2017 December stuff

[Jim Eshelman]

Starting the thread.

[Jim Eshelman]

Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a strongman ruler that was eventually ousted and then fought his way back into power, has been killed.

There aren't a lot of details, but several parties agree (according to NYT) that he is dead and was killed Monday morning (12/4/17). This occurred in the capital, Sana'a. It seems tied into an explosion at his family's compound.

In looking at any charts for Yemen, we need to filter out the ongoing civil war. In this case, first indications apply to that as much as to overthrowing a leader, since the Year chart for Yemen is the Cansolar with Moon-Uranus square Sun-Mars on the angles (and a little Pluto). Sun, 21' from MC, is the most angular planet.

The Caplunar has Neptune closely rising, and some Mercury. plus the universal Moon-Uranus square.

The Arilunar has Moon-Uranus (conjunct 0°02') opposite Mars, and all three of them partile square MC. Moon is 05' off, Uranus 07 off, Mars 29' off. Throw in some Jupiter and Pluto on the fringe (but they are not in aspect).

That same Mars-Uranus opposition, as a transit, is on the Cansolar - that was the triggering aspect for the last 24 hours. The CanQ has Neptune exactly on Asc, and the Venus-Neptune pair within orb. (This is suitable both for murder, and for the shifting alliances that reportedly led up to the event.)

[Jim Eshelman]

Overnight, a horrendous fire broke out that is threatening Ventura, CA and forcing thousands of evacuations overnight. At last report, it has consumed 31,000 acres, 7,700 homes have been evacuated and 260,000 homes and businesses are without electricity (some reaching across the line into Santa Barbara County).

I have moved all information on this to the following thread:
http://solunars.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1827

[Jim Eshelman]

Yes, very much like the flash fires charts.

[Jim Eshelman]

This morning, President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I'm mostly interested in what this means for the Jerusalem.

One can say that this was intended to be a smashingly good year for Jerusalem, since the Year chart is the Cansolar, with Jupiter 0°02' from Ascendant, Pluto 1°40' off IC, and the two in 1°42' mundane square. This, of course, can also be a sign of geopolitical tensions, but the precision of the Jupiter contact can be expercted to be the lead factor.

Additionally, the Libsolar has Jupiter 1°34' from Ascendant conjunct Mercury 0°04' away in mundo - They were in for some spectacularly good news, and it was going to be this quarter!

The Caplunar focusses more on the uncertainty and anxiety elements, with Neptune stationary, 1°09' from square MC.

Then today's Canluar brought - you guessed it - Jupiter back into play. Several planets join it, though:

Uranus sq. MC 0°47'
Moon on IC 1°37'
Jupiter on Dsc 2°44'
Mars on WP 1°05'
-- Mars-Uranus op. 2°22' in mundo
-- Moon-Uranus sq. 0°07'

Furthermore, transiting Jupiter is today square Capsolar MC (22' as I type).

For the Cansolar, the main player is Pluto, transiting IC.

[Jim Eshelman]

December 7, 2017, about 8 AM, Aztec, NM

As I reported yesterday, there was a shooting yesterday (three people dead, including the shooter) at Aztec High School in Aztec, NM. This was exactly when I said another such shooting incident (standard Venus-Neptune event) would occur on the national scene, though (thankfully) casualties were so few to make me wonder if it's big enough to count a victory. (Two kids dying at another's hands is almost daily fare in the nation's largest cities.)

Mostly there is good news about this: School safety drills ere successful in containing the casualties, which could have been much higher. The charts below start with a background of violent severity, then end up having more "good news" aspects than bad.

Year: Capsolar (+3)
(They almost got through the year, but...)
Mars on MC (0°06')
Saturn on WP (1°19')
Mercury & Pluto more widely foreground
-- Mars-Saturn sq. (2°52')

Bridge (None.)

Quarter: Libsolar (+2)
Neptune on MC (2°36')
Venus sq. Asc (0°42')
Moon sq, Asc (1°55')
-- Moon-Venus conj. (1°13')
Saturn is widely foreground

Month: Caplunar
(Looks quite good, but technically dormant.)
Moon-Uranus sq. (0°14')

Week: Canlunar {-1}
(Ony -1 instead of -2 because of the among of good news.)
Venus on EP (0°17')

Day: Capsolar Quotidian (0)
p Moon op. p Neptune (0°56')
p MC sq. t Jupiter (0°58'), op. t Moon (0°18')

Day: Cansolar Quotidian & Transits (Dormant.)

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

The charts below start with a background of violent severity, then end up having more "good news" aspects than bad.

Yes, nasty Capsolar!

[Jim Eshelman]

An explosion (one report says it was a pipe bomb) went off in a subway terminal near Times Square just before 7:30 AM this morning (12/11/17). Apparently there were no deaths, and the only injury was the perp. (This timing would have placed the event a few minutes after sunrise, exactly at Mercury's rising, with Saturn still several degrees from Asc.)

New York's Caplunar has Jupiter exactly rising and Venus on IC. If it contributed to this event, it was in the sense of "no real damage, no casualties." The Arilunar flows through and is tells the tale well enough with a close Mercury-Saturn conjunction on EP (the main "casualty" was all of the trains skipping Times Square and Port Authority stops this morning and, surely, a bit of general chaos in the city's transportation system). Sun rises exactly, squared by Neptune.

And, as we expect, the Capsolar Quotidian tells the direct tale: With MC 26°02' Aquariuis at 7:30 AM, it touches the Mars-Saturn square that has been lying in wait in the Capsolar all year. In case we didn't know it was transportation-related, Mercury joions the mix for a little more transportation screw-up:L

25°45' Aqu - p Mars [s Mars 25°04']
26°02' Aqu - p MC
27°27' Tau - p EP
28°02' Sco - p Saturn [s Saturn 27°56']
28°22' Sco - t Mercury

Pluto continues to transit NYC's Cansolar Dsc, which seems a bigger deal than this event (0°31' this morning). The CanQ (not necessary, but interesting) has solar Mercury at MC and transiting Jupiter rising ("a transportation thing, and no serious harm done").

[Jim Eshelman]

A short while ago, the FCC, as expected, approved repeal of net neutrality protections.

I suspect this is part of the multiple Mercury-Saturn expressions this month. The DC CapQ for today has the Capsolar's Mars-Saturn square on angles.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Bring back land lines and dial up.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Thursday the 14th, time unknown, Atlanta, a 90 minute meeting in which the CDC was told by Alison Kelly, a senior leader in the agency’s Office of Financial Services that budget proposals and requests with the following seven words would be returned to the CDC.
vulnerable
entitlement
diversity
transgender
fetus
evidence-based
science-based

This feels like Mercury-Saturn to me with a Mercury-Mars tinge.

[Jim Eshelman]

Grrrr. They're looking for some way to pay for those tax cuts.

It's going to be a tough year next year.

Thursday was the day the Washington CapQ had MC 26° Aquarius and EP 28° Taurus, exactly hitting the Capsolar's Mars-Saturn square. This occurred under a Liblunar with Mars most angular, on IC. Conclusion: This is war!

In Atlanta, the Liblunar is dormant, so the Canlunar flows through. JSAD, you were exactly right: The Canlunar, besides a rising Sun squared by Neptune, has:
3°12' Sag EP
3°24' Sag Mercury
3°25' Sag Saturn

Mercury conjunct Saturn is 0°01' wide!

On Thursday, Atlanta's CapQ had MC 18° Aquarius, conjunct Capsolar Venus (part of a Venus-Neptune conjunction) and Asc 6°Gemini opposite Capsolar Mercury. Transiting Saturn at 4° Sagittarius was not in orb of transiting the Mercury, but was still in orb of the angle. I'm guessing they got the news a day or two earlier (and had to prepare for the meeting) - Transiting Saturn would have been right on Dsc, transiting Neptune on MC. (CDC is a big deal in Atlanta!)

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

About 1 PM today, December 17, 2017, the power went out at the Atlanta International Airport. It's believed a fire at a substation knocked the primary power out and the switches to turn on the secondary power were burned.

Airlines canceled more than 1,150 flights into or out of Atlanta. 64 planes had to unload passengers using ladders, many toilets and water fountains inside the airport were out of order because they require electric power.

Chick-Fil-A brought food for stranded passengers.

[Jim Eshelman]

Wow, same Mercury-Saturn Canlunar for the same spot!

Progressed Capsolar Mercury was still within 2° of CapQ Descendant, which by itself is not a big deal. CanQ MC is within 2° of Cansolar Mercury, which gives two unafflicted Mercuries (at least setting the theme right, even if it doesn't tell us much useful). I'm sure there were thousands of extra cell phone calls made in short order!

This time, the minor LibQ was more descriptive of the likely state of mind, placing Neptune on Dsc. Oh, and the Arisolar had Mars transiting its IC - the fire showed very well in these minor charts.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Approximate 7:40 AM, south of Tacoma WA, near Olympia. One car left dangling over Interstate I-5 on the new high-speed route between Seattle and Portland. Five miles from Lakewood, WA. Many injured and some dead. Cars on I-5 crushed by car train car that fell onto interstate. Apparently "near Mounts Road in Pierce County." This may have been the maiden run of the new route.
ETA: Believe the closest town is Dupont, WA
ETA: Time was 7:34 AM.

[Jim Eshelman]

Approximate 7:40 AM, south of Tacoma WA, near Olympia. One car left dangling over Interstate I-5 on the new high-speed route between Seattle and Portland. Five miles from Lakewood, WA. Many injured and some dead. Cars on I-5 crushed by car train car that fell onto interstate. Apparently "near Mounts Road in Pierce County." This may have been the maiden run of the new route.
ETA: Believe the closest town is Dupont, WA
ETA: Time was 7:34 AM.

I now have December 18, 2017, 7:33 AM near DuPont, WA; specifically 47N04'55", 122W40'33". We now that the train was going 80 mph where it should have been no more than 30 mph, and that safety features were not yet installed for this, its initial run.

The moment of derailment is a strange chart, with Venus 0°11' from Ascendant. Ah, but (I just noticed) Pluto squares MC within 1°11'. There are a few other interesting details, but those are the loudest ones. - Capsolar Saturn was also rising closely, not quite partile conjunct the Venus, and Capsolar Uranus on IC: Remember, these act like "natal planets of the year," and appropriate planets are even more likely to be angular at the time of an event than the current planets.

Year: Capsolar {+1}
(At least the basic theme is right: Mercury.)
Mercury on Dsc (0°16')
Saturn & Neptune widely foreground.
-- Non-angular Venus conj. Neptune
-- Non-angular Mars sq. Saturn

Bridge {+2}
CapQ Moon op. s/p Neptune (0°32')
t Mars sq. Cansolar MC (1°27')

Quarter: Libsolar {+2}
(Wow!)
Saturn on Dsc (2°40')
Mars sq. Asc (1°33')
Moon-Venus conj. (1°13')

Month: Caplunar (Dormant.) Moon-Uranus conj. (0°14').

Week: Liblunar {+2}
Moon-Uranus op. (0°14')
-- Uranus on MC (0°32')
-- Moon on IC (1°46')
-- Saturn-Uranus PVP sq. (0°38') [Moon-Saturn PVP sq. 3°17']
Mars & Jupiter more widely angular.

Day: Capsolar Quotidian {+2}
(Time after time, vehicular actions occur as the vehicle is under a Mars line for the day.)
p Moon op. s Neptune (0°32')
p MC sq. t Mars (1°57')

Day: Canlunar Transits {+2}
t Mars sq. s MC (1°27')

That transiting Mars position was grabbed by two converging sets of angles: The moving CapQ angles were almost precisely those of the unmoving Cansolar:

t Mars 10°50' Libra
Cansolar MC 12°17' Capricorn
CapQ MC 12°43' Capricorn

The two Ascendants, respectively, are 11°27' and 11°59' Taurus.

[Jim Eshelman]

December 21, 2017, just after 4:40 PM, Melbourne, Australia

Nobody was killed, but 18 people were injured, with a driver ran a car through a crowd of shoppers in Melbourne. Police have determined it was someone with a history of mental illness and minor crime, and not a terrorist attack.

Though this was a relatively small event the astrological environment in Melbourne was primed for something similar. The Capsolar has Venus-Neptune riding, the Cansolar has Mercury on MC. These could have been many things, but they're consistent with this particular thing.

Then yesterday's Caplunar came in with Pluto exactly rising in Melbourne (0°20') and Mars on MC (1°09'), and a mundane Mars-Pluto square 1°49' wide. Some high-impact thing was going to go boom!

We still have that CapQ Moon-Neptune opposition (27' by now), and Mars is within a degree of opposite CanQ Moon. The CanQ brought Saturn to Dsc and Jupiter to IC, and some Venus (bad thing happen, nobody dies).

[Jim Eshelman]

President Trump signed the tax bill, I think within the last hour. Does anyone have the time?

The astrologically meaningful point (the birth chart for the law) is the minute he signed. I'd very much like to see this chart and keep it on hand to measure future impact.

NYT broke the news at 10:58 AM EST (stationary Mercury on MC square Neptune on EP), so I assume it was very soon before that. It was broadcast at 11:24, but was announced by MSNBC 21 minutes earlier (11:03) as already signed.

EDIT: NY Times now reports, "Shortly after 10 a.m., Mr. Trump announced in a Twitter post that the bill would be signed “in 30 minutes.” It was evidently at least a few minutes before that. I'm inclined to say 10:55 in round time and think that might be our best.

EDIT: I've seen a film with real-time tracking of the public signing, and the signature ended at 11:25:46 AM. I'm still trying to coordinate this with earlier reports of it occurring a little before 11 AM, already being reported then as a finished act - since there are multiple copies usually signed, there may have been an earlier time (which would be the valid one).

EDIT: There WAS an earlier signing. From the Whitehouse official site, the president began talking at 10:45 AM and finished at 11:05 AM. This is the transcript. I know someone who read through it with Trump;s typical pacing and diction with an occasional laugh pause, and got to the signature point at 10:57 AM, which I had already estimated. I'm going with that!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st ... -h-r-1370/

[Jim Eshelman]

Here's the chart for the "birth" of the new tax law: December 22, 2017, 10:57 AM EST, White House, Washington, DC.

Several things you don't wnat to miss: Mercury is stationary and culminating. Neptune is on EP. They are closely square. Sun-Saturn is a partile conjunction, and the Jupiter-Saturn semi-square is exact to the minute. Then there is that provocative Venus-Uranus trine, which I have tongue-in-cheek interpreted as, "We'll screw anybody." (See further notes after the illustration.)


I keep watching the asteroid Ceres, from the perspective that if Pluto is astrologically significant (it is) and there is anything about physical properties of a body that make it astrologically significant (maybe there is), then Ceres should be of great importance. I mention it because in this chart there is an exact Moon-Ceres-Vesta T-square within half a degree, and Ceres is even more angular than Mercury - it's 1°45' above Descendant, the most angular body in the chart. However (at least of anything resembling the widely alleged characteristics of Ceres), I find nothing at all in the event to match. (Ceres is 23°05' Cancer, Vesta 23°31' Libra, and Moon 23°35' Capricorn.)

I mention this so it is on record as a Ceres sample. If there is any meaning to the tiny planet, it may be drastically different from what is suspected. I have found no catagory of mundane event where it emerges as commonly angular or aspecting Moon. Transits to or by Ceres in my natal chart haven't produced any obviously meaningful hits for the last couple of years of watching. But it's nearly the same size as Pluto, enormously closer to us, and the largest object of its kind.

[mikestar13]

...
I keep watching the asteroid Ceres, from the perspective that if Pluto is astrologically significant (it is) and there is anything about physical properties of a body that make it astrologically significant (maybe there is), then Ceres should be of great importance. I mention it because in this chart there is an exact Moon-Ceres-Vesta T-square within half a degree, and Ceres is even more angular than Mercury - it's 1°45' above Descendant, the most angular body in the chart. However (at least of anything resembling the widely alleged characteristics of Ceres), I find nothing at all in the event to match. (Ceres is 23°05' Cancer, Vesta 23°31' Libra, and Moon 23°35' Capricorn.)

I mention this so it is on record as a Ceres sample. If there is any meaning to the tiny planet, it may be drastically different from what is suspected. I have found no catagory of mundane event where it emerges as commonly angular or aspecting Moon. Transits to or by Ceres in my natal chart haven't produced any obviously meaningful hits for the last couple of years of watching. But it's nearly the same size as Pluto, enormously closer to us, and the largest object of its kind.

I think you are onto something Jim. Let's consider the possibility the Ceres is meaningful, but the traditional delineations are wrong. Asteroids are not much used by siderealists (nor even by tropicalists who use more reasonable techniques). So what are the sources of our Ceres delineations? We basically have the observations of the "asteroid goddess" school and a few others such as the Magi Society. These are heavily overlaid with trine=good square=bad sign and house rulership, the planet=sign=house equation, the idea that angularity means "in the first, fourth, seventh, or tenth house", and all sorts of such nonsense. So no reliable Ceres delineations exist, though astrologers have had two centuries. Compare Pluto delineations in 1931.

So if Ceres is meaningful, it's on us to find out what the meaning is. You could have overlooked something in your research if the something is very different from traditional expectations. (No criticism implied--were Bradley alive, he might well do the same, as would I). So I think we need to keep on tracking Ceres and other interesting bodies (Eris, for example), but not base anything serious on them yet.

IMHO, the time will come when we can use these bodies, but I could well be wrong.

[Jim Eshelman]

So if Ceres is meaningful, it's on us to find out what the meaning is. You could have overlooked something in your research if the something is very different from traditional expectations. (No criticism implied--were Bradley alive, he might well do the same, as would I). So I think we need to keep on tracking Ceres and other interesting bodies (Eris, for example), but not base anything serious on them yet.

Yes, I could have: But, to be clear about what I was saying, I meant that I have yet to find a category of mundane event where Ceres on angles or Moon-Ceres aspects are unusually common. If I could find such a category, we could conclude, "Oh, this seems valid and it has something to do with volcanoes, or hurricanes, or structural collapses," or whatever, and we could go on from there. Though I haven't been exhaustive (putting asteroids in every chart of every event in the catalogue, and tabulating them), smaller spot checks have not produced any interesting numbers at all.

But yes, you match my basic thinking: There may be significance nobody has exactly gotten. However, we aren't where Pluto was in the '30s. Over 40 years of quite intensive work has been done with four of the largest asteroids, and some of it by quite bright people. Even with a lot of noise and distortion, hundreds of astrologers working day and night for 40 years stand a chance of latching onto something fundamental. We should be where we were with Pluto in the 1970s. But nothing that solid has emerged that I can see.

[DDonovanKinsolving]

Regarding Ceres, I will have a Solar Quotidian Moon-Ceres conjunction this upcoming July. I will be taking notes, as per my own suggestions over the years.

[Jim Eshelman]

It's been an absolutely tragic holiday weekend in the Philippines, which has endured a fatal bus wreck, a deadly mall fire and a powerful typhoon. Twenty people, traveling to a dawn Christmas service, died in the town of Agoo after a bus collided with another vehicle. Thirty-seven people were killed when a fire broke out in a shopping mall in the city of Davao; they all were call center agents for a company based in the mall. And at least 164 people have been killed by Typhoon Tembin, while almost 200 people are still missing.

I'm more interested in the pile-up effect than I am in the individual events. What's going on in the Philippines? Here are some chart summaries for Manila. (The nation is small.)

The YEAR was expected to be wet and economically disadvantageous, without necessarily being tragic. Jupiter tops the Cansolar, squared by Pluto. Like the rest of the world, there were snappy, explosive aspects involving both luminaries and Mars-Uranus.

The QUARTER also has Jupiter (the exact Mercury-Jupiter conjunction), but only moderately foreground. Most singular is the Sun-Uranus opposition, square Ascendant, with Uranus-Nadir being only 0°08'. Given their current president and his actions, I would have guessed this as more of a political and natural result, but it certainly shows shock and shakeup.

Given the dormant Caplunar, the WEEK is shown in December 13 Liblunar, which is right on track with Saturn on Midheaven (2°), plus a few details. Of very great interest, not only is Moon opposite Uranus (a recurring aspect every week, as long as Uranus hovers near 0° Aries), but the mundoscope has a tight Moon-Uranus-Pluto T-square (with Moon-Pluto closest). This was going to be a harsh, hurtful, loss-laden two weeks for the Philippines.

On DAILY TIMING, the CapQ had plenty of crisis / shakeup stuff with MC opposite ingress Uranus and EP conjunct various Plutos. We are, of course, in the two months of CapQ Moon opposite Neptune for the whole world, just as Mars opposed CanQ Moon for the whole world. With these doubled Moon-Neptune and Moon-Mars patterns overlapping, I'm surprised there wasn't more weekend wailing and even world-gripping terror over the holidays; but Philippines certainly got their share. Oh, yeah, CanQ WP moved through Cansolar Saturn over the weekend.

So yeah... it wasn't exactly party time.

[Jim Eshelman]

Over the last two days, Erie, PA has been hit with 58" of snow. The 38" on Christmas was already record-breaking, and two feet the next days was clearly overkill

Erie, like much of the East Coast, has Jupiter-Uranus on the CAPSOLAR angles for the year. Erie especially has Uranus 0v28' from MC and Pluto 0°11' from WP. This is record-breaking! Jupiter is less than 3° from IC for precipitation. (Jupiter also squares Asc in the Cansolar, with saturn 0°30' from WP.)

The CAPLUNAR took a different turn, with Neptune on EP 0°38', square Mercury near MC. I suspect this is more the emotional tone of the event. The area surely had massive transportation interference and probably communication impediments.

DAILY TIMING is interesting, with CapQ angles swirling through Uranus and Pluto for the two days. (It was all about the disruption and record-breaking, I guess.)

What I now want to know is... what happens when all of this melts? Are we in for some significant flooding? I don't know how the drainage systems are in Erie.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Erie is literally on the banks of Lake Erie, just southwest of Lake Ontario. There may be some streams (and roads) that run high for a day or two, but while this snow may be record breaking, they always get double the lake-effect snow. When I was in college in the same area, people from Michigan and Minnesota were always bragging how tough their winters were right up through mid-November, but never after. BTW, snow piled over 6' both sides of sidewalks is a good thing because it blocks the winds.

[Venus_Daily]

There was an explosion in St. Petersburg. I know this is a smaller event, but it seems in synch with the rest of the violence that has happened.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/27/europ ... index.html

[Jim Eshelman]

There was an explosion in St. Petersburg. I know this is a smaller event, but it seems in synch with the rest of the violence that has happened.

The Caplunar for St. Petersburg has Mars 0°09' from square Ascendant, so something fiery and violent was certainly expectable.

Transiting Uranus is 0°12' from Capsolar Descendant at the moment. The "nobody is hurt" part is probably because CapQ EP is not only zooming in on the same Uranus, but also still conjunct Jupiter. (And, for the whole world, we are in the midst of CapQ Moon opposite Neptune.)

[Venus_Daily]

Thanks for the input, Jim
Glad things were not too bad.

[Jim Eshelman]

December 28, 2017, about 10:30 AM, Kabul, Afghanistan

A suicide bomber at a Shiite cultural center, entering a hall where 150-200 people were convened before triggering the explosion. At least 41 died and 84 injured, most of them participant in a news agency program (Afghan Voice Agency) housed in the cultural center. ISIL claimed responsibility.

Neptune was rising when this occurred, reiterating the main long-term theme in Kabul these days: The LIBSOLAR has Neptune on IC.

The CAPLUNAR is too benefic - Jupiter being its main feature, which does speak to ethnic wars and religious settings, but doesn't describe the event well. But the new ARILUNAR has Mars on EP and the usual Moon-Uranus conjunction widely setting.

The CapQ is dormant (but has the ongoing Moon-Neptune progressed opposition). The Cansolar steps in and does its job with Mars conjunct ingress Ascendant. This was sure to be a fiery, deadly day in Kabul.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

It's going to be 17° below zero (-27°C) so Omaha is cancelling it's usual fireworks display in a downtown park for New Year's Eve. This is the first below zero stretch of days in 20 years.
Water mains have been blowing up all over the city, but the water board claims it's because there was a drought and the soil is so dry it's shrunk away from the pipes and no longer supports them so they break. The same thing they say happens in summer when the water mains break then.
I think they should have dug down another couple of feet when installing the pipes.

Omaha canceled Halloween in 1991 after an icestorm hit October 25-26th, knocking out power to 300,000 homes.

[Jim Eshelman]

New York City experienced tonight its deadliest fire since the Happy Land Social Club fire in 1990. At least 12 died in an apartment fire that (based on first call) began December 28, 2017, 6:51 PM, Bronx, NY.

It is a rare serious fire where there is no Mars factor in the daily timing.

Year: Capsolar
Sun on WP (1°48')
Jupiter & Uranus more widely foreground
-- Jupiter-Uranus op. (1°41')
-- Sun-Jupiter sq. (2°37')

NOTE: Ceres is 0°29' from MC, 0°02' from square Sun

Bridge
t Pluto op. Cansolar Asc 7/27-1/28
CapQ Moon op. p Neptune 12/4-1/15
Event window: Dec 4 to Jan 15

Quarter: Libsolar (Dormant.) Moon-Venus conj. (1°13').

Quarter: Cansolar
Pluto on Dsc (0°45')
Sun & Mars are more widely foreground
-- Sun-Mars conj. (2°22' in mundo)
Moon-Uranus conj. (3°57')
Moon-Mercury sq. (2°40' in mundo)

Month: Caplunar
Neptune on Asc (0°08')
Mercury sq. Asc (1°46')
Venus is widely foreground
-- Mercury-Neptune sq. (1°48')
Moon-Uranus sq. (0°21')

NOTE: Ceres is 2°17' below Dsc

Week: Arilunar
Sun on Dsc (1°52')
Mercury sq. MC (1°49')
Venus, Saturn, Neptune more widely foreground
-- Saturn-Neptune sq. (0°20' in mundo)
-- Venus-Saturn conj. (1°02' in mundo)
-- Venus-Neptune sq. (1°22' in mundo)
-- Sun-Venus conj. (2°43' in mundo)
-- Sun-Saturn conj. (3°44' in mundo)
Moon-Uranus conj. (0°24')

NOTE: Moon-Ceres sq. (0°41' in mundo)

Day: Capsolar Quotidian
p Moon op. p Neptune (0°10')
p EP op. t Sun (1°00')
p Asc op. p Sun (0°24'), s Sun (1°22')

Day: Cansolar Transits
t Pluto op. s Asc (0°58')

[Jim Eshelman]

It's going to be 17° below zero (-27°C) so Omaha is cancelling it's usual fireworks display in a downtown park for New Year's Eve. This is the first below zero stretch of days in 20 years.
Water mains have been blowing up all over the city, but the water board claims it's because there was a drought and the soil is so dry it's shrunk away from the pipes and no longer supports them so they break.

Omaha has "weather" charts similar to large stretches of the country, with Jupiter-Uranus square Ascendant in the Capsolar and Mars-PLuto on the angles of the Libsolar. (That one is pretty harsh! Mars and Pluto are both partile conjunct angles, and 0°15' from mundane square.) Surprisingly, neither lunar ingress is noteworthy,

But Saturn is transiting the Capsolar WP (as it conjoins Capsolar Mercury).

[SteveS]

Soon, its going to get very cold here in the South, but nothing compared to what JSAD is experiencing in Omaha and rest of Northern Country. I have already burned more firewood this winter than last, and ordered some more firewood to make sure I get through this winter. My firewood man says he will break a record for selling firewood this winter based on pre-orders. I think next week will break a record for successive nights with temp below 20. I am having to take certain precautions to make sure my water pipes do not burst with potential wind chill factors. I can’t imagine what people are having to do up North with water pipes bursting. I fear for the elderly who live alone.

Jim wrote:

…and Mars-Pluto on the angles of the Libsolar. (That one is pretty harsh! Mars and Pluto are both partile conjunct angles, and 0°15' from mundane square.)

Yes, this combo is always a ‘powerful force’ within itself.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Fortunately, it's only the water mains in the streets bursting. Pipes would burst anytime it went much below 30° if we were insulated like you probably are. We just have to remember to remove hoses and drain any outside faucets, and leave the cupboard doors open under sinks with faucets on outside walls when it's really bad.

The mains burst because they're old cast iron and not buried deeply enough, so the ground around them freezes while the water (which is maybe 40°) is still flowing, so the pipes flex, crack, and water pressure blows them apart.

One thing I wonder about. With extreme cold comes house fires and suffocations. Blocked chimneys and carbon dioxide, fireplace sparks and space heaters. Is there an astrological signature that covers both the cold and the particular manner of indoor deaths?

[Jim Eshelman]

Is there an astrological signature that covers both the cold and the particular manner of indoor deaths?

Several overlaps, I think. Let's list a few things to try to narrow it:

The extremes of weather - especially cold (but I've seen it for deadly summer heat, also), is the angular Saturn. For increased deaths in general, we expect Saturn.

Anytime there is involvement of noxious fumes (poisoning), I expect Neptune. Not invariably, but usually.

Fires are basic to a lot of these tragedies. The signature centers on the three malefics, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune (and, unless it's at a club or the like, an absence of Venus and Jupiter). Moon aspects to the same three malefics are most common. We have a string of familiar aspects, some of which seem (to me) to match the rest of the picture you paint, such as Venus-Saturn, Mars-Saturn, and Mars-Neptune, among others.
'
So, I think we're looking at a focus on the three malefics, perhaps (giving the climate-weather centerpiece) with Saturn taking the lead, Neptune and Mars supporting. Lunar aspects to these as well. Almost no Venus and Jupiter, except that Venus prominent and tightly aspecting Saturn (and maybe Pluto), plus Mars aspects to Saturn and Neptune.

[SteveS]

A thought occurred to me. We may want to do some SMA research with the geographic center (link below) of the lower 48 for possibly predicting extreme weather conditions. This location is app located in the town of Lebanon, Kansas. As Jim has pointed out, we see a tight mundane square of Mars-Pluto in the Libsolar for this part of the Country, with a tight cnj of Saturn with WP. Also, a partile mundo 90 of Saturn-Neptune, all par-excellent symbolism for this severe cold weather. Let’s see if this extreme cold weather hitting the center of our Country is going to be one for the record books. If so, I will compile a list of record cold and drought years for US, starting another thread, checking to see if the geographic center of country shows par-excellent angular symbolism (solar ingresses) for record-setting extreme weather conditions in US.
Libsolar-Capsolar: Winter extremes; Aries-Cansolar: Flood-Drought extremes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographi ... ted_States

[Jim Eshelman]

Steve, you just gave me the idea to check that same general area (but centered a little bit southwest of there) for the dust bowl region of the '30s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl
It looks from the map that the worst hit areas centered around roughly the Colorado-Kansas-Oklahoma triple border. I'll find a town there and (in another thread) look at solar ingresses for the three waves, 1934, 1936, and 1939-40.

[Jim Eshelman]

Five Denver-area deputies were shot, and one of them killed, responding to a domestic incident this morning. They arrived December 31, 2018, 5:15 AM at a home in Highlands Ranch south of Denver. (I assume that's a neighborhood. I've used Highlands, CO in Denver County.)

The solar ingresses set up the possibility, especially the Cansolar (flow-through Quarter chart) with Venus closely rising and Saturn closely setting (their midpoint within 1° of horizon). And Saturn (squared by Mars) was square the Capsolar MC within about half a degree.

But the daily factors were more expressive: CapQ Asc opposed transiting Saturn 0°09' for the event. CapQ Moon's opposition to Neptune (now only 0°04' wide) was right along the meridian within 2°. As a local event that, at least briefly, made national news, it was quite vividly mournful.

The CanQ backed this up: Quotidian EP was 1° from transiting Mars. (Mercury crossed the Cansolar Descendant today, probably propelling them into the news.)

[SteveS]

The weather service said Omaha's temperature low of 15 below zero (-9 Celsius) before midnight broke a record that had stood since 1884.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topst ... li=BBnb7Kz

JSAD, how are things in Omaha? I think the mundane square of Mars-Pluto in the 2017 Libsolar is definitely symbolizing itself as a 'powerful force' with this cold weather in your part of the country. I have not done a-lot SMA work for 1884's record cold in Omaha--but noted 1884 Capsolar featured a partile Mars-Pluto cnj.

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Omaha is fine. All churches cancelled services yesterday, so most really vunerable people stayed home. Another record may bite the dust tonight, then the polar express will end. Another little dip on Friday, and we'll stay above 0° for the rest of the winter.

[SteveS]

I think 2017 Midwest (Omaha) Libsolar nailed the angular symbolism for this record cold wave, its been brutally cold!

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

There have actually been a lot of homes with frozen pipes. Did you know some people turn off the heat when they go visit family or off on a vacation for more than a couple of days? Not turn it down.. turn it all the way off. In Nebraska. In December. Never mind the extreme cold we've had. Just ten days, in Nebraska, in December.

[SteveS]

I hear you JSAD. A long time ago I learned the hard way (loss of $ cost & and repair wait time)---always take extra precaution with extreme cold weather for busted frozen water pipes. I used Pex replacing my old water line from main line not too long ago. And then insulated all piping under house. This house was originally built as a summer cottage with raised flooring to allow cool air to circulate under house. Then I take extra precaution for joints bursting with frozen lines. Saturn cycles love to teach us the 'hard way.'

[Jim Eshelman]

Yesterday, there was a newsworthy "hotline" communication between North Korea and South Korea - the first in about two years, and a sign of extended diplomacy in advance of the Seoul Olympics.

This has been a banner year for North Korea in many ways, reflecting its excellent Capsolar with Sun rising, and Sun-Ascendant square Jupiter.

I don't know if the call occurred before or after Moon entered Cancer, but the Canlunar has Pluto exactly rising, and Mars too close to MC for my comfort. Perhaps most importantly, it occurred the exact day transiting Jupiter crossed Capsolar MC for Pyongyang. We have repeatedly seen Jupiter as the chief astrological architect of diplomacy and sincere connection. (We then pick up a couple of angular Suns along the way.)

[Jim Eshelman]

Meanwhile, anti-government protest in Tehran have been prolific over the last week - the worst in a generation or so, it seems. At least 20 people have died and hundreds have been arrested. Observers have suggested that the ayatollah's position is at risk.

This is not surprising from the 2017 Capsolar, where Tehran has Moon exactly at MC - the characteristic mark of waves of people moving in a single mass mind. Moon was also the strongest factor in the Cansolar (which, more broadly, placed the quadruple Moon-Sun-Mars-Uranus on angles); the Libsolar is dormant.

And Moon is the most angular planet in the Caplunar, which mostly defines the period of this action-on-outrage. The recurring Moon-Uranus square (only 21' wide) is right on the angles, with Moon closest. Mars is exactly (I mean: within 02') square Ascendant in the Caplunar. This is the main chart for the last week's event, fed further by a 25' Moon-Uranus conjunction (yes, Moon again, and with Uranus again) exactly angular in the Arilunar.

I don't expect it to calm down this week, either, though there will be stronger police enforcement and some efforts at appeasement: The new Canlunar has Mars and Jupiter closely rising, in conjunction, with Mars a little stronger. Jupiter is moving into orb of conjunction with Capsolar Ascendant and, while the exact aspect won't occur before the Capsolar expires, it will be well within orb.

Of course, we have the CapQ Moon-Neptune progression as well, which became exact about yesterday.

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

This is not surprising from the 2017 Capsolar, where Tehran has Moon exactly at MC - the characteristic mark of waves of people moving in a single mass mind. Moon was also the strongest factor in the Cansolar (which, more broadly, placed the quadruple Moon-Sun-Mars-Uranus on angles); the Libsolar is dormant.

Tehran’s 2017 Cansolar : Using Jim's "outstanding incident" rule in his book 'Interpreting Solar Returns', we clearly see a Mars-Uranus 'outstanding incident' with this combo angular and partile 90 each other.

https://imgur.com/a/hkxAj