Astrology of Haiti earthquake

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Tuesday afternoon near Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The country, one of the poorest on Earth, shares an island, called Hispaniola, with the Dominican Republic. Port-au-Prince is 710 miles southeast of Miami. The island is situated right next to Cuba and Jamaica. In global terms, it’s a fairly large island — the 10th most populous and the 22nd largest in the world. But Haiti is crowded. Nearly 1,000 people live on a square mile. Port-au-Prince has a population of about three million people, so we’re talking about a city the size of Brooklyn, NY — where a great many Haitians live. Due to the extreme poverty of Haiti, there has been a global diaspora. Haitian communities and their Creole culture can be found in many parts of the world.

Click on image to enlarge.

The quake took place at sundown, so it was a long night of having no real idea the extent or scope of the casualties and damage. In astrological terms, dusk puts the Sun (and the North Node, where Friday’s solar eclipse will occur) on the western angle of the chart, which puts a stress on the Earth.

Due to its location in the hurricane belt, Haiti is no stranger to disasters, but this is different. Nearly all of the infrastructure of the country has been damaged and much of it has been destroyed. This was the first major earthquake in 200 years. Haiti’s buildings are designed to withstand big storms, not the Earth shaking.

Notably, there were no reports of tsunamis. [MSNBC is reporting that the airport’s runway and control tower are functional, which is very good news for getting in relief supplies. The president of the country survived the earthquake but the national palace collapsed.]

When I said in yesterday’s subscriber edition that the eclipse this week was a setup for earthquakes, it was based on one scientific fact and three observations about the chart. A few weeks ago I read an article, which I’ll need to find, that confirmed what astrologers have known for a long time: earthquakes follow planetary alignments.

Astrologers are pretty much the only people who are watching what’s happening with other planets when something happens on Earth. Astrologers know that major quakes are likelier to happen close to New Moons and Full Moons. The Banda Aceh quake on the island of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004 happened during the last approach to a Full Moon, for example (and there are other similarities to the Haiti quake chart).

The astrological facts included the alignment of 11 planets across Capricorn and Aquarius, some of which (such as Jupiter and the Sun) are putting enormous gravitational stress on the Earth. [This link includes the minor planets from Serennu.com.] Second fact was the eclipse itself. Eclipses are precise alignments with direct effects. The third fact was that this eclipse was in Capricorn, which I consider the sign for the Earth itself; that is, for the physical structures that make up the planet, such as the tectonic plates, mountains, caves and so on.

The earthquake that struck Haiti registered 7.0 and leveled, among other buildings, the UN HQ and the country's parliament.

While you cannot assign a gravity effect to Pluto, you can assign a holographic effect: Pluto in Capricorn, taking a square from Saturn, is the image of a physical stress. Astrology can work as a direct cause and effect kind of thing (gravity) or it can have a holographic effect (such as a visual picture in the chart representing a visual picture of something in the world). And that visual is cracks in a structure — which also applies to the global banking system and (American) government structure, though that’s a subject for a different day.

A few other facts about this chart. Yesterday I looked at Friday’s eclipse in the context of the Thema Mundi, the ancient ‘chart of the world’, a chart I’ve only done one other article on. Thema Mundi has 15 degrees of Cancer rising; the chart for yesterday’s quake has the same degree rising. The implication here is that while this is a local event in the Caribbean, it is really a global event or a signifier of a global situation. The United Nations, which has a significant presence in Haiti, suffered devastating losses; its headquarters collapsed.

Emphasizing the global point, the Moon in Sagittarius is in an exact conjunction (one-half degree minute away) to the Galactic Core. Of the many precise aspects in this chart, that one is the real stand-out. The Moon is also at a very close opposition (two degrees, applying) to the Moon in the chart for the Sumatra quake of late 2004.

And, notably, retrograde Mars was in an exact opposition to the Centaur planet Nessus, which we covered in yesterday morning’s edition. To me that is just a comment on how devastating this is; Mars retrograde in the 2nd house, opposite Nessus, is a picture of the cruelty of extreme poverty.

Looking at the 8th house of this chart, there is likely to be a very high death toll: the cluster of Aquarius planets stretches right across the 8th, which is the house that covers the basic issues of death. There are no death tolls yet; there is barely communication with the island. It would seem that this event is going to transform that entire region of the world.

46 thoughts on “Astrology of Haiti earthquake”

  1. Marina,

    Thank you for sharing your information with us. It is quite plausible as far as it goes. Would you have any more information on “wiz-ga from Indo-European base weis,- to turn, twist”?

    I assume Gemini would be rising in this chart. Would you know the degree?

    Funkstar had some interesting observations that he posted a couple of days ago, and he too mentioned the yod. So much to learn about these “new” astro-bodies!

    Isn’t astrology amazing?
    be

  2. By aquacaruso at 2010-01-14

    I have a different take on this. I hope you don’t mind me sharing. Interesting about you saying Eric that Pluto being in Capricorn is one factor of the earthquake because sidereally Pluto would be in Sagittarius. Sagittarius=Expansion. Pluto=Underground?
    It is square a Saturn deep down near the IC in earthy Virgo.
    Saturn is constricting, but in Virgo also twisting?
    From the constellation of words:
    “The word virgo is Latin for virgin. Klein explains the word virgo; “is probably related to virga, ‘a young shoot, twig’, virgate”, virgate (shaped like a wand or rod, also an early English measure of land area), from Latin virgatus, ‘made of twigs’, from virgo, ‘twig, switch, rod’, which is of uncertain origin. It stands perhaps for *wiz-ga, from Indo-European base *weis-, ‘to turn, twist’,
    Mercury is this charts ruler and of course retrograde (going inwards) and it’s conjunct that Pluto in the 6th where all the action is. The loaded gun of a Transplutionian yod is pointing right at Quaoar in the 6th. This in Virgo’s twisting house.. Quaoar is in Scorpio ruled by that Pluto. It all goes back to Pluto, Lord of the Underworld. Deep action underground.
    Henry Reid, “An earthquake is the huge amount of energy released when accumulated strain causes a fault to rupture. He explained that rock twisted further and further out of shape by continuing forces over the centuries eventually yields in a wrenching snap as the two sides of the fault slip to a new position to relieve the strain.

    Retro Mercury the chart ruler also rules that Saturn which is square the Pluto/Mercury.
    Plus it rules the sign Varuna is in which is part of the Yod.
    Mars rules Sedna and is also retrograde. Sedna and Varuna are also both retro grade. Moving energy inward.

    The triple conjunction is in the 8th house of death tho its moving apart. In Sidereal Neptune has only just moved into 0 degs Aquarius. I don’t know if we could say a change of sign could be a trigger, but since the transneptunians are real players in this chart and Neptune must be their master I wonder if this it not too fanciful to think so. Particularly when sidereally the eclipse to follow was also on 0 degs (Capricorn.) a sign away.

    Both tropical and sidereal seem to describe this quake in different ways.
    I think the twisting of Virgo and retro Mercury emphasis is interesting. Plus the Stellium is in expansive Sag. While we have restrictive/underground themes going on with Saturn and Pluto.

  3. The US owes a trillion dollars to China now, and it looks like we could be headed for a trade war now that the US has backed Google’s decision to pull out of China.
    We are focused on Haiti, but that isn’t the only shift of the past few days.

  4. I incorrectly said Pluto (which is conjunct the Sun) could qualify for a septile to Nessus, but should have said a semisquare to Nessus (which is conjunct Chiron) in the Winter Solstice chart. Sorry ’bout that.

  5. Funkstar and Eric,

    I find your remarks quite interesting and altogether new to me. Also, Funkstar, I’ve read your comments on other sites and like the way you think; welcome to the family! I have some new thoughts I’d like to share too.

    The Winter Solstice on 12/21 painted a picture of structures destroyed, and promised to expose fault and corruption, no matter where in the world you live. It also showed us a challenge to what we love and the things we hold dear by a shocking force, testing our understand of God and all the powers of the world (and beyond). It’s also showing us a pathway for moving beyond the grief and loss to a better way of life. I believe the key to that path is Chiron.

    Chiron on 12/21 when the Sun moved into Capricorn was at 22 Aquarius 34. He was in the company of Neptune, Jupiter, the Moon and Nessus. 60 degrees ahead of him was Uranus at 22 Pisces 52. Almost 60 degrees behind him was Venus at 24 Sagittarius 57. Directly opposite him was rx Mars at 19 Leo 41.

    Also behind him was Mercury and the NN at 19+ and 21+ Capricorn forming a semi-sextile, and further back was the Sun at 0 Cap (in a near-perfect septile of 56.4 degrees) who was conjunct Pluto at 2 Cap 56.

    Pluto under-qualified for a septile to Chiron, but not to his companiion Nessus. We can include him with the sun in a septile to Chiron or to Nessus (who conjucts Chiron) but he must be included.

    Finally, Saturn at 4 Libra 10 was within the 3 degree orb of the sesquiquadrate aspect of 135 degrees to Chiron. A sesquiquadrate brings dramatic occurrences into your life that demand immediate attention.

    The chart for the Winter solstice is built on a frame of Saturn square Pluto/Sun in cardinal signs. Destruction is a given. But so is rebirth and transformation. Look at Uranus sextile the NN and Mercury. Technical advances in communication and transportation for starters. This sextile joins with Mars rx to form a yod (Finger of God) and funnels its combined energy to a dramatic, inwardly thrusted focal point.

    The Moon, Jupiter, Neptune, Chiron and Nessus sextile Venus and the GC seek to lift mankind up by increasing his spirituality, love, understanding, sensitivity and awareness.

    We are all experiencing these energies as depicted in the solstice chart. For Haiti and the people who live there it has manifested primarily through the SN at 14 Leo 27. From the Solstice position of 19+ Leo, Mars backed up to 15 Leo 17 to trigger the devastation. The Haiti chart also has Mercury at 18 Cap 11 conjunct the Solstice Mercury (and NN), part of the yod with Uranus and Mars. This wrecked havoc on the communication and transportation of Haiti. Even more so as a magnet!

    For the U.S., the Solstice Moon at 27 Aquarius 15 is conjunct the Sibley U.S. Moon 27 Aquarius 10, and Pallas Athene at 26 Aquarius 32 rx. The U.S. natal Venus is square the Solstice Saturn and opposite the Solstice Sun/Pluto. The feelings of Americans have been aroused; consciousness of how much better off they are than the people of Haiti is shown by the Solstice Moon (+US Moon) conjunct Jupiter and Chiron and the compassion that has followed is shown by the conjunction to Neptune.

    For all the wounding Chiron-consciousness brings, it will be followed by healing and a kind of freedom, I believe. Chiron is key. . .THE key to a path that leads to higher consciousness, wisdom and salvation for the human race.

  6. Interesting Eric, I’m only new to reading this site so have a bit of catching up to do. Mercury as a magnet? This central core theory that science has come up with also may apply to other planets. A central solid crystal core, surrounded by magma. The core spins faster than the surrounding magma, and faster than the crust, creating a dynamo effect – perfect for an electromagnet.

  7. Yes, this is who we are! and doesn’t this feed my soul … No, we are not the war-mongering-old-white-dudes that Osama et al is hell bent on destroying. We are of the cancerian vibe that is there for you when you r house topples ontop of you. I am elated to witness our largess in this horrendous catastophe. May this empty our coffers such that there’s nothing left for the pentagon to spend in our name.

    mary m.

  8. We have reported earlier how Mercury is a big magnet. During Mercury retrograde, Mercury is closer to the Earth. That is a big hint, I would say. Thanks for that idea…

  9. Hi Eric, been thinking about how planets actually cause thing to happen in the earth.

    “While you cannot assign a gravity effect to Pluto, you can assign a holographic effect: Pluto in Capricorn, taking a square from Saturn, is the image of a physical stress. Astrology can work as a direct cause and effect kind of thing (gravity) or it can have a holographic effect”

    Scientists have found that at the core of the earth there is a single giant Iron crystal, nearly the size of our Moon. I’m guessing that planets, even stars emit energy, perhaps electromagnetic energy, which is received by our giant crystal, then processed and sent through to us on the surface.

    So when we have tight planetary configurations, the stress is reflected in the earth. This Haiti earthuake had a Yod with Quaoar at the action point to the Varuna-Sedna sextile has a total orb of just 13′. Sedna nearing its prehelion seems to influence earth changes.

  10. It’s interesting to me that the first super-major disaster of the current Saturn-Pluto square period hits Haiti — which is such a poster child for the underside of the corporate-military-government success story of white anglo capitalism.

    I’m a white guy and I’m not so much into hating myself for the color of my skin anymore or blaming white people or Americans for the mess the world is in.

    But I do believe Pluto in Capricorn is going to rewrite the world story or tear down the world architecture from 2009-2023 as thoroughly as it did in the 1760s and 1770s. And I believe a large measure of how much this is going to hurt “us” is how we choose to react to disasters that affect “them”.

    If we believe what we all talk about (the inner creates the outer, natural disasters are a response from Gaia to the collective emotionality of the people and other beings on the planet), this is clearly a major release of repressed anger (Pluto in Capricorn partile conjunct Haiti’s Mars) and a volcanic eruption of soul energy (Pluto) that has also been held down by authority under the current system (Saturn).

    Thanks for the info, Fe Bongolan — I did not know that Haiti’s cycle of poverty started with a 100-year-plus usurious debt repayment plan! But Haiti is perhaps just a slightly extreme version of the kind of economic oppression that has characterized the current Pluto cycle.

    I also think we should remember that many good things came out of this cycle — democracy, freedom of movement and thought, and the information revolution that promises to bring us together as one world.

  11. ginblossom: what a story. i’m fascinated by the dexterity of humans at the art of self-loathing.

  12. Regarding donations, the ones we are talking about are precisely the standard operators. For example, the president of the International Red Cross was drawing down a salary slightly under half a million a year in 2003, according to form 990, their public statement of funds and expenses that allows them to be a “non profit” company. They took $60m i government funds that year.

    Given that donations are supposed to be for relief efforts, that’s a lot of money. It reminds me of bankers getting bonuses as the economy crumbles.

    This is comparable to the salary of the president of Oxfam International. What I am suggesting is that we not just blindly give our funds, but rather find out who we are giving to, what they do with the money and what their ethics are. As we make a transition into a new paradigm, this kind of awareness is a necessary piece of the transition. It’s the same thing as knowing the source of your news or astrology or for that matter the weather, and the motives of the people producing the information.

  13. Regarding donations, I think the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund at http://www.yele.org would be okay. It is sponsored by Wyclef Jean, famous Haitian musician. You can donate by text message. Otherwise, the standard ones, like Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross.

  14. Yeah, actually Pat Robertson, that’s not what happened.

    I have actually heard this before though, in my Oracle night phase. What i heard was that the Haitian people called on Satan to fight the white man through their Voodoo dances and danger drums. When they moved to New Orleans this became ragtime, which became jazz, which became rock and roll and this is why both Haitians and rock and roll are from hell.

    Added to the list of races from hell would be the french, since they outlawed the church around the same time.

    Those with “spiritual discernment”, you know, see a connection there.

    When I first heard this stuff, I had a panic attack. It was a taped sermon, with a light skinned, bookish looking African American man achieving the most irrational, racist, horrifying points in a methodical, thoughtful way. Every once in a while he would prove the truth of what he was saying with Bible scripture. I kept getting up to leave the room and each time the people I was sitting with would stop the tape and wait patiently for me to return from my emergency anxiety breathing exercises and centered happyplace locating.

    It was important information, they told me. Things I should know about Satan. My salvation was at risk. If I could not accept these ideas then I should pray for acceptance and understanding.

    I am not sure which is more frightening; to be in a roomful of psychotics, or to realize how many of them have their own television show.

  15. “Here’s what that pig Pat Robertson had to say about it: And you know Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said we will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French. True Story. And so the Devil said “OK, it’s a deal.” And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.”

    Thanks susyc – Yes, I wondered when the smugly saved religious right would dredge up voodoo practice.

    But it seems to me like the devil got in anyway – through a bank.

    Nothing has changed…….

  16. Sent two donations today, one to the Red Cross and the other to Doctors Without Borders. Also wrote an angry letter to Verizon for not making MobileGiving available to worthy causes supporting the victims of this terrible catastrophe in Haiti. Such a terrible thing. Here’s what that pig Pat Robertson had to say about it:

    “And you know Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said we will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French. True Story. And so the Devil said “OK, it’s a deal.” And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.”

  17. eric:

    I double-checked the orgs I linked at the thread below (which I garnered from a Kos diary from a reliable blogger, dallasdoc), and weeded out the ones that seemed, well, threadbare.

    DO NOT send your money to an individual who claims to be working on Haitian relief.

  18. My chief banking adviser, however, has recommended that that we check out organizations before just giving money. I have exceedingly little experience with these NGOs. My first instinct was to recommend UNICEF. I would appreciate it if we could scare up some information about where we should be giving our money so it’s not all going to CEO salaries. In the ‘new world’ we need to be doing this consciously so that we are not feeding parasites while we are trying to do the right thing.We are doing very nicely as a community with a knack for moving information. Can anyone turn up a report on what are the most effective and efficient NGOs to give to? If we find that I suggest that one of our editors write it up and put it at the top of the blog.

    I have had good experiences with Oxfam, mainly in knowing that they support good journalism. Anyone know about Oxfam’s funding and effectiveness?? efc

  19. patty:

    Exactly right.

    Turning our heads away in this day and age is the sin of this last century in the name of progress for the developed industrialized world over the poor. It is the legacy of human exploitation, in operation even as our own country was being “born”.

  20. Fe, I appreciate the article. It goes with something I’ve had a gut feeling about for awhile now. The chickens are coming home to roost on the heinous crime of slavery. Goes with Eric’s assessment about our Grandmother’s not always being right too. People always turned their heads and minded their own business in the old days, but we can’t do that anymore. Turning away from people who are having the shit kicked out of them is not even close to being the right thing to do.

  21. Eric
    You are certainly quick off the mark! I just thought I’d mention one thing which has not come up here is that this earthquake has occurred at a Moon Wobble. In addition to the planets, asteroids, comets and moons that revolve in our solar system, astrology considers the effects of two “Shadow Planets” called the Moon’s Nodes, the Dragon’s Head and Tail. These nodes are not real rocks, like the Moon, Mars
    or Venus, but sensitive points that mark the movement by declination of the Moon from the southern celestial hemisphere to the northern (the North Node) and vice versa (the South Node), where the path of the Moon around the Earth sweeps across the ecliptic, intersecting the apparent path of the Sun. The nodes form an axis, so the South Node is always directly opposite the North Node in a stately cosmic quadrille. Nevertheless, the Moon’s Nodes are vitally important in terms of the destinies of all who dwell on Planet Earth.

    Disasters have historically been associated with Eclipses, whether of the Sun or of the Moon. An eclipse occurs when the Sun is conjunct either the the North or the South Node, but another highly significant aspect is when the Sun is square the nodal axis. These are the Moon Wobbles first identified by Carl Payne Tobey in the 1930’s, who found that disasters tend to cluster around these aspects.

    A Lunar Eclipse occurred on New Year’s Eve exactly conjunct Haiti’s natal Sun in the 11th degree of Capricorn. The Moon Wobble (the exact conjunction of the Sun with the North Node) occurred on Jan 11 in the 22nd degree of Cap. The Earthquake occurred the next day, with the Sun and Venus conjunct the North Node, transiting Pluto conjunct Haiti’s natal Mars, and transiting Mars retrograde conjunct Haiti’s natal South Node. And as you say the earthquake Moon is conjunct the GC.

    It’s notable that Haiti is currently undergoing a Saturn Return, with earthquake Saturn stationary about to turn retrograde in tight conjunction with Haiti’s natal Saturn. And to top it off, a Solar Eclipse will occur on Jan 15.

    Those who are interested can read more about the Moon Wobble, with a list of associated events at http://www.astrologycom.com/moonwobble.html

  22. Our amazing Governor-General of Canada (Head of State/Queen’s representative) Michaelle Jean is Haitian born and she has just spoken on television this afternoon with her trademark courage and compassion. It is her attempt to give moral support to her suffering compatriots in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora in Canada and around the world.

    It is very heart wrenching to watch her speak, revealing the depth of her suffering while urging support and prayers for her people. I thought some of you might like to view it as a way of being with her and her people in spirit via video?

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/jean-responds-to-quake/article1430138/

    She speaks in French until around 4:40 (which is translated into English,) and then switches into English and ends in her native tongue, Creole.

  23. Haiti/Ayiti (Land of high mountains)
    Its motto is: “Strength through Unity.”

    Once again as my micro life seems to echo the macro, I recently mustered the courage to reach out to my own family for love and support for the first time in my life and I am overwhelmed by their collective response. I have been rocked; they have responded.
    I sense a turning in our collective understanding of each other — sibling to sibling in my immediate family and country to country in my fragile global family.

    My heart goes out to all Haitians in their desperate time of tragedy and need.
    Our world is only as strong as those weakest among us.
    I am praying for strength through unity everywhere. This is a wonderful motto and rallying cry for us all.

  24. Eric-

    Another event interesting to compare to the Haiti chart: a major tsunami in the Solomon Islands in 2007: Event data is April 8, 2007, 8:40 pm UT, Gizo, Solomon Islands. I use Koch Houses. Note that the Moon is at 26 degrees Sag 23′ once again! The Haiti Mars is within 2 degrees conjunct the Solomon Saturn; the Haiti event MH is conjunct the Solomon Ceres at 8 degrees Aries, which is also trine the Haiti Ceres at 9 degrees Sagittarius; the Haiti Pluto is sextile and trine the Solomon Asc-Dsc axis within minutes, Haiti Sun square the Solomon Sun in Aries. Much sychronisity! -Marguerite

  25. OMG Fe, you just put it back on the table for these readers here on PW. Something tells me the world will be made aware of this story within weeks. Thanks for more consciousness raising my dear.

  26. Eric,

    Here are two links to articles using Campion’s “The Book of World Horoscopes” chart for Haiti. The book doesn’t give a time of day.

    http://aquarianrants.blogspot.com/2010/01/haiti-and-lunar-eclipse-connection.html
    http://www.astrolodge.co.uk/astro/atthelodge/2004/spring/1mar.html

    Also, I made an entry yesterday on the “Let Go for Good – Mars Opposition Nessus” thread using the same date, although I used Port-au-Prince coordinates, rather than the location used in Campion’s book which is a little different.

  27. “I think it’s a turning point. I am sure of it; obviously there is no choice but to start over. Though that may or may not affect the national or tribal karma, whatever that may be.

    I do think it would make sense to consider how so much disaster can befall one tiny place, though. What is at the heart of that?”

    eric:

    In terms of karma, Haiti was historic in that it waged a successful slave revolt against their brutal French colonizers, made rich off of sugar plantations. When Haiti was “born” in 1804, the French exacted a price for their former colony to the tune of $150 million francs. That’s $21 billion dollars in 2010 money.

    This is from an article published in 2006

    Haiti’s history is remarkable – in 1804 Haiti became only the second independent country in the Americas, the world’s first ‘Black Republic’ and the only nation in history born of a successful slave revolt. Haitians won their independence by beating the French army in a bloody twelve year war, but European countries and the United States forced them to pay a second price to gain entry to the international community. The world powers refused to recognize Haiti’s independence, while France posted warships off her coast, threatening invasion and the reinstitution of slavery. After twenty-one years of fighting this isolation, Haiti succumbed to France’s unjust terms in 1825. In exchange for diplomatic recognition, Haiti agreed to take out a loan from a designated French bank and pay compensation to French plantation owners for their loss of “property,” including the freed slaves. The amount of the debt – 150,000,000 French Francs – was ten times that of Haiti’s total 1825 revenue and twice the price of the Louisiana Purchase, paid by the United States to France a year before Haiti’s independence for seventy-four times more land.

    This imposition of compensation by a defeated power and reimbursement by freed slaves of their former owners is unique in history and violated international law even in 1825. The 1825 agreement began a cycle of debt that has condemned the Haitian people to poverty ever since. Haiti did not finish paying the loans that financed the debt – made under terms dictated by the 1825 agreement – until 1947. Over a century after the global slave trade was recognized and eliminated as the evil it was, the Haitians were still paying their ancestors’ masters for their freedom.

    The crippling legacy of debt begun in 1825 has stifled Haitian development ever since. The government could not invest in education, healthcare or infrastructure projects because all available funds went overseas. In 1915, for example, 80% of government revenues went to debt service. The need for hard currency forced Haitian farmers to favor financially or environmentally risky cash crops such as coffee and hardwood, rather than development of a diverse national economy. Over-farming and over-logging led, in turn, to catastrophic deforestation and soil erosion which put more pressure on the remaining arable land. Economic instability has engendered political instability: Haiti has been beset by dozens of coups, rebellions, foreign military interventions and a cycle of violence that paralleled the country’s downward economic spiral. Today Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of its people living below the poverty line and is ranked 153rd out of 177 on the UN Human Development Index, far behind all of its Caribbean neighbors.

    The $21 billion, in current terms, that France extorted illegally, and therefore owes Haiti, dwarfs the aid packages being debated in Port-au-Prince this week. Unlike loans and other foreign assistance, a just repayment of the independence debt would not extend dependence on foreign aid, and would allow the people of Haiti to develop their country as they, not the international community, think best. If the international community were serious about lifting Haiti out of its desperate poverty, repaying the independence debt would be at the top of the agenda, not off the table.

    ————————————-

    The original French debt was paid off in 1947 and another larger portion of Haiti’s debt was forgiven this last year by the US and other members of a lending block of industrial nations.–fb

  28. birth of this series: May 19, 1613

    The chart for the current January 15, 2010 eclipse seems to echo the birth chart of the series in a few important ways. Venus is again conjunct the North Node, Jupiter is again conjunct Neptune, and Pluto is again in the sign of the eclipse.

    http://mountainastrologer.com/tma/capricorn-eclipse-a-new-power-emerges

    Jupiter/Neptune rises near Haiti in the birth chart for Saros series 141 and in the current eclipse Jupiter/Neptune is at Nadir there

  29. I think it’s a turning point. I am sure of it; obviously there is no choice but to start over. Though that may or may not affect the national or tribal karma, whatever that may be.

    I do think it would make sense to consider how so much disaster can befall one tiny place, though. What is at the heart of that?

    Has someone got the natal data on Haiti, from Campion?

  30. The more I think about the Moon in this chart conjunct the GC the more important it becomes (to me at this moment, but to the world in general as time goes by). As the ruler of the chart it speaks of the meaning of the moment. As the Moon it speaks of feelings and unconscious reactions, or habits. In the 6th house it speaks of service, aid and healing. Conjunct the GC it speaks of divine inspiration and the opportunity to apply higher consciousness for the betterment of life for all.

    jinspace is the perfect example of that. Her words are an automatic response to her feelings to provide comfort and necessities to the people who have been devastated by this earthquake. Her urging others to follow suit is a mirror of the United States’ emotional response to aid our neighbors, and as soon as possible.

    That Moon/GC conjunction falls in the 1st house of the U.S. Sibley chart and sextiles the U.S. Moon in Aquarius in the Sibley 3rd house. The 3rd house can represent neighbors as well as communication and family members. This auto-reactive Moon response to the urgent call for help is what we do best. We do it without thinking (much. . .it is an Aquarian moon for heaven’s sake!) and the nurture effect kicks in as soon as we Americans hear of the need, especially a natural disaster.

    Two previous charts with long-term effects are the Winter Solstice (12/21/09) and the Full Moon Eclipse (12/31/09). They both traditionally have a 3 month influence so can be considered for this event.

    The solstice chart has the Moon at 27+ Aquarius, which is conjunct the U.S. Sibley Moon, and is part of the transiting conjunction of Neptune (compassion), Jupiter (enormous) and Chiron (wounding and healing). The Sun at 0 Capricorn is conjunct Pluto and square Saturn. The earthquake yesterday is so part of the universal message for human beings to rise to the highest level of awareness; that we are all one.

    The eclipsed Full Moon chart on New Year’s Eve has the Moon at 10+ Cancer, 3 degrees from the U.S. Sibley Sun and less than 5 degrees from the Sibley Jupiter. Also, asteroids Vesta (6+ Virgo) and Pallas Athene (7+ Scorpio) in sextile and trine to the Moon (and Sun) support the theme of service through hard work, focusing and keeping the spirit alive, and strategic planning for coordinated recovery.

    In two days the Solar Eclipse at 25+ Capricorn will fall 2 degrees from the U.S. Sibley Pluto and opposite the U.S. Sibley Mercury by one degree. It’s influence could last for three years and will no doubt start to transform our values (2nd house)and how, and with whom we share our resources (8th house). It is just a beginning.
    be

  31. eric:

    It would be interesting, projecting from here on out, what the future trajectory would be for this nation, which will be starting from zero again.

    You mentioned the 8th house and this event having a major impact on the region. It also brings to mind the issue of debt forgiveness for this and other highly indebted nations in the Americas.

    Haiti recently had a huge amount of its debt forgiven in September of 2009. What will this disaster mean to the developed and industrialized world in the position to help? Can the IMF and World Bank think forward in handling what this is, a destroyed country? Could this possibly be a turning point?

  32. The problem with natural disasters is that you don’t have to work for them; but once they happen, they have the benefit of concentrating positive effort. Absent a disaster, people need to bring a vision and the willingness to cooperate. That is a much longer process, and it’s difficult to get too many people to agree that anything needs to happen, much less how it needs to happen.

    My personal approach to making the world better is to put out a constant flow of ideas and psychological/spiritual information to assist those who are gradually waking up to the necessities and creative potential of their existence, and of ours. And then to concentrate community energy around constructive, creative ideas; assisting in creating a forum for ideas and art. This is an extremely slow process — though there are acceleration points. We happen to be at/in one of them right now.

    The acceleration points give us the potential for progress, and much of that process must be interior: related to setting intentions, focusing desire and dealing with shadow material that comes up along the way toward taking action. That requires support. In a sense, digging a city out of an earthquake and even rebuilding that city are easier than creating something new and original. That’s because a ‘disaster’ comes with its own set of needs and the willingness, mostly out of sympathy (rare enough to find).

    But what if someone said: here’s this island and a few million people who want to move there. Donations being accepted. I don’t think there would be much response, but you never know.

  33. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if global peace and prosperity were as easy to forecast as natural disasters, which happen regardless of the caprices of human nature. As I read the first full account of the earthquake it struck me, too, that it can be seen as a metaphor for all that’s gone hideously wrong in the world and the need (the beginning?) to wipe the slate clean. Fine. Meanwhile, there are very real human beings in desperate need of immediate aid right now. The Haitians suffer enough as it is. Please do whatever you can to help.

    The Huffington Post has compiled a fairly long list of relief organizations that are accepting blood, water, food, clothing, blankets, medicine, shelter and, of course, money. Here’s the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/haiti-earthquake-relief-h_n_421014.html

  34. When I saw the 6.5 in Eureka the other day I figured we’d get more. When they pop big, they seem to chain and not always in their own fault lines. This will draw attention to Haiti herself, and perhaps we’ll learn some of her amazing history and get a big dose of her suffering. When I think about this spot on the map, I think “discarded.” There are many such.

    Here’s some information on contribution:

    http://www.cidi.org
    http://www.interaction.org/
    http://www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake

  35. Also want to say thank you, Eric. Heard the news this morning and went straight here to see what was up.

    Folks, this is astrology worth supporting!

  36. Eric,

    Good information; it helps to grasp the big picture. I read that the U.N’s chart has a Mars/Saturn conjuction at 23+/24+ Cancer, opposite the Solar eclipse at 25+. Also transiting Pluto is conjunct the UN’s natal South Node at 3 Cap 05.

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