the 1st house cusp, once again emphasising the radix 8th. Mars at 5 Cancer also conjuncts the ingress Ascendant. (by the way the antiscion of radix Uranus is also at 6 Cancer 🙂 I might note here that Saturn is the great disruptor in traditional astrology, he is the man with the scythe who mows down what is in his way, and always too soon, or if you read Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” the one who brings sudden calamity even after victory)
Last but not least we also have the solar eclipse tie-in. The antiscion of solar eclipse Mars is at 5 Cancer exactly conjuncting the Ingress Mars on the Ascendant. Also the antiscion of radix Mars conjuncts the Ascendant of the solar eclipse at 23 Aries. Now this doesn’t only have to do with the storm, as you well know. Burma has had other difficulties this year. Now back to the Mercury/Jupiter connection. Jupiter of the solar eclipse at 11 Capricorn conjuncts the Sun/Mercury conjunction of the radix and they are in turn square the radix Moon, which brings us back to the lunar return chart that we began with.
David, thank you for the challenge. As you can see the outer planets may be of interest, but attention should really be turned to what the ‘big 7’ are doing! There is more than enough happening.
Altair Astrology 