Category Archives: cycles

Sagittarius and the NYC Subway Boom

The sign of Sagittarius relates to travel as well as things done on a grand scale. In the horoscope for Greater New York, Sagittarius is on the 3rd house cusp, along with Saturn, Mars and Venus placed in this sign in the 3rd house. They accentuate trade, society, diversity, big buildings, the press and many other matters. This combination also points toward our large, sprawling transit system.

New York City’s subways may more specifically be indicated by Saturn in the 3rd house (signifying well organized but rigid routes) opposite Pluto (for its underground nature). The MTA just announced that ridership has been over 6 million on many weekdays – greater than it’s been since 1948. Why?

New York City experienced it’s Saturn return in the 3rd house in late December, showing demands on local transit. The Saturn return for individuals may be linked to growing pains, and perhaps this is true of the subway as well. The Census Bureau recently announced that more than 8.5 million people now live in New York City – more than ever before. Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx gained the most in population, which included immigrants. Both the increase and foreigners are all Sagittarius-ruled.

Now, transiting Saturn is retrograding toward an opposition with natal Pluto and will station close to its natal place in August. In addition, transiting Mars is also stationing very close to a conjunction with natal Saturn, also activating this area with its energy. These planets are making NY transit notable at this time, but news itself is also a 3rd house and Sagittarius topic.

True to Saturn’s nature, the MTA also reported that there are more delays and crowding as well. Guess they’ll have to keep on working on it. Greater New York

Scalia and Saturn

Justice Antonin Scalia served on the Supreme Court for 29 years – the magic Saturn cycle number. So Saturn must have played a significant part in his experience. And he was a very Saturn character.

Saturn is known for its conservatism, and Scalia presented the conservative viewpoint in his decisions as well as in his life. He remained a staunch opponent of both abortion and gay marriage, and solidified individuals’ rights to own guns. Saturn typically protects the status quo and is not an innovator. Scalia took a historical view of what the Constitution meant when it was written, rather than seeing it as a living document, since Saturn rules both history and endurance.

And talk about job security – something every Saturn person wants. How many jobs have a lifetime guarantee? Scalia found one.

When we look at Justice Scalia’s horoscope, it’s no surprise to see he was born with Saturn conjunct his Sun. He respected authority and became an authority himself. (Of course there was much more to the man and his horoscope, though Saturn is a strong factor.)

Scalia was appointed by Ronald Regan and affirmed by the Senate on September 17, 1986. Saturn was at 5 Sagittarius and had recently stationed in trine to his Leo Midheaven, while Uranus, also in Sagittarius, was near the midpoint of a square to his Sun conjunct Saturn. When he died on February 13, 2016, just a month shy of his 80th birthday, transiting Saturn was again in Sagittarius and squared his Saturn.

Justice Antonin Scalia was born on March 11, 1936 at 8:55 pm in Trenton, New Jersey, according to his birth certificate and Astrodatabank.

You May be a Martian

Psychic medical diagnostician Edgar Cayce often talked about astrology while in a trance state, mentioning reincarnation and past “sojourns” in various planetary realms, highlighted in the horoscope. I’ve read a number of books on Cayce’s astrology in the past, but I could never quite make sense of it all. Now, having completed Ry Redd’s Toward a New Astrology (1985), it’s finally come together in my mind.

Redd studied the Cayce astrology readings extensively and also researched Kabbalah, Rudolf Steiner’s works and Hindu astrology, studying with Dr. B.V. Raman. He correlates Cayce’s emphasis on “Persian” astrology with Hindu Brahmin techniques for lokas (or planetary dimensions) described by the horoscopes, which he found to often closely parallel Cayce’s statements. He also addresses planetary strength, such as planets near the Midheaven, as indicating planetary emphasis in a past life. So, for instance, with an angular Mars, a recent planetary sojourn may have been in the Mars realm. You may be a Martian! I know I am.

This is one of the most intriguing astrology books I’ve read in a long time. Redd has done a tremendous amount of research and his conclusions make sense. He includes numerous horoscopes and compares them with Cayce’s interpretations, discussing famous reincarnations, Mercury, and challenging and flowing aspects in the charts.

Ry Redd’s book is still available from second-hand book dealers online and I’d highly recommend it to those interested in Edgar Cayce, astrology and reincarnation:  Toward a New Astrology: The Approach of Edgar Cayce

Ry Redd was born on March 30, 1945 at 6:45 AM in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, with several chart factors showing an emphasis on reincarnation. An angular grand cross (with the Ascendant and Sun rising, Saturn conjunct the IC, Neptune on the descendant and the Midheaven) accentuates the physical vs. the spiritual. Pluto, the planet of reincarnation, closely trines his Sun, sextiles Neptune and is placed Out of Bounds in declination. And Saturn on his IC (representing the past) is nearly exactly parallel the North Node.

 

 

Ted Cruz and NYC’s Astrological Values

Texas Senator Ted Cruz took aim at New York City values in the Republican presidential debate on Thursday night. Is he onto something? We can clearly see where he’s coming from astrologically.

Cruz said that, “Everybody understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal and pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage and focus on money and the media.” When we look at the horoscope of Greater New York, what jumps out is Jupiter conjunct the Ascendant in Libra (see chart below). Jupiter is the planet of the media and big business. It’s the ruler of anything big, which may be one reason why the City is the largest in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

The sign of Libra is associated with all relationships, especially love relationships. Margaret Sanger opened the first free women’s health clinic in Brownsville, Brooklyn on October 16, 1916 with the Sun and Mercury in Libra. (She had Venus in Libra.) Sanger saw women from many diverse backgrounds, including immigrants (Jupiter ruled of course) and provided information on birth control.

New York State was certainly not the first to legalize gay marriage. But the Marriage Equality Act went into effect with Saturn in Libra when it was very close to conjoining NYC’s Jupiter and Ascendant. Legislation is a Jupiter issue and both marriage and equality are Libran themes.

But why has Ted Cruz singled out New York? His horoscope resonates with it. He was born on December 22, 1970 and like Greater New York, he also has Libra rising, along with the Moon and Uranus in Libra, both conjoining the City’s Jupiter and Ascendant! Cruz may not like New York, but he has certainly garnered a tremendous amount of media attention from NYC’s Jupiter in Libra. And as Mayor deBlasio pointed out, he’s also received many campaign donations from New Yorkers as well.

Greater New York

Greater New York was consolidated into 5 boroughs on January 1, 1898 at 12:01 a.m.

Margaret Sanger was born on September 14, 1879

The NYS Marriage Equality Act went into effect on July 24, 2011

Ted Cruz was born on December 22, 1970 at 1:00 a.m. in Calgary, Canada.

Margaret Sanger’s biography, A Life of Passion, details her first health clinic. Margaret Sanger Life of Passion

The Second Saturn Return

As a strong Saturn person who became a professional astrologer on my first Saturn return, I’m always interested in the Saturn cycle. Al H. Morrison felt that the second Saturn return was quite significant. (He, too, had an important Saturn, with Saturn conjunct his Sun straddling the fourth house cusp.) Al saw the second Saturn return as further consolidating the career or life direction. The return at ages 58-59 has a Janus-like effect. With the perspective of time, you easily look back at your life history, seeing what you’ve experienced and accomplished. In harsh Saturnine terms, time has passed and we won’t be getting it back. What do you want that you haven’t had the opportunity to do? What have you done that you’d like to continue?

At the borderline of 60, we also more easily look ahead. How many years might we continue to be active? And what can be accomplished in that time? This hard look at reality makes us more focused, according to Al, which is a natural Saturn function. We no longer have time for things that aren’t important as we become more aware of the limitations of our time.

Here’s an example: A good friend experienced her second Saturn return last year. She’d been a writer for over 30 years though she earned more through teaching. But all her hard work in the previous cycle bore fruit at the return as she began finding better writing opportunities, and she left a regular teaching job as a result. Shortly after the return was past, she found what she once would have considered an ideal teaching position; but she ended up not applying for the job — it would interfere with her writing opportunities.

These career transitions can be typical of the Saturn return. We realize that we can’t do everything. And our changing opportunities and circumstances may lead us in different and even more rewarding directions.

Al H. Morrison was born on July 8, 1916 at 12:17 AM in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

For more from Al, see my book, The Best of Al H. Morrison.
Buy from Amazon.com: The Best of Al H. Morrison

Uranus in Gemini and the U.S.

Evangeline Adams was one of the few astrologers to forecast WWII astrologically. As early as the 1920s, she said that “the signs point to a war from three different angles: for religious, racial and political reasons, in 1942, 1943 and 1944.” For her forecast, Adams used a cycle of Uranus in the sign of Gemini that Luke D. Broughton had outlined for the U.S. decades earlier.

In his book, URANU.S.A, astrologer Nick Dagan Best takes an in-depth look at this same Uranus cycle, building a fractal-like case with a wealth of examples of Uranus stations, ingresses and transits to birth charts and solar returns of key individuals in U.S. history. The book has a fabulous design and clear diagrams on every page to help illuminate the Revolutionary War, Civil War and World War II eras. As good a historian as he is an astrologer, Best has also added irreverent picture captions just for fun. The book is most suitable for intermediate astrologers, but beginners interested in planetary cycles should learn much since all is clear and straightforward. For those interested in forecasting, it is absolutely fascinating. Purchase directly from the author.

Moon Void? Of Course!

Now that Saturn has entered Sagittarius to stay, we have an unusual phenomenon. The heavier planets are all below 20 degrees and even Jupiter and Mars are both in early degrees. What that means is that there’ll be a lot more Void of Course Moons.

The Moon is Void when it leaves its last major aspect before changing signs. With the Sun toward the middle degrees of Libra, it, too, cannot save the Moon from being Void of Course that much for the next week or two. So, for example, we’re left with the Moon being Void for most of Thursday, October 8, 2015, Saturday October 10, Tuesday October 13, Thursday October 15, etc. That’s a lot of void to fill!

Al H. Morrison, who studied the Void Moon quite a bit, felt that decisions and actions could prove fruitless at these times, bearing unexpected consequences. If you force things through, you may regret it, as unintended results are more common. We’re not in charge of the outcome.

On the other hand, Al thought the VOC Moon was good for routine things like chores and entertainment, as well as therapy. He believed the VOC Moon heightened intuition and awareness and could provide inner revelations. Since the Moon rules our moods, emotions and needs, I suppose being Void places the emphasis more on our authentic inner selves than on connecting with the outer world.

I feel we’ll all have a little more “down time” in the coming weeks. It’s almost like enforced astrological relaxation. As Al so succinctly said, “Feed your soul until the time shown for entering the next sign. Then, go back into business!”

There’s more on Al H. Morrison and his thoughts on the Void of Course Moon in my book, The Best of Al H. Morrison.

The Retrograde Diaries — Episode 6

It’s not just you! I admit I can be a little absent-minded. But absent-mindedness doesn’t explain the confusion I experience under Mercury retrograde. We’re in it again from September 18 to October 9, 2015. Here are some recent incidents:

An agency sent me a PDF attachment to print and sign. I did not receive it. They tried three times, and it was not in the usual Spam folder they expected. Lost somewhere in cyberspace! They finally faxed it to me, and it looked so bad I needed to retype the whole form. Neither of us knew what happened. Re-try and re-do are Mercury retrograde keywords, but it’s always a little annoying.

I’d written to the U.S. Immigration Service for my grandmother’s records: I requested a search, they found her file and told me the number. I then paid for the records they’d found. I finally received a form letter from them saying there were no records! A typical Mercury retrograde mix-up. I followed-up with an e-mail and actually got a phone call in return, which I missed. The woman had left me a voice message with her phone number, but her name was garbled. I called back and left a message but have not heard from her since. A woman from the National Archives who’d recently been helpful confirmed that the file did exist and suggested I write a manager.

My e-mail said it was temporarily not recognized by my sister’s server. I sent the note to another address but she got both of them anyway.

On the plus side: I put a $10 bill into the machine to pump up my library card account. It read it as $20! In this Pluto in Capricorn world, dealing with all the bureaucracy has become extremely complicated. I would’ve tried to correct it, but it’s just too much trouble. Not under Mercury retrograde.

I just heard an NPR article on the science of mis-communication! Wonderful timing. Their answer is that we all make unwarranted assumptions. But obviously Mercury retrograde has something to do with it. Be forewarned!

The Stradivarius and the Nodes

On August 6, 2015, a stolen Stradivarius belonging to concert violinist Roman Totenberg was presented to his family at the U.S. Attorney’s office in NYC. His story shows the importance of the cycles of the Moon’s Nodes.

Roman Totenberg was born on January 1, 1911 in Warsaw Poland according to Wikipedia. He had the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Uranus in Capricorn, all opposed by Neptune in Cancer. This is striking symbolism for someone with a career in classical music, whose expertise demanded both skill and feeling.

Totenberg’s North Node in Taurus closely trined his Venus in Capricorn, bringing up the themes of talent, possessions and value in his life. His prized possession was his Stradivarius, bought in 1943. It was stolen in 1980, a period of 37 years, twice the lunar nodal cycle of 18.6 years.

In 1943, the year Totenberg bought the violin, both the transiting North Node and Jupiter were in Leo, and squared his natal Nodes. When the violin was stolen in May of 1980, the North Node was at 24 Leo, still within orb of squaring his Nodes, and exactly quincunx his natal Uranus in Capricorn. Transiting Pluto in Libra was also within a degree of squaring Totenberg’s Venus and formed a quincunx aspect with his North Node. There was a suspect but not enough evidence to prosecute him.

At the time of the violin’s recovery in June of 1980, transiting Jupiter in Leo was once again in square to Totenberg’s Nodes and quincunx his Venus. The family plans to have the instrument restored and to sell it to a performer, perfect symbolism for transiting Pluto closely approaching Totenberg’s Venus in 2016. By the time Pluto exactly conjoins the violinist’s Venus in early 2017, it will probably have passed to a new owner.

The South Node was in Taurus in 1734, the year the violin had been made by Antonio Stradivari in Italy, giving it lasting value.

The dealer who appraised the violin and alerted the FBI was born on October 10, 1952. His Jupiter is at 19-1/2 Taurus, closely conjunct Totenberg’s North Node and trine his Venus. The man suspected of stealing the violin, Philip S. Johnson, who predeceased Roman Totenberg, was born on January 27, 1953, not long after the dealer. Both men had Pluto at about 22-1/2 Leo, squaring Roman’s Nodes. The transiting North Node was closely conjunct Johnson’s Pluto at the time of the theft.

Wikipedia provides Totenberg’s birth date as well as other key dates in his story.

To Pluto, Astrologically

NASA scientists on the news talk as if it’s Star Trek: the first mission to a new planet in an exploratory spacecraft and the greatest distance ever flown – nearly 3 billion miles from earth. Their voyage to Pluto culminates on July 14, 2015 as the New Horizons craft reports on its closest encounter with Pluto.

The mission began in 2001 when it was approved, and surged on January 19, 2006 as New Horizons lifted off from Cape Canaveral on its long journey. Of course, within months, scientists had officially demoted Pluto to the status of a dwarf planet, but I guess astrologers already knew why Pluto has an ironic sense of humor.

What’s happening with the horoscope of Pluto as scientists learn more about it? Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 at approximately 4:00 PM in Flagstaff, Arizona (documented time, rated A on Astrodatabank).

As the news stories multiply, transiting Jupiter in Leo trines the discovery chart’s Midheaven and transiting Uranus stations a few degrees from it. Everybody’s suddenly excited about Pluto, and its reputation is getting a boost.

The discovery chart has the Sun in Aquarius conjunct Venus in Pisces, both part of a T-square with oppositions to Neptune and squares to Jupiter. It looks like this oddball little planet is just often misunderstood.

Transiting Saturn in Scorpio stations in close square to the discovery chart’s Sun at the time of New Horizons’ closest approach, and quickly activates all the planets in the T-square. NASA is looking deeper at Pluto, but in a reductive manner, and may devalue it further. As they take time to analyze the spacecraft’s data, transiting Pluto will oppose the discovery chart’s natal Pluto in 2016, so our understanding of Pluto could still be transformed. The combined influence of hard-core Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn should make the take-way some pragmatic facts.

I first saw the Pluto discovery horoscope in Noel Tyl’s How to Personalize the Outer Planets. The late Jeff Jawer wrote a fascinating article about the discoveries of the outer planets in this book, noting that all of them have the Moon in Scorpio along with hard Saturn aspects! It’s well worth a read (though Jawer used a different time for Pluto’s discovery and gave no information as to its source).