Tag Archives: eclipses

The Judge and the Abortion Pill

Eclipses may cause upheavals when they occur, and their patterns highlight trends and events to come.  The April 2023 Court decisions on the abortion drug mifepristone are part of a larger pattern involving eclipses, the Biden administration, Joe Biden himself, the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 0 Aquarius and now Pluto’s change of sign from Capricorn to Aquarius as well.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk was confirmed by President Trump in 2019.  Lawsuits filed by conservative groups in his Amarillo, Texas jurisdiction have been assured of the outcome, and the judge has already made decisions on immigration and LGBTQ workers.  His April 7, 2023 decision on mifepristone would amount to a nationwide ban on the drug, which was approved by the FDA and in use for over 20 years.

The original Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to abortion was decided on January 22, 1973, four days after a Lunar Eclipse at 28 Cancer 40.  When the Court struck this ruling on June 24, 2022, transiting Pluto was at 28 Capricorn, closely opposing the eclipse degree.

The Kacsmaryk decision shortly after a full Moon was quickly brought to the Supreme Court, who froze the ruling on April 21, 2023 on the heels of a Solar Eclipse at 29 Aries, until the court appeals play out.

Let’s remember that the 2021 Biden inauguration Moon is also at 29 Aries.  Placed in the 12th house, it suggests the private nature of the matter addressed and the crusading energy placed in this question by many.  29 degrees certainly shows change, especially as the Moon in the inauguration horoscope conjoins Mars and squares Pluto and the Sun at the Midheaven.  President Biden is fighting Judge Kacsmaryk’s ruling, and his own Moon is about 1 Taurus, closely conjunct the administration’s Moon.  The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at 0 Aquarius in December of 2020 set the stage, making these developments part of a larger cyclic trend.  And the transiting North Node will also be at 29 Aries in July of 2023, further emphasizing this point.

We can clearly see the many astrological layers at work:  Roe v. Wade decision on a Lunar Eclipse at about 29 Cancer, and the Supreme Court strikes Roe v. Wade with transiting Pluto at 28 Capricorn.  Court’s hold on Kacsmaryk’s decision on a Solar Eclipse at 29 Aries.  Pluto is at 0 Aquarius to 28 Capricorn from January 2023 through February 2024 and will activate these points, showing not only how things are slowly changing, but also the strong personal feelings involved on both sides of the question.

We don’t have a birth date for Judge Kacsmaryk.  However Wikipedia says that he was born in 1977 – the year of a Solar Eclipse at 28 Aries!  Now we know exactly why this particular judge is involved.

We may not be able to predict the final outcome of the court decisions.  But with Pluto at 29 Capricorn 47 for the November 2024 election, this issue will surely continue to motivate voters.

Eclipse Weddings

We’re all looking forward to August’s eclipses, so I posted an article I wrote on Eclipse Weddings.

Prince Charles and Paul McCartney both had two marriages near eclipses! I also consider J.K. Rowling, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger and some regular folks’ weddings near eclipses.

This piece was originally published in the Spring 2016 NY NCGR’s Ingress newsletter. Thanks to Tracy Allen and the NY NCGR for including it.

In the Shadow of the Moon

At the time of the Uranus-Neptune conjunction in the early 90s, I was thrilled to read some of Professor Anthony Aveni’s books. Conversing with the Planets looked at people’s relationships with the cosmos through history and across cultures, and Empires of Time covered how people consider time, which derives from the cycles of the Sun and Moon. These books both touched on astrology, as the author is both an astronomer and anthropologist. Aveni became one of the first prominent voices on what would now be called cultural astronomy or, at the time, archaeo-astronomy.

Anthony Aveni’s work is refreshing since he accepts people’s beliefs (including astrology) as part of what makes them interesting. His latest book, In the Shadow of the Moon, covers solar eclipse viewing and arrives in time for total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. on 8/21/17.

In the Shadow of the Moon looks at not only eclipses but also the people who study them. The author eloquently shares his own eclipse viewing experiences and presents others who’ve captured the spectacle in words. We learn about predicting eclipses through the centuries, from Stonehenge to Babylon, the ancient Greeks, Chinese and Maya, with detailed accounts of eclipse expeditions in the U.S. and abroad in more recent times.

Full of insight and wit, Anthony Aveni’s eclipse book is part science history, part human interest, and captures the challenges of navigating capricious weather as well as the joys of encountering this rare natural phenomenon.

While this book doesn’t address the astrology of eclipses, it provides an excellent background to studying them and communicates why they’re so compelling, regardless of time and space.

Buy from Amazon.com:  In the Shadow of the Moon: The Science, Magic, and Mystery of Solar Eclipses
Empires of Time: Calendars, Clocks, and Cultures
Conversing with the Planets: How Science and Myth Invented the Cosmos (Kodansha Globe) by Aveni, Anthony published by Kodansha Globe Paperback

Election 2016: Final Thoughts

The Presidential Election is upon us and most astrologers agree that Hillary Clinton will win.  I’ve presented a number of astrological techniques that support the same outcome, but there are many ways to look at the election astrologically.

I considered the Moon’s progressed declination, but not the other planets, which are slow-moving and can be very powerful.  I haven’t looked at eclipses, which are basic to astrological forecasting.  Consideration of candidates’ announcements, ingress, polls opening and inauguration and charts are also often used.  And I’ve seen terrific use of the asteroids as well.

The campaign was strongly colored by the Saturn-Neptune square, which was exact for the final time in September of 2016.  Both of the candidates are flawed (Neptune) authority figures (Saturn), with many voters unable to fully commit to either.  Some of the obvious Saturn-Neptune ideas discussed include a literal “wall” to block Neptunian illegal immigrants, and carelessness (Neptune) with classified (Saturn) e-mails.

Hillary Clinton’s horoscope is heavily Scorpio and fixed signs, while Donald Trump’s is strongly Gemini and more mutable – the two couldn’t be more different astrologically.  What they have in common is Saturn, the planet of authority and position, in signs of its detriment (opposite its ruling signs).  Donald has Saturn in Cancer and a background in real estate and property management.  Hillary, with Saturn in Leo, is more of a career public figure.  They also both share Mars and Pluto in Leo – showing why Donald might admire her energy and stick-to-it-iveness and she his children, both Leo-ruled.  While hugely successful, the two have struggled for the ultimate high-status position, excellent examples of how planets in their debility can push people to achieve.  But it’s also taken time and effort for both to get where they are today.  (Barack Obama, for example, with Saturn in Capricorn, came to office with relative ease and at a much younger age.)

The two candidates also share an emphasis on the nodes.  Trump was born on the day of a total lunar eclipse (with the Sun conjoining the North Node and the Moon opposite); Clinton has the South Node rising.  These placements may account for some of the drama in this campaign.  Bill Meridian quotes Charles Jayne as writing that, “The birth of rulers near eclipses indicates either the start or end of a dynastic line and often a state.”  Thankfully, we don’t need to worry about that, given the fact that Donald Trump is unlikely to win.

I was curious about presidential eclipses and checked out Frances McEvoy’s comprehensive “A Roll Call of Presidents” in the NCGR Geocosmic Magazine from the fall of 1996.  There has never been a U.S. President born on an eclipse.  A contemporary politician similar to Trump astrologically is Newt Gingrich, who was also born with the Sun in Gemini opposite the Moon in Sagittarius, perhaps one reason why Gingrich recently defended Trump in a live interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly!  (Kelly, funnily enough, has the Sun and Venus in Scorpio like Hillary.)

Scorpio is a common sign in the White House, and there have been five other Scorpio presidents (John Adams, James Polk, James Garfield, Theodore Roosevelt and Warren Harding).  There have only been two previous Gemini presidents, John F. Kennedy and George H.W. Bush, though both were elected in the late 20th century and the Scorpio presidents served earlier.