Category Archives: electional and event charts

Scotland Independence

Scotland went to the polls on September 18, 2014 at 7:00 AM to decide its future. Would it split from the UK and become independent? Based on the horoscope for the event, it’s clear why the answer was No!

The Sun rises in Virgo, giving Scotland, the initiator, a strong self-identity. Yet it’s in a mutable sign and no aspects to the Sun reflect autonomy. It conjoins Venus in the 12th house, showing peacefulness and a passive bent. The Sun also sextiles Saturn in Scorpio in the 3rd house, putting Scotland in close and agreeable contact with the authorities.

Perhaps more importantly, the Moon in Cancer in the 10th house also indicates the authorities, and there appears to be a significant sense of security coming from the Queen and her kingdom – another angular placement which is possibly as strong as the Sun rising. And finally, the Moon approaches a sextile to the Sun, so Scotland retains its relationship and the stability of the past flows smoothly into the future.

Of course, there are signs of a need to break away as well, otherwise there wouldn’t have been a vote at all. The transiting square of Uranus and Pluto created a T-square with the Moon in Cancer, but at the time the polls opened, the Moon had already passed its aspects to these two disruptive planets and was approaching its sextile to the Sun. Pluto was in the angular 4th house of the homeland, but its interception in the sign of Capricorn also weakened its influence.

In addition, Jupiter in the 11th house in Leo is a strong influence for the values of the authorities (as the 11th house is the 2nd from the 10th), and Jupiter trined Uranus, showing once again the ability to work things out. Jupiter will also square Saturn, perhaps indicating future frustrations, but taken together, the aspects for the status quo do outweigh those for independence. Although the final vote was only 54% for remaining part of the United Kingdom, the astrology is much clearer than the actual votes, as often happens.

Joan Rivers – Astro Obvious

Celebrity horoscopes are often complicated, hard to analyze and understand. Joan Rivers’ chart is not one of them! It’s refreshing to consider a horoscope that almost interprets itself.

Aries rising: candid, courageous, vital, endless energy.

Uranus in Aries rising: vivacious, outrageous, frenetic, irrepressible, strong personal identity, original, trailblazer, remained relevant for over 50 years.

Sun in Gemini in 3rd house: fast-talker, ideas and communications central to her self-expression, youthful.

Uranus sextile Mercury and Venus in Gemini conjunct IC: ease of expression, attractive, quirky interest in home and family, beauty and fashion.

Uranus square Pluto in the 5th: unusual, intense personality, broke from conventions of her generation; extremes of comedy vs. tragedy in life, associated with daughter.

Moon in Sagittarius in the 9th house: funny, spirited, brash, generous, adventuresome, world-traveler, potty-mouth, top college grad.

Full Moon: dramatic events in life.

Mars conjunct Jupiter in Virgo in 6th house: outspoken critic, edgy, self-deprecating, workaholic, excessive plastic surgery (Jupiter also conjoins Neptune in Virgo in 6).

T-square in mutable signs (Sun-Moon-Mars-Jupiter): constantly active, keeps up with people and the times; extremely motivated.

Saturn in Aquarius in 11th closely trine Sun and sextile Moon (dignified by sign and outlet for T-square’s energies): consistent pursuit of goals, long career, hard-worker, overcomes adversity.

Capricorn on the Midheaven: consistent pursuit of goals, long career, hard-worker.

Moon Out of Bounds in Declination: anomalous female, unusual lifestyle, focus on women’s issues, vacillating/intense connection with daughter; pushes the limits of acceptability.

Mercury exactly conjunct Venus with both Out of Bounds: goes beyond the norm in use of mind, personal relationships; successful author of many books.

At Death:
Transiting Uranus returns to the 1st house and sextiles natal Sun and Saturn; trines the Moon: abrupt flight, did not suffer.

Transiting Pluto through the 10th trine Jupiter-Neptune midpoint in the 6th: change in health status, career celebrated.

Transiting Saturn in Scorpio in the 8th trine natal Pluto: transcending physical plane.

Transiting Mars in Scorpio through the 8th inconjunct 1st house Uranus (trigger): sudden change.

Joan Rivers was born on June 8, 1933 at 2:00 AM a.m. in Brooklyn, New York, rated “A” by Astrodatabank.

Marijuana in New York

Governor Cuomo signed New York’s medical marijuana bill into law on July 7, 2014 at 1:00 pm in Manhattan. With a wide angular grand cross on the angles of the horoscope for this event, it’s an important major development, despite the fact that New York is the 23rd State to allow medical marijuana and its law one of the most restrictive. Marijuana in NY will be legal only for doctors to use in treating serious illnesses like cancer, epilepsy, AIDS and MS. (Source for the chart data is wibv.com.)

With the Moon in Scorpio conjoining Saturn, the horoscope shows the significant limitations and focus of the law. The question now becomes one of practical implementation. Saturn also forms a tight yod with Venus in Gemini and Uranus in Aries. So the authorities (Saturn) are in effect making exceptions (Uranus) to help people be more comfortable (Venus). A 10-year-old girl with epilepsy, a patient who might be helped by medical marijuana, accompanied the governor as he signed the bill. She was clearly represented by Venus in Gemini.

The transiting Uranus-Pluto square, along with the Sun in Cancer and Mars in Libra, formed a cardinal grand cross conjoining the Ascendant, 4th house, 7th and Midheaven of the horoscope. This extremely dynamic figure also contains Jupiter in Cancer in the 10th which squares Mars. It was easy for the governor’s office to get publicity for this event! The North Node in Libra in the 1st house also becomes part of the wide grand cross pattern. So this development is part of a longer-term trend.

In Brooklyn the next day, D.A. Kenneth Thompson announced that he will no longer prosecute low-level marijuana possession charges, especially for first offenders or users under 17. This has raised some controversy since the other NYC boroughs won’t make similar changes at this time.

Neptune rules intoxicants as well as medicine and compassion. Developments involving use of marijuana in NY may have to do with transiting Neptune nearly exactly squaring NYC’s Saturn in Sagittarius. This aspect will repeat throughout 2015, so there should be more news surrounding these issues in the coming months.

Earth Day Astrologically

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970 and is now an annual event drawing attention to sustainability and the environment. The horoscope for Earth Day features the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Saturn all in the sign of Taurus, perhaps the most grounded of the earth signs. Taurus gives Earth Day its practical agenda and highlights the peace and beauty of the earth.

The chart also contains Pluto in the earth sign of Virgo, which suggests the essentials of growth and conservation as well as clean energy. In addition, the Moon and Jupiter are both in Scorpio, ruling recycling and the regenerative forces of nature.

The horoscope for Earth Day meshes very nicely with New York City’s Sun and Mercury in earth sign Capricorn, as well as the U.S. chart, which has the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter in the home-oriented sign of Cancer and Pluto in Capricorn. I don’t expect that the people who originated Earth Day were astrologers, but as so often happens, the appropriate significance of a horoscope cannot be denied! Blue-green beach, clouds

Flight 370 Disappearance and Neptune

News reports about the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 are full of keywords for Neptune. The missing plane presents a mystery, having simply vanished from the radar. Due to fragmentary and conflicting clues, there have been false leads and confusion, with initial speculation that the plane fell into the sea. Millions of volunteers around the world have been conducting a virtual search by scanning satellite images online.

When we have such a strong thematic emphasis, it’s a good bet that Neptune is strong in the horoscope for the flight’s take-off. It left Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 AM and it’s no surprise that Neptune is exactly conjunct the angular 4th house and creates a grand cross with the Moon in Gemini on the Descendant, along with the Ascendant and the Midheaven.

The other angular planet in the chart, the Moon in Gemini, also highlights themes relating to communications issues. Pinging signals were picked up from the plane for several hours after it disappeared. In addition, The Data Link System and Transponders used to communicate location with air traffic controllers were shut down, quite an unusual situation. The plane now appears to have flown for a number of hours after being redirected from its original route.

Time will reveal what the Neptunian deception in this matter is, and whether the passengers and crew have been taken prisoner or may have fallen into the sea.

Retrograde and Void of Course

Mercury retrograde is a time for review, revisions and rethinking. Al H. Morrison felt that the Void of Course Moon was best used for routine activities and feeding your soul. The combination of the two may at times result in petty annoyances and some delay or frustration in day-to-day life. It’s generally not a good time to initiate new projects.

I once received a call from a magazine I’d never worked for to write a feature. The editor discussed what they wanted, I agreed, and she said they were definitely going ahead. She’d get back to me regarding the length of the article and deadline. I was skeptical since I knew that not only was Mercury retrograde but the Moon was also Void of Course that day. Mercury retrograde can create miscommunications and people easily change their minds. And the Void of Course Moon is not promising for beginning new ventures. Not only did the editor not call me back as promised, but I was never even able to reach her!

But life goes on and we must continue through these wacky times. (For his part, Al H. Morrison would often sleep during the VOC Moon – at any time of the day or night.)

Recently, I arrived at my destination early during Mercury retrograde with the VOC Moon. My Metrocard needed refilling, and I thought that I’d accomplish this routine task. The first vending machine was providing no receipts, so I moved on to the next. The second machine informed me that my Metrocard was expiring – Did I want to replace it? I said Yes. I got the card and it gave me a receipt but I was confused. Did they charge me $1 for replacement? It was not clear. I continued to refill my card and the machine requested my zip code. However the keypad would not work and the transaction was aborted.

I moved on to the third machine, which unfortunately was only providing single trip transactions, something I’d never encountered before. I turned to the fourth and final machine, which by this time had several people waiting in line. I’d now be late if I waited, so I left.

I’d gotten a new card, but had been unable to complete my intended task. As Morrison had said, the VOC Moon can take us in unintended directions, with false starts and error. Mercury retrograde revealed machines needing repair and a confusing situation. I’d have to complete things at a later date. Sometimes even routine tasks don’t fare so well under these influences!

Mercury Retrograde — Oops!

Mercury turned retrograde on October 21, 2013 and will continue through November 10, making for a time when mistakes are revealed and there’s a need to review, revise and re-do.  Little errors in thinking and communication challenge us in a bigger way.  I’d already attempted to clean up my computer registry and ended up having to re-load MS Office.  Why?  What possessed me?  You know the answer. 

Yesterday, due to subway signal problems at Church Avenue and traffic with the bus, a trip downtown that usually takes less than 40 minutes took me over twice as long.  And the poor folks at Obamacare realized, too late, that their system could take another six weeks to cure.  (Their problems started with Healthcare.gov going live on October 1, when Mercury had already slowed and was moving only about a degree a day.  I guess it’s obvious that no one in the administration cares about astrology.)

People who have Mercury retrograde in their own birth charts seem to do better during these periods, which usually occur about three times a year.  I knew a cable engineer with Mercury retrograde who knew exactly what to do when more subscribers had issues at this time.  He was in his element.  Jeffrey Zients, the management consultant called in to fix the Healthcare.gov problems, was born on November 12 or 15, 1966 according to public records.  Thank goodness he has Mercury retrograde!  He has the mental perspective to be able to turn things around.

I once had a holistic dentist who specialized in removing old Mercury fillings.  He had Mercury retrograde in his birth chart and put it to good use – with an almost literal expression of this placement!

Void of Course Moon Shopping

October 10, 2013: I’d agreed to help a friend buy a trench coat for work at a department store.  I noted a Void of Course Moon until 11:17, and suggested that we arrive after that time.  When I’ve gone shopping with the VOC Moon in the past, I often can’t find what I want – there’s little resonance with the selection.  Al H. Morrison also stated that he found we don’t fully use items bought under the VOC Moon.  Why waste your time?  I’d pick another day. 

Although my friend is a skeptic, she wanted my help and agreed to meet at 11:15.  We both arrived early – around 11:00.  I felt we should just walk around and not try to accomplish anything for the next 15-20 minutes.  She disagreed:  “What could happen within the next 15 minutes?  The same items will be on the shelf, won’t they?”  Sounds logical to a non-astrologer.  She wouldn’t understand that it was not that simple. 

We got to the floor at 11:10 and a saleswoman showed us a limited selection of coats, most with price tags of $400 and up, much more than she’d intended to spend.  The coats available also seemed to be somewhat sack-like, not a flattering cut, and the materials were not the greatest.  She asked the saleswoman for similar things elsewhere and we were directed to a more sporty area.  These prices were lower and there was a much greater selection, but they were more casual.  She found one she liked, and I thought it looked good, too.  But now the Moon was no longer VOC! 

The coat, though, was still not quite what she wanted, so we returned to the other section for a closer look.  We first noticed an electronic price reader, and it turned out that the prices were actually quite a bit lower than the tags indicated.  There was also a little more of a selection than we’d initially thought.  She quickly found a few she liked, tried them on and we agreed on one that looked rather good – exactly what she wanted and within her price range. 

So what had happened?  The same coats were on the rack.  But once the Moon was no longer Void, our ability to connect with them had changed.  We discovered new information – lower prices not immediately available – and took more time to review the limited selection.  We both overlooked the material, as it was water-repellent, which she wanted.  Mission accomplished!

You know the moral of the story – just avoid the VOC Moon when shopping!