World Cup: Does Germany have a Chance?

After Germany lost to Serbia in the group games I thought I might ask a careful horary. Not the usual, “Will my team win?” Of which there must be many thousands by now, but one in keeping with the German team’s careful, “We’ll see how the next game turns out”. So the horary question was: “Does Germany have a chance to win the World Cup title?” Let us look at the chart:

Does Germany have a Chance to win the title?

As you can see L1, my team, is just about to apply to the MC, the highest honor. So yes there is a chance. The prize, L10, the Sun also is trine the Asc. So that too is supporting testimony although it can be argued that the Sun is already separating (5 minutes) from the trine. So they’ll get their chance, but do we really want to know the title holder in advance? That would spoil all the fun. Remember the question was not whether they would win!

As of yesterday they made into the quarter-final. Shall we look at the event chart of the game against England?

England vs. Germany

England as favorite, is signified by Jupiter, L1. Germany is signified by Mercury L7. So let us look at the condition of each of the planets first. Jupiter has some dignity, he is in his own term. He is also in a succedant house. Because he has some dignity he is likely to score… What about Mercury? Mercury has no dignities but he has accidental dignity by being angular. He is in his own house. He is also applying directly to the Sun; L10, the prize. He also disposits the PoF which is also in the 7th house. You can ignore combustion as the Sun signifies the prize and Mercury is applying directly to it. So it looks like Mercury gets the pot of gold, in the form of a high score. If Jupiter had been peregrine the score would likely have been something like 7 : 0.

And what about the coming game between Argentina and Germany? Can Germany reach the half finals?

Argentina vs. Germany

Let us again look at planetary strength. L1, Jupiter is once again the favorite. This would be Argentina (after all the won all three group games!) Jupiter is in his own terms and as in the England vs. Germany chart in a succedant house. But in this chart there is a difference. Mercury no longer has accidental dignity by being angular, although he now is in his term and face. And like Jupiter he also is in a succedant house (this balances things out a bit is neither has the advantage of accidental dignity or debility through angularity or the opponent being in a falling sign). The PoF has moved to the 10th house but is still disposited by Mercury. The Sun, L10 is still in the 7th house. So these are testimonies for Germany, BUT, the Moon is applying to a conjunction with Jupiter at 2 Aries and that could just make a difference. I am curious about the conjunction to Uranus (applying, 26 minutes) — will it have a disruptive effect? (Outers fans, this is your chance to root for Uranus!).  Will the game once again be decided by penalty shots? As it was the last time around? I think that this too will be a memorable game

When will my Grandchild be Born?

This is a common question. Not as common as, “Does (s)he love me?”
but one that turns up now and then.

The situation. Daughter is in the high phase of pregnancy and can’t wait for the child to be born and be relieved of the increasing discomfort. She thinks the child will come any minute and is beginning to get impatient. So grandmother to be asks:

“When will my grandchild be born? Here is the chart:

When will my grandchild be born?

Mars, Lord 5 signifies the daughter
Jupiter Lord 9 signifies the child
The Moon shows the unfolding of the event

The child, signified by well dignified Jupiter in his own house and sign is well  – there was some worry that the birth might have to be induced. Jupiter is still comfortably placed in his own sign and house but well towards the end. He has a little over six degrees before he leaves Pisces. The six degrees can only be taken symbolically as Jupiter won’t be leaving Pisces for a while yet. The child will be born soon. So symbollically we have one indication, a little over six days we could say. But what of the Moon?

The Moon last formed a trine with the MC and before that to Mars, the daughter. So we have the first contact. And the next aspect? The Moon forms a square to Jupiter, the child. Second contact. The chart reflects the question nicely. Moreso, as the Moon is also in the house of the daughter. Interesting also is that the aspect is a square which also describes the situation nicely. The child will be pushed out into the world. The square comes to perfection in 6º 50′. Now the Moon is fairly slow in motion in this chart so the answer was 6 to 7 days. The daughter didn’t believe this at all. She was convinced the birth was immanent. But 6 and a half days after the question was asked the child was born. Interestingly enough Lord of the Ascendant of the birthchart of the child is Jupiter.

A Readers’ Question: Foodpoisoning?

Recently a reader of Altair Astrology approached me with a question that had puzzled him. As it is a health question, I must add a disclaimer that the presentation of this chart is for entertainment purposes only, and that I make no pretence of understanding medicine as it is practised today. With that said, let as look at the question and at the charts. There are two charts, as this person uses the whole sign house system for horary questions, should there be any discussion in that line. Both charts more or less show the same situation and I will concentrate on the 1st chart. I would like to remark that it puzzles me why anyone should exclusively use whole signs. Why limit oneself to only one tool when there are also others available?

He had been asked by someone who had been feeling sick in the last two or three days whether she could have had food-poisoning. At the time of the question she felt better. His question was whether there is an astrological connection between eating and any house or planet.

Let us look at the charts first:

Chart 1: Foodpoisoning?, Regiomontanus houses

Chart 2: Foodpoisoning, whole sign

Now one of the first things to look at in any health question is whether or not the person is healthy. This is shown by the condition of the Lord of the Ascendant. In this chart L1 is Saturn. Saturn a cold and dry sign is quite cosy in Virgo a cold and dry sign. So although peregrine in the 8th house of chart 1 (cadent in the 9th in chart 2). The querant is healthy and this is supported moreover by the North Node in the first house (both charts) and close to the ascendant. So the answer is no, it wasn’t food-poisoning, just a minor disturbance in the digestion. If we look at the Moon’s motion, we see that there was a recent contact with Mercury, Lord 6 (both charts). Now this was a sextile, and so one might think, “hey, isn’t a sextile a good aspect?” Well, yes it is, which means that all is not as bad as it seemed. The Moon however provides us not only the timing (recent focus on health) but also reveals something of the querant’s perception of the situation. The Moon is peregrine and in Saturn’s detriment, her antiscion is very close to Algol and she receives Saturn from the 8th house (in chart 2 she is in the 8th house and receives Saturn from the 9th), so the perception of the discomfort has a more grim quality. After all the querant could have asked, “what is wrong with me?” Instead she immediately asked about food-poisoning. If we look at the reception between L1 and L6 we see that there is very strong reception. Saturn is in Mercury’s domicile, exaltation and face. Mercury is in Saturn’s, exaltation, triplicity and term. So we see that querant has an unusual interest in her health and is likely to notice the slightest change to her well-being.

The answer for the querant is: No, it wasn’t food-poisoning, it was a passing condition and you are healthy. The rest may be told at the astrologer’s discretion.

Now what about the astrological connection between eating and any house or planet. Yes. The second house. What we eat is property that we ingest. (by the way kitchens also belong to the second house). But the question was about the feeling of unwellness and stomach or belly problems. So looking at what was ingested might just lead off into a tangent and complicate the answer. If we wish for more detail we might look up Wm. Lilly’s  planetary significations for parts of the body in each of the signs of the zodiac on p. 119 of CA. We discover that Moon, Mercury and Venus (dispositor of L6) are all in signs that point to the stomach or belly.

A Visit to Potsdam: a Weather Horary

My wife and I recently visited Potsdam, renowned for the Sans Souci summer palace built by the Prussian king, Frederick the Great. About a week before leaving I took the opportunity to ask a horary on what the weather would be like during our visit.

Here is the chart:

Weather in Potsdam for June 8-12

It always fascinates me how often a horary chart reflects a clearly formulated question (of course the opposite is usually true, a fuzzy question  has a fuzzy chart). The question was a ‘we’ question and so it is not surprising that a double-bodied sign is on the Ascendant and that the ruler, Mercury should also be placed in the 9th house of journeys. Taurus a cold and dry sign is on the cusp of the 9th house. Along with Mercury, the Sun is also in the 9th, but in the warm and moist sign, Gemini. What interested me in this chart was whether Mercury could be used not only as the Significator of my wife and myself but also as a Significator for the weather as well.

I predicted cool but dry weather with some stormy weather, little rain. Cool means cool for the season. If it had been winter than freezing weather could have been expected. But in summer this means temperatures that are below normal. I was also interested to see if it would also be stormy.

How was the weather in Potsdam? It was partly cloudy with the Sun peeking through. The clouds were low, but there was little rain. There were also longer sunny gaps inbetween. The temperatures were between 14-21 * C (57 –  70* F). Only on Thursday was there really stormy weather with rain. Where did the rainy day come from? Mercury is applying square to Jupiter at 26*53 Aquarius and interestingly enough when partile also conjuncts Algol.

Here is a photo that pretty much sums up how the weather was:

Potsdam

The Big California Quake?

Seismologists have predicted that within the next 30 years there is a 99% chance for the ‘Big Quake’ in California. (here is the link ) Is it possible to narrow this down a little bit, using unorthodox methods? That is what an astrological prediction would be. The article goes on to say:

The results of the UCERF study serve as a reminder that all Californians live in earthquake country and should be prepared. Although earthquakes cannot be prevented, the damage they do can be greatly reduced through prudent planning and preparedness.

Now my intention is not to awaken any feelings of doom, there are portents enough in other areas, and I don’t want to join the choir of doomsingers. What I would like to do is to ‘experimentally’ try astrological methods to try to answer the question of when. It is of course easy to erect a chart for a past event and analyse it. It is much more difficult for an event that may or may not happen withing the next 30 years. There are an awful lot of charts for an awful lot of places for this period of time. If the astrologically predicted event is before the year 2038, then it might give Californian procrastinators some incentive to make adequate preparations!

Questions of this sort belong to the realm of mundane astrology. But there are an awful number of charts that have to be looked at. The first problem is where to begin, to have a clue as to when to begin to look. A horary chart might be a good tool for this. So I asked the following question: “When will the “Big Quake” in California occur? (14 Nov. 2008 8:42 am 10e59, 49n28) Here is the chart:

As I am asking about a foreign country, I am not a US citizen, I look to the 9th house and its Lord. In this chart Leo is on the cusp of the 9th house and Virgo is intercepted. So L9 is the Sun. This seems to fit as California is known as the “Sunshine State”. An intercepted Virgo is also interesting, as Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is also considered the ruler of earthquakes (winds in the earth). We also have Saturn in the 9th, which underlies the general mood of the question. Where is the Sun and where is Mercury and do they have any interaction? Both are cadent, in the 12th house or in the 4th house of the turned chart. Mercury is applying to conjunction with the Sun. I think we already have our answer. In a little more than 6 1/2 units of time an earthquake (Mercury) will hit (conjunct) California (the Sun). This could be 6 1/2 hours, weeks, months or years. The conjunction takes place in a fixed sign, slow, and a cadent or falling house, fast. This could be in 6 1/2 years, in the middle of May 2014, although it might be a good idea to look at what the mundane charts for May/June 2009 as well, 6 1/2 months.

I have only looked so far at solar eclipse charts for San Francisco, to make a beginning, there are plenty more that need to be explored, but if you compare the pre-quake solar eclipse for the 1906 San Francisco quake:

and the coming solar eclipse for 2009:

there are some elements that I find scary in these two charts. They are very similar. Now please, don’t get too excited yet, we haven’t looked at all the testimonies. There are still many more charts. But for a starter examine the above charts. Perhaps you might discover something that I haven’t yet mentioned. In the chart for 1906 (both charts are for San Francisco) all but one planet is above the earth. It is Jupiter, who disposits the eclipse. All others, except for Mars, which is in the 5th house, are clustered around the IC. The eclipse was at 4 Pisces. Saturn is at 5 Pisces and Mercury and Venus are at 6 Pisces. In the 2009 chart, there is a similar configuration. One planet is above the horizon. In this case Saturn, again the dispositor of the eclipse. Again there is a planet in the 5th house. This time Venus. The rest of the planets are clustered around the IC. Mars and Mercury are in conjunction at 22/24 Capricorn with Jupiter at 4 Aquarius and the Sun/Moon at 6 Aquarius.

The active reader may want to look at lunar eclipse charts, solar ingress charts, but also lunations and Mercury ingress charts, and he or she may also want to look at the outer planets as well. 😉 And if you are a resident of California you might have a vested interest in pursuing this question with more detail than I have done here. Consider the above charts a push in that direction. And please let me know what you come up with!

The 1906 San Francisco occured on 18 April 1906 at 5:12 am.