This morning I scrapped a whole version of Planet Waves. Amanda Painter helped pull this research together. Here is some of that text:
The week we just lived through was dominated by activity in the sign Aries. There was one event after the next that involved an explosion, starting with the Marathon, then on Wednesday, fertilizer plant went off near Waco, Texas, leveling part of a town and killing several people. There were also several explosions reported in Oklahoma.
Two aspects describing this stand out. One was that Mercury entered Aries after more than two months in Pisces (including the Mercury retrograde in Pisces). Mercury entered Aries on Saturday, and walked across the Aries Point — the sensitive first degree of the zodiac.
As it did, that put it on course for the Mercury-Uranus conjunction that happens Saturday and the Mercury-Uranus square on Sunday. That aspect shows up prominently in the chart for the Marathon bombing and the other explosions, as we’ll see in a moment when we do the chart. The Mercury factor often represents a message, or something that can be read as one.
And the Sun was conjunct Mars in late Aries, which was in effect all week though exact on Wednesday, the day that the the senate voted down any new firearms regulations. That’s a hot, fiery conjunction in an assertive or aggressive sign.
Notably, this was the first Sun-Mars conjunction in Aries (the sign ruled by Mars, and where the Sun is exalted) since April 2, 1981. That conjunction was within one degree of exactitude on March 30, 1981, the day that Ronald Reagan was shot and nearly killed by David Hinckley.
That crime was the one that led to the passage of the Brady Bill, an important gun control law named for Reagan’s then-press secretary, who was maimed in the assassination attempt. That law, which included magazine limits, an assault weapons ban and FBI background checks, had important provisions expire under the Cheney/Bush administration.
This time of year has many violent incidents throughout history, including the start of the Revolutionary War. That was the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which began April 19, 1775. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1864. The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912.
More recently, there was the Waco, Texas siege on April 19, 1993. There was the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The mass shooting at Columbine was on April 20, 1999. The shooting at Virginia Tech was on April 16, 2007. The BP explosion and oil spill happened April 20, 2010.
There’s no easy explanation for this pattern. Some of it is by design; some of these events commemorate one another. I think, however, that it’s significant that the earliest date in this chain is the start of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775. That was celebrated as Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts, but was recently moved to the nearest Monday, which is also the day of the Boston Marathon.
The most salient fact out of all of this is that the bombing took place not just at the marathon but also on the day that commemorates the start of the American Revolution.
April 18th was the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 — sounds long ago, but it’s never far from the mind of natives. April is my nemesis month (I’m knocking on wood, as I say it.) I always hold my breath ’til it’s over, so I’m pretty blue and still ten days to go!
I’ve always agreed with TS Eliot:
“APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers (…) (from The Waste Land)
bkoehler: thanks for all you do.!
here’s a zip file of many of the charts I’ve used this week, including research charts for reference. It’s an interesting collection, if you have aspirations to being a research astrologer.
http://planetwaves.fm/podcast/boston.zip
Thank you Eric and Amanda for doing this. I’ve noted the Mercury/Pluto/Chiron yod in the U.S. Sibly Solar Returns for July ’11 – July ’12 and July ’12 – July ’13 several times, and even commented on the fact that the SR chart for July 4 2012-2013 had the Moon (28 Capricorn) conjunct the U.S. natal Sibly Pluto (27 Capricorn), but I doubt I’ve even once said anything about Jupiter, Ceres, South Node all conjunct at 4-5 Gemini.
Falling in the Solar Return chart’s 6th house (as does Venus at 8 Gemini), I get the feeling that listening to a whole lotta talk & seeing a whole lotta words and pictures might be good for the health of the country. Nurturing even. Vital. Jupiter in the 6th usually is good for the health of the chart’s owner, and Jupiter rules this chart set in Washington DC, which has the same ascendant degree as the Mother Chart of July 4, 1776 set in Philadelphia.
Or maybe it’s because the 1776 Mercury was in Cancer and was retrograde and in a T-square between Chiron opposite Juno, and opposite Pluto that he needs nurturing now. I just have that feeling, you know?
Vesta is in the S.R. 6th house too, and she trines the Moon that rules the Sun’s sign, and she conjuncts the S.R. Pluto too. Talk can be cathartic. When you noted earlier that Mercury was opposite the super massive black hole M-87, it dawned on me that Mars (0 Libra) was conjunct the M-87 super massive black hole in the presently active solar return chart for the U.S. And its on the MC too (1 Libra). Mars rules the surgeon’s scalpel too.
So bottom line, this solar return chart that keeps saying “2nd chance to get it right” to me is about healing ancient wounds and cauterizing the dead flesh in order to stop the infection from spreading. By exposing those wounds to “air” ~ talking about them ~ we are slowly healing them. There’s another yod in the SR chart for US this year and it includes Mercury at 8 Leo sextile Venus at 8 Gemini and both quincunx Pluto at 8 Capricorn. Mercury’s in the 8th, Venus is in the 6th and Pluto is in the 1st house.
The solar return South Node Sabian Symbol is of A Revolutionary Magazine Asking For Action. “The explosive tendency of repressed feelings and root emotions.” Dane Rudhyar says it symbolizes the desire “To reach beyond established forms.” That most certainly would mean the established forms of print media and all other archaic forms of communicating. Mercury rules!
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Police have cornered a potential suspect on boat in backyard in Watertown.