Live Lunch
July 21, 2006 (with chart)
http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/july21.html
Dear Friend and Reader:
Earlier in the week, George Bush and Tony Blair were caught
on a live microphone having an "off the record" discussion that
happened to be broadcast to the world. I have never seen the transcript of
something arrive in my inbox more times, appear on more Web pages or get more
attention. Transcripts are beautiful, because they break language down to its
most elemental form, words.
At the heart of the discussion was how Bush and Blair,
allies in the "global war on terror" (which some people are now
calling World War III, a reference I've even heard Bush himself make) should
handle the situation between Israel and Lebanon; who should be doing what; and
Bush's feelings about the role of the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan,
dropped into the conversation like he was some kind of low-level administration
official.
But when the microphone opened up, we also got a look into
their relationship, their thinking patterns, and the way they express their
opinions privately.
Indeed, it was a rare moment of transparency in a world
where nearly everything is elaborately staged, and I was curious to see what
that looked like astrologically. Whatever the impact of the comments getting
out may be, we had a glimpse at reality behind the curtain. The media, many
individual journalists, and apparently readers around the world found this
extremely interesting, but I'm pretty sure it had as much to do with the
context -- something they should not be hearing -- than it had to do with the
content.
But the content left everyone shaking their head over what a
fool Bush is, and left many commentators saying Tony Blair was a poodle. (I
have always said English terrier.) We found out that Bush really has no concept
of geography, international politics or basic manners (gabbing with his mouth
full).
With a little help, I was able to get hold of the agenda for
the G8 summit meeting and we placed the time at the beginning of lunch, around
12 noon, in
Here is the chart for this priceless moment, a chart with
similar astrology to so many horrifying world events this week, but which is
specifically personalized to the place and time of the broadcast discussion.
The astrological context is the same as the historical context; this is a
conversation that was going on with the world apparently spiraling into war, at
least for the moment.
Let's see what we can see. In playing this game, what we're
looking for are astrological pictures that fit the scenario; contact that
reveals the nature of relationships involved; and for a story of some kind to
develop. When a chart works, all of these things will unfold pretty naturally.
Quick overview: late Virgo is rising, with the South Node in
the ascendant, exact; the Moon is in Aries, about to make an aspect to nearly
every other planet; and the Sun and Mercury are conjunct in Cancer.
The conversation was initiated by George, who said, "Yo
Blair!" So let's take George as the ruler of the ascendant (the initiator)
and Tony as the ruler of the 7th house (the other party, partner, friend or
open enemy, as fits the situation).
Virgo rising gives us Mercury as the planet standing for
Bush. Once you know the house that a situation or person represents, you take
the sign on the cusp of that house and go to the planet that rules the sign.
This is how you know what means what in the chart. This is how you elicit the
"meaning" from a chart as well.
You look at the scene. Does it fit what the chart is
supposedly describing? This is always the first question. Let's see. Mercury is
in Cancer, retrograde, in the 11th house, conjunct the Sun. Bush is definitely
a Mercury case, and this is always -- always -- an interesting planet in any
chart where there is a development in his administration, starting with the
famous stolen election chart from November 2000 (which we really should look at
soon) to the September 11, 2001 chart (which we'll revisit on the 5th
anniversary in a few weeks) to the rest of them.
Mercury is in Cancer, which is the president's birth sign.
It is retrograde, just like George himself. And if this was not the perfect
Mercury retrograde technology gaffe, I don't know what was. For those
unfamiliar with the substantial body of evidence around Mercury retrograde,
weird things sometimes happen to technology under this transit...things can go
a little "funny." Usually, they "don't work" but this was a
case of something working a little too well. We may also have a trickster
involved, who left the microphone on Blair's lapel open, and kept that signal
as the live feed.
The president is found in the 11th house -- in public,
highly visible, though in Cancer, feeling very much at home. He is also about
to make a conjunction to the Sun -- suggesting something developing, but right
now I'm not getting a sense of what that is. However, so far so good: that
Mercury describes bush to the tee. The Sun conjunction places him in the role
of orbiting something larger than himself. Usually the Sun is the president or
the king; but Bush himself shows up as a kind of satellite.
As for Blair, we look at the 7th house. Pisces is on the 7th
house cusp. The North Node is exactly on the cusp as well. For the ruler of
Pisces, we get two choices: traditional ruler, Jupiter; or modern ruler,
Neptune. It's good to go in order, traditional first, then modern.
We find Jupiter in Scorpio in the 2nd house. That looks like
somebody with a lot of money, who keeps secrets, who has a big opinion of
himself, and has a lot of big ideas. We get the concepts of "a lot"
and "big" from Jupiter; we get money from the 2nd house and Scorpio;
we also get ideas from both Jupiter and the closeness of Jupiter to the 3rd
house. Does this describe Blair? Not as well as Mercury describes Bush, but
then we now a lot less about Blair.
As for the modern ruler: we find
"He knows much more than he could ever put into words,
for here again he realizes the limiting qualities of language as being but just
another formed boundary which could encircle his infinite understanding. He is
able to see the appearances and illusions that others live in, and therefore
has to try to make the best bargain between not toppling their sand castles,
while retaining all the inner truths he knows."
Not a bad description, and in Aquarius, we get a picture of
the "modern world" of technology, broadcast deception, and
techno-warfare.
But here's the interesting thing to consider: Mercury makes
a solid aspect to neither Jupiter nor Neptune. The significators don't connect.
How is the relationship between Bush and Blair described?
Look at the lunar nodes for that. The planets don't connect
the two men, but the nodes go straight across the ascendant and descendent,
linking the men karmically. The nodes "lack substance" and the real
bond is invisible -- but the effects of the nodes are beyond doubt. It's like
there's a thread connecting them, from this lifetime to many others. In a way
they seem inseparable, and we have an image of the "odd couple"
scenario between them.
Let's do a quick check of the Sabian Symbols for those two
degrees: 28 Virgo and 28 Pisces. Note, when using the Sabian Symbols, you
always round up. In other words, the first degree of the zodiac is from 01'
Aries to 1.00 degrees Aries. Then the next degree, 1.01 degrees Aries is
rounded up to two degrees. This we're describing the degree that the planet
occupies, so if it's anything higher than zero but not higher than one, it's
the "first degree," and so on.
The fact that the degrees are so late tells us that we are
looking at a story so well evolved it's about to end, or turn a major chapter.
Remember, these images are for the degrees of the ascendant
and descendent, as well as the lunar nodes.
Image of Bush, 28 Virgo: "A baldheaded man who has
seized power."
Is Bush bald? Well, think of it as The Emperor's New Toupee.
Image of Blair, 28 Pisces: "A fertile garden under the
Full Moon reveals a variety of full-grown vegetables."
Once again, an image of abundance for Tony Blair. Or is he
being called a vegetable? The moonlight illuminates the darkness and we can see
what is there: personally, I see a little gnome who looks a lot like Princess
Lizzy, scurrying amongst the zucchinis, carrying gnome-sized bags of gold and
balancing a diamond-studded barrel of oil on her head.
The presence of the nodes, which are considered
"angular" because they are directly conjunct one of the mundane
angles -- in this chart, the ascendant/descendent axis – brings up the
forthcoming Sept. 22, 2006 solar eclipse. That eclipse will occur in the last
degree of Virgo, precisely opposite the Aries Point; in this chart, it's rising.
It has a touch of the ominous, as eclipses, especially taken so personally, can
create a significant break in continuity that affect many people.
It is rising in the zone of chart that addresses Mr. Bush
himself, and there is a timing factor involved, suggested by the date of the
eclipse: exactly on equinox, in late September. What is interesting is that the
nodes connect the two leaders so strongly, as if their fates are combined or
linked and have been for a long time. It would seem that whatever happens to
one also happens to the other in some form.
Both have significators that are about to form aspects. Bush
as Mercury is about to retrograde right into the Sun, which has a bit of the
image of either Icarus flying way high up there, or something just getting
burned to a toast. Blair as Jupiter is about to square Saturn, having an
encounter with some kind of limiting or defining factor (one which has been a
factor before). Blair as Neptune is about to be opposed by Saturn, another
encounter with a limiting or defining factor -- but this time, one that has
been developing gradually over a long period of time, at least since one year
ago.
The forthcoming exact Saturn-Neptune opposition -- covered
in depth in last week's Planet Waves Weekly (click for full sample issue) is
the great barrier reef of the astrological setup right now; the journey to the
other side of our current chapter or phase of reality. Note that this aspect
occurs within 22 days of an eclipse at 30 Virgo, which exactly opposes the
Aries Point.
What's most interesting to me about is that this chart
personalizes all the great events of the coming three or four months, including
several epoch-defining events. These include Saturn opposite
The presence of Venus on the MC, the highest planet,
suggests something about the role of women that is likely to emerge later in
the year, which we will get into as we develop the Saturn opposite
So, we have a true microcosmic moment here. This chart tells
us, as do the rest we've been studying for the past six to eight months, that
big changes are on the horizon. But, in true
See you over at Planet Waves with more astrology, news and
photographs.
Yours & truly,
ERIC FRANCIS
PS, check out the Moon in this chart. It's always a
significant planet, but in this case, it has extra standing for two reasons.
One, it is the planet that rules the sign where we find Bush's significator
located: Cancer. It's like a secondary ruler for Bush himself. Two, it's on the
8th house cusp: death, transformation, financial matters, secrets. Note as well
that it's about to make an aspect to
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