Virgo Nerd Out

Playing on Stellarium today.  Free!  And fair - like an innocent maiden holding a stalk of grain. As opposed to the fish swimming under the deep waters.  One is up, the other is down.  That's the Galactic way.  The Galactic order of things.  

What we call the zodiac sign Virgo is actually in the constellation Leo.  We're getting into the precession of equinoxes here, but don't freak and click away!  The precession of equinoxes is your friend.  With the magic of Stellarium it will take you on a thrilling carnival ride into past and future millennia.  You can get a view of the sky people were observing when they built those architectural wonders 6 thousand years ago. 

But for today we'll just mention the big bad precession and give it a heart and thumbs up.  Before we bring it out on stage we need to introduce our very own galaxy, the redundantly named Milky Way.  I put our galactic grid up in these two images from Stellarium.  The galactic grid is especially helpful because compared to, say the celestial equator, it doesn't move around much in a hundred or so human life spans.  Framing our solar system against the background of the galactic equator is like building our understanding of the sky on rock instead of sand.

Following up on yesterday's charts for Mercury's superior conjunction, I have a pair of screenshots from Stellarium;  the top one is for this morning in Raleigh and the bottom one is for the same time in Istanbul.  (Not exactly, but only a few minutes later).  

The atmosphere is 'turned off' to keep the Sun's light from blocking out the stars.  Mercury is the little dot just above the Sun, and they are both just to the left of Regulus, also known as alpha Leonis.  (A little preview of our upcoming interview with the notorious equinox precession;  back in the days when scribes were copying the Epic of Gilgamesh on clay tablets, the late summer Sun would have been against the background of the constellation Virgo instead Leo.  A bit dizzying, I know, but that can be kind of fun once you're accustomed to the funhouse clover leaf highway overlapping cycles of our solar system.  You get to actually liking the apparent chaos of our little hood and appreciating the relative stability of the distant stars especially along the equator of the Milky Way.) 

Back to free and fair.  Stellarium is free downloadable software.  And fair refers to the young maiden holding the stalk in the zodiac sign Virgo.  In the fall the stalk grows up out of the ground.  Here's the real deal; the seasonal sky changes over the millenia, but the constellation Virgo is always in the upper dome of the Milky Way.  The opposing Pisces constellation is in the bottom dome of the Milky Way.  Crazy huh?  Incredible.  Unless you're familiar with the galactic coordinate system, which is relatively new, around 1958.  There was a lot of fiddling over many centuries leading up to the grid we use now.  Back in the days of Pythagoras and Plato things were a bit more poetic than the current grid, but we've still got the names of the constellations along the river of milk, like the swan and the swift ship; then above, the bear and the maiden holding a stalk of grain and below the fishes and underworld dramatis personae, so I like to think we've got the best of both worlds, or ages. 

Getting to know the order of the constellations in the galaxy makes the stories from old times a lot more fun.  Some of these fantastic adventures are great winks at what part of the galaxy a person on Earth is actually facing when they look 'up' into heaven.  In other words when we think we are looking 'up' at Pisces we are actually gazing into the lower depths of our galaxy.

In the first of today's digital views of heaven, the people in Raleigh have the galactic equator right in the middle of the sky.  The constellation Orion, with the stars Betelgeuse and Rigel labeled, is just under the line of the galactic equator.  Around the same time in Istanbul they are about to face another part of the galactic river surrounding us (like a snake eating its tail. Sound familiar?)  The inside of the galaxy marked by the steam coming from the Teapot is just coming up in Istanbul's eastern sky.  More obvious is Antares, or alpha Scorpius, just above the galactic equator on the left side of the screenshot.   That means when we go from the constellation Scorpio to the constellation Sagittarius, we are facing first above, then below the galactic equator. 

A bit of repetition like a chorus of angels is ok once in awhile, especially if we include an image.  Here's one last screenshot from Stellarium showing Scorpio, Sagittarius and the galactic equator going right between them.  

When we go from the constellation Scorpio to the constellation Sagittarìus, we go from facing above to facing below the galactic equator.

Well, it's time for this old maid (more like crone, or Demeter) to sign off.  I hope there aren't too many booboos in this post because I'm about to hit the publish button. 

  

Superior Conjunction from Raleigh to Istanbul

Mercury passes the far side of the Sun tomorrow.  It's called a superior conjunction as opposed to an inferior conjunction when it passes between us and the Sun.  In a series of charts, or on Stellarium, Mercury would be tracked overtaking the Sun along the ecliptic.  I'm just presenting 2 charts, both for the moment of exact lineup, from 2 different places on Earth.

 

The chart above is for 1:04pm local time, the moment in Raleigh that Mercury is opposite Earth on the far side of the Sun. In the chart they are located at the top, right next to each other, both at 4degrees Virgo 27minutes.   Below is a chart for 8:04pm local time, the same moment from Istanbul.  

 

As in the Raleigh chart, they are right next to each other at 4 degrees Virgo 27 minutes, but instead of being at the top, they are on the right side under the horizontal line.  In Istanbul it is dark; the Sun/Mercury pair have set in the west.

 I am reading a very informative book about the Ottoman Empire in the few decades leading up to World War 1.  In this book Kaiser Wilhelm 2 figures as a more realistic human being than the Kaiser in The Guns of August book I had read years ago.  Maybe I just missed a lot of stuff that Barbara Tuckman outlined about Wilhelm's international relations, especially with the Ottoman Empire.

 The book I am reading now is called The Hejaz Railway and the Ottoman Empire: modernity, industrialization and the Ottoman decline.  It is written in Turkish by Murat Ozyuksel and translated to English by Sezin Tekin.  Ozyuksel does speak English, I have found at least one video of him presenting in English on the angloturkishsociety channel.

There's a lot of stuff coming out about history of Muslim Brotherhood which I think is helpful in understanding currents of thought in Muslim societies.  Now, though, I'm getting a better understanding of the rivalry between Germany, France and England and how Germany came to be aligned with the Ottoman Empire before the rise of Nazi ideology, well before even WW1.

Is there anything you have been studying where you feel like you are gaining ground in your efforts?  As an astrologer I associate my new, far reaching avenues of information with the Mercury Sun superior conjunction in Virgo, the sign of learning.     

Weber vs Lenin Nov 7, 1917

Wow!  Go to end to see my BIG mistake!

Reading Science as a Vocation lecture by Max Weber.  Way cool reading.  Hmm, when exactly in 1917?  November 7.  Dang!? 

Go to October Revolution, November 7, 1917.  (Russia was still using old style calendar back then, so a date that we consider November was in October for them)

Damn.  Pretty cool connection.  Felt compelled to save a chart for the moment of discovery.  

It's been a great day of study.  One early quote from the lecture reminded me of the old Greek concept of nous, meaning something along the lines of mind if I remember correctly.  Always connecting that with writers through time who describe ideas as something we don't create, but which precede us and which come to us like lightening in flashes.

"Ideas come to us when they please, not when it pleases us."  After a sentence or two about ideas coming while on a stroll etc comes this last sentence of the paragraph.  "But ideas would certainly not come to mind had we not brooded at our desks and searched for answers with painstaking devotion."

Picturing now in my mind the countless images of Hindu gods holding among many other things a bolt of lightening.  

I swear I checked multiple times and this BIG mistake got past me!  October Revolution was Nov 7, 1917 and Weber lecture was Nov 7, 1918.  Chart is for minute I checked dates for umpteenth time and finally caught my error.

 

Let the Healing Begin

It started last night at 10:54 when Venus was setting in Raleigh. As I was opening a new tab I noticed and clicked on a Guardian headline: Israeli former leader and security chiefs threaten legal action over ‘Jewish Terrorism’. I felt amazing relief and hope as I read the article. It was kind of late. I did a chart for the moment, noted that Venus in Leo was setting, answered a text (a customer offering leftover key lime pie from a recent get together!) rolled over in bed and got busy at the very important job of resting. 

Venus is just above the horizontal line on the right side of the chart.  It's about to go under the line, or set in the west.

 

This morning I revisited the article, it was that inspiring. One of the signers of the letter was David Grossman, a writer. The name reminded me of the author of Life and Fate (Vasily Grossman), I googled him wondering if he was related. He wasn’t, but I googled his 2014 book Falling out of Time. NPR had a gushing review: A Lyrical Meditation On Grief In Falling Out Of Time. One of his children was killed in action on the last day of the 2006 Lebanon War. He has remained a devoted peace activist. 

 I’m not. Not a peace activist. But I don’t want to imagine a world without peace activists. I read a lot about war and the history of war. As an astrologer I can’t stand up for one against the other, peace or war. I’m compelled to observe and wonder. I never feel that I know what’s right, mostly I’m just aware of my own drive for self preservation. 

 I’ve had a lot of Jewish customers over the years, every one of them model citizens, above and beyond citizens. It was such a relief to see coming from the heart of Israel the kind of leadership I’ve seen in all my customers, friends and associates. The people signing the letter did not condemn Jewish Terrorism. They warned of impending legal action to stop it. 

 I’ve had only a few Arabs in my life, and none in recent years. One young Arab man in the 1980’s loaned me a book about the very recent history of Palestine. I thought of him often after 9/11. This ongoing war in Gaza and Lebanon is pushing me to learn more about Palestinians and the history of the region. Then there’s Sudan. History, science, astrology; they are my rocks. But sometimes fiction strikes a beautiful chord. At the end of the excellent synopsis of Falling out of Time, the reviewer, Alan Cheuse, called it the Israeli version of Our Town. 

 I only know of Thornton Wilder because my old boyfriend was in a local production of Skin of our Teeth and he had a book of Wilder’s short stories. I read the Wikipedia synopsis of Our Town. I was in tears at the end of it. I did a chart for the moment. Venus was rising.

This morning Venus was on the left side of the chart, just under the horizontal line.  It was about to come up over the Eastern horizon.

 

Chiron, the planet of healing passed from Aries into Taurus Friday night. We still have Saturn and Neptune in Aries. Jesus said the poor will always be with us, I’m guessing that includes the victims of war. Venus rules Taurus. The planet of kindness and harmony rules the sign of peace. It is a big relief to see kindness shining a bright light on the power of setting limits. The signers did not condemn anyone’s drive for self preservation, they just drew a line and said this we will not tolerate.

Tuesday Night High Moon

We had a new Moon at 9:30 this past Wed night.  It might be visible as a very thin crescent tonight (Fri March 20) in the Western sky or not till tomorrow night.  Look for it above the horizon where the sun sets.

By Tues (24 March) it will be getting pretty thick, coming to its first quarter.  When the Sun sets it will be fairly high in the southern sky. 

This chart shows where the Moon will be Tues: and the arrows point to its position Wed and Thurs night around sunset for Raleigh NC.

We know it will be high because the chart shows it is almost in Cancer.  Anything in Gemini or Cancer is high in the sky.  Anything in Sagittarius or Capricorn is low in the sky.

It will still be high and a wee bit thicker Wed night - and just to the West of Jupiter.  Then on Thurs night it will have passed Jupiter along the ecliptic and be a bit to the East of the great benific.  Great Benific is especially true of Jupiter Wed and Thurs because the Moon is near it and the Moon rules in Cancer.  Maybe we will notice nurturing that supports  healthy growth on those days.  

I never look for anything down here on earth anymore.  I study the charts, contemplate the future line ups and basically forget about them as I enjoy the passing of the days.  

Here are charts for Wed night and Thurs night.

If it's not too cloudy you might can spot the Moon well before sunset, like maybe around 3pm or later, if you carefully scan the Eastern sky.  Below is a chart showing where Moon would be in Raleigh's Eastern sky at 4:30pm Wed.

In the afternoon when the Sun is still up the Moon will be rising in the East.

I know a lot of us are freaking right now.  Along that line it might be helpful to notice the Sun meeting Saturn in the first (Tues Night March 24) chart on this post.   Saturn is just overtaking Neptune.  The slow and sober limit setter passing on the inside lane of the insanely slow planet (Neptune) of generational vision, as in social movements, ideas taking hold and carrying great masses of people on a slow but very powerful idea wave.  The meeting of Saturn and Neptune is historic and will take a year.

This week as the Sun 'catches up' to Saturn we may feel like something is holding things up in this Arian rush of ideals that's got the world all stirred up.  The brief few days of relative discipline could be a relief for some.

Here's another copy of the first chart with Neptune, Sun and Saturn pointed out.

Why I Cannot Forsake My Principles

The title of the 5000 word Andreyeva Manifesto, Why I Cannot Forsake My Principles, was repeating a phrase Gorbachev had used.  "I cannot forsake my principles."  This Leningrad chemistry teacher said she had to speak out against perestroika because it was destroying the country.  Many people agreed with her.

Venus is in top right quadrant near Jupiter.

Notice Venus at 7 ° Taurus near Jupiter.  Venus is ruling in the sign of the worker.  Saturn is ruling in the sign of government and tradition.  So many people felt lost when Stalin and Lenin were being denounced as murderers.  Workers who had suffered under the soviet dictatorship had been groomed to love their leaders.  

Mars, the planet of the soldier, is exalted in Capricorn.  Andreyeva's declaration, that it was wrong to tear down and trample upon the memories of the men who had lead the USSR through world War 2, was uplifting to many veterans who had given so much for their country and felt that their sacrifices were being spat upon by the degenerate younger generation.

In last week's post I included links to 2 articles about the firestorm her manifesto generated, and a photo of the paragraph in the Gorbachev bio about the hardliners voicing their agreement with her at the Nineteenth Party Conference.  

When Nina Andreyeva's opinion piece was first published in March 1988 Mars was in the historic lineup with the outer planets and they were all going forward.  They were all in Capricorn, the sign of government.  You can see 5 planets; Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, Mars and the Moon all in Capricorn in the bottom right quadrant of the chart.

The Moon, associated with soul, such a slippery concept, difficult to hold, like breath, is in its fall in austere Capricorn.

By the time of the big Party Conference in June Mars had advanced 70 degrees along the ecliptic to the sign Pisces.  The outer planets had turned retrograde and the Saturn Uranus pair were backed into the last two degrees of Sagittarius.  That's the chart shown in last week's post.

Gorbachev worked hard in the months after the hardliners' journalistic IED to prepare a response to combat their attack.  He thought his philosophical approach would win the day.  But as the paragraph (photographed from his bio) in last week's post demonstrates, he was wrong.

Saturn was catching up with Uranus.  The curmudgeonly planet of limits was overtaking the planet of social revolution.

I said I was coming to the sad part of Gorbachev's bio.  Regardless of how he saw his life and work, I find this moment in history to be extremely touching.  The people of the Soviet Union were learning awful things about their past which until then had been hidden.  They were making peace with their particular national tragedy.

Hardliners Boo Gorbachev's Perestroika

I'm reading Gorbachev His Life and Times.  I think things are about to get very sad.  On page 359 we get the account of the Nineteenth Party Conference.  

Click to enlarge.

Mostly party hardliners devoted to the old ways had come into office through the new, more democratic elections.

Saturn is lining up with Uranus at the end of Sagittarius, which is the Scorpio section of the philosophical sign.  Gorbachev was such an idealist.  Oh how he loved his country but loved the western democracies too.  

Saturn and Uranus are circled.  They look like they're in Capricorn, but they're at the end of Sagittarius.

The two slow planets are going retrograde.  In the pages leading up to this account of the big conference we get a good blow by blow of the Andreyevo Manifesto.  Remnick Interviews Andreyeva.  Here's another  account Quillett account of Andreyeva Manifesto.

I can't wait to look at the ephemeris for 1988 and a chart for March 13 when the lengthy denunciation of Gorbachev's initiatives was first published.