2019 February events

[Jim Eshelman]

Starting the new month.

[Jim Eshelman]

The White House announced more details yesterday of the next Trump-Kim summit. It will occur in Vietnam, apparently in Da Nang, in "late February." We don't have a date yet. - I thought I'd add a few notes about what's pending for that area and for Pyongyang (since the U.S. charts are already worked up and analyzed).

First, to review for the U.S., this isn't the "big changes in foreign relations" year (Capsolar) that we had last year. The relevant immediate chart for "late February" would probably be the Feb 23 Liblunar which is a strained and treacherous chart. Yes, it has Jupiter exactly rising, implying such things as diplomacy, but that's just the start. In terms of foreign relations, the Venus-Pluto exact conjunction highlighted by a Moon square can show a big shift, but the shift is quite negative overall. Read about the Liblunar here:
https://solunars.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=2838

This timing probably explains Donald Trump's Jupiter transit conjunct natal Moon that becomes partile February 23 (with concurrent Saturn severities from the 25th). Unless late February" means the last two days, it likely falls under Trump's very positive Valentine's Day Demi-Lunar. I expected February overall to be a great (feeling good) month for him, and this Demi (under a similarly positive full SLR) is much of that reason. I wrote of the Demi, "For two weeks, it looks like everything is going his way and nothing can touch him. His actions are blessed, his mood elevated, his originality hailed and praised, and his popularity uplifted. With transiting Sun concurrently square natal Midheaven, the full glory of his Sun-Jupiter progression shines for a while."


For Pyongyang, the Capsolar is dormant, leaving them still under last July's Cansolar. Uranus rises (1°38') and a Jupiter-Pluto mundane square is foreground (2°36'). This is a quite "shake things up" chart. If I didn't believe Kim's control is nearly absolute in North Korea, I'd suggest that this is chart for his overthrow. I think his relations with China a shifting a bit. In any case, there are big shifts going on at the power-politics level, and it's been ongoing since last summer, not just since the current Capsolar.

Pyongyang's Feb 3 Caplunar has Uranus square MC and in 0°19' mundane square with Moon. This is a shake-up month with a lot of shifts. If I'm interpreting "end of February" correctly, this occurs under the Feb 232 Liblunar which has Mars and Uranus straddling MC, their midpoint exactly on MC. Again, this shows a real shake-up: Is such a thing possible in North Korea today?


For Da Nang, the Capsolar is technically dormant, though it paints a similar Uranus (and Sun-Uranus) picture and, credibly, is receiving some attention. The flowing-through Cansolar is negative, with Moon exactly setting square Saturn near MC. It doesn't seem a happy place at the moment. (Anyone know what's been going on in Vietnam the last six months?)

If the summit is indeed held here, on the time schedule that is announced, it will not have a positive outcome (or, at least, not a peaceful, allying, or prosperous outcome). The February 3 Caplunar has Saturn 1°30' from MC, Mars 2°40' from Asc, Mars-Saturn square 1°10' in mundo. Uranus and Pluto are also foreground (widely) and in 1°16' mundane square. This is quite destructive.

The February 23 Liblunar is no better. Saturn is 0°40' from Descendant, Venus-Pluto conjoin in the foreground (0°11'), Moon opposes Uranus mundanely and squares Venus-Pluto ecliptically. If the summit is held in or near Da Nang during the week beginning February 23, I expect a genuinely tragic outcome.

[Jim Eshelman]

February 6, 2019, 8:04 AM, Atlanta, GA

In Atlanta, ten underground explosions went off yesterday morning due to an electrical fire, blowing manhole covers into the air and tripping an electrical grid circuit breaker a few blocks away. This stopped the fire and the explosions.

The 8:04 AM time is when first responders were dispatched in response to a report, so the explosions were likely at least a couple of minutes earlier.

CAPSOLAR. Atlanta has an afflicted Mercury angular for the year (EP 0°21') and Pluto square MC 1°53'. That the angular Mercury is mundanely square non-foreground Uranus is consistent with the "bizarre electrical phenomena" side of it.

LIBLUNAR. Again Mercury is the lead player, 0°22' from Descendant. Uranus comes next, being 5° off MC and closely opposite Moon (close Moon-Sun-Uranus mundane T-square, with fire-prone Moon-Sun square 0°07'). A little Mars. (The Caplunar is dormant.)

CAPQ. For a freaky morning, CapQ Asc conjoins transiting and ingress Pluto (the former within 38'). Mars is just outside the 2° orb of square Asc - not far, but far enough not to be the usual player. I first thought this a bit of a "miss," but then realized that Mars square Pluto, both on angles, would have been much more destructive. (I'll settle for the half-degree Pluto contact.)

TRANSITS TO CAPSOLAR. Transiting Saturn is currently conjunct Capsolar Mercury AND this falls right on Atlanta's Capsolar EP. Saturn to EP is partile.

CANQ. Transiting Saturn also had a hand in the CanQ, square its Ascendant 0°23'. This is while CanQ Moon-Saturn square is still partile (0°33') for the world. Things could have been much worse than they were. (Probably the savior - giving some protection - was to Jupiter 0°39' from Cansolar IC.)

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

8:13PM in Washington DC. Tweet that the House Judiciary Committee, for the first time in 19 years, passed a measure to require background checks for all gun sales and most gun transfers within the United States. It passed 21 to 14 and now advances to the full House.
They also voted 23 to 15 to advance a bill to close the loophole in the current background-check law that allows a gun purchase if a check is not completed in three days. This is the one that let the person who murdered people in the CHarleston church trying to start a race war get a gun.

[Jim Eshelman]

8:13PM in Washington DC. Tweet that the House Judiciary Committee, for the first time in 19 years, passed a measure to require background checks for all gun sales and most gun transfers within the United States. It passed 21 to 14 and now advances to the full House.
They also voted 23 to 15 to advance a bill to close the loophole in the current background-check law that allows a gun purchase if a check is not completed in three days. This is the one that let the person who murdered people in the CHarleston church trying to start a race war get a gun.

This surely will never pass the Senate, but I'm glad to see it. At the time of the vote, the Jupiter-Neptune square had recently passed the angles (20-30 minutes earlier) and the only partile aspect was the 31' Mars-Uranus conjunction.

There were no particular daily indicators other than transiting Sun square CapQ MC - they've been running along in the same aspect for a while now. Oh, wait, here's a "something unprecedented happened" marker: CanQ MC was 50' from transiting Pluto.

[Jim Eshelman]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced this afternoon that President Trump WILL declare a state of emergency after he signs the funding bill, in order to reallocate funds to build his wall. This could very well end up in the Supreme Court.

If I had to guess, I'd pick Saturday as when he'll do that - see the italicized CapQ notes below for 2/16.

Arilunar (Feb 10)
The Arilunar covers February 10-17 and unlocks the volatile potential of the dormant Caplunar. A triple Moon-Mars-Uranus conjunction is foreground with Mars and Uranus closely square MC. Mars also squares non-angular Pluto (2°10' in mundo). It has all the symbolism of the Caplunar but brought to the angles.

Mars-Uranus is explosive, bursting with startling violence. Expect at least psychological “bombshells” (and maybe physical ones), symbols of fire + explosion and surprise attacks. Pluto's square amplifies the ferocity and unleashing of force, adding an element of disrespect for the law. It is difficult for people to get along and find agreement.

Moon, least foreground of the three, likely adds context. For example, the described events may occur in public places where herds of people congregate, or may center around children. Specific possibilities are numerous, especially since Mars-Uranus aspects, angular Mars, angular Uranus, and Moon aspects to Mars and Uranus are all among the most common factors for disasters in general, especially those with high property damage.

February 10-12, CanQ MC crosses one or another Pluto, delivering a hard smack to get our attention (with Asc square Mars on the 11th). On 2/16, Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus come to angles, centering attention squarely on the president with a startling eruption of news.

Things start getting intense by Sunday or Monday. Notice the reference to a specific document setting it all off.

Canlunar (Feb 17)
The Canlunar covers February 17-23. Moon's opposition to Pluto is quite close for Washington (less than 2° in mundo), so there is a palpable sense of increased intensity. Our attention is fixed unflinching like that of the colloquial deer caught in headlights, or of one rendered immobile by the headlight of an oncoming train.

Mercury is the one tightly angular planet, 0°20' from square Ascendant. It conjoins Neptune (which is not itself angular). While any of the primary Mercury themes could be the center of attention (communication, transportation, logistics and strategy, and especially the centricity of the news media, among other possibilities), the closeness of this angularity suggests something decisive and concrete, such as a document - a single written instrument that binds our attention, for example. (Otherwise it is likely a straightforward transportation or communication theme.)

Mercury conjunct Neptune breeds confusion, disorientation, and bad choices but, especially, poses uncertainty about the future. Usually, on everyone's mind is the question, “What’s next?” or, “What happens now?”

On 2/19, CanQ EP crosses Uranus which is partile conjunct Mars, so at least one major bombshell will startle us, with aftershocks echoing until the end of the week.

Meanwhile, Trump's new Demi-SLR today is the one with Jupiter 0°00' from IC. I never doubted he'd find a way to have his way this month, though there is a scam component to it.

SIDEREAL DEMI-LUNAR RETURN (Feb 14)
Transiting Jupiter is 0°00' from IC in the Demi-Lunar, a powerful statement in the context of a splendid full SLR (above). It conjoins his Moon, opposes his Uranus, and more widely opposes his Sun, all of which are closely angular.

For two weeks, it looks like everything is going his way and nothing can touch him. His actions are blessed, his mood elevated, his originality hailed and praised, and his popularity uplifted. With transiting Sun concurrently square natal Midheaven, the full glory of his Sun-Jupiter progression shines for a while.

Lunar Returns like this are rare blessings. Under them, life feels very good.

[Jim Eshelman]

As expected, President Trump declared a state of national emergency this morning in order to reallocate funds to the building of a border wall. News reports from various news agencies broke at 10:54 AM EST so it likely occurred just before that. Here's one:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/us/p ... a_20190215

In a show of executive presence, Sun was just over 1° from the Zenith. The Mars-Uranus conjunction had a while earlier and cleared the foreground zone.

Mars-Uranus was an important astrological contributor, though. The Arilunar has a triple Moon-Mars-Uranus conjunction foreground (Mars and Uranus closely square MC), with Mars also square a non-foreground Pluto.

Daily factors that are closer tomorrow are nonetheless active today. In my monthly forecast, I wrote, "On 2/16, Sun, Jupiter, and Uranus come to angles, centering attention squarely on the president with a startling eruption of news." Transiting Sun squares CapQ MC (1°29'), though it has been there for many days (they move about the same speed). The CanQ has them all, though: Q MC op. ingress Sun 0°38', Q Dsc on ingress Jupiter 2°00', and Q EP on t Uranus 1°08'. (We've also just left the CanQ Moon-Saturn progression that's been around for two months, perhaps a clue that there would not be a government shutdown this time.)

[Venus_Daily]

Mars/Uranus. I am very familiar with this aspect, in this situation, especially in Aries, it reminds me of someone trying to force an opening where there are none with their fists.

[Jim Eshelman]

Feb 15, 2019, 1:24 PM, Aurora, IL 41N45'13'', 88W19'54''

I wasn't able to get much useful information when this happened, and then forgot about it.

At the Henry Pratt CO. in Aurora, IL, a bit west of Chicago, a shooter with a hand gun (a recently fired employee of the company) killed five people and wounded six others (five of them police officers), and was himself killed by police at 2:59 PM. (First reports of the shooting were at 1:24 PM.)

The shooting began just after Mars (conjunct Uranus) passed IC of the location, and soon before Venus (conjunct Saturn) rose.

Year: Capsolar {+2}
Saturn on EP 0°23'
Mercury sq. MC 0°52' [sq. non-ang Uranus 1°34', conj NA Pluto 2°24', both in mundo]
-- Mercury-Saturn conj. 2°46'
Mars & Jupiter more widely foreground
-- Mars-Jupiter sq. 0°12' in mundo

Bridge {+2}
t Neptune on Cansolar angles ALL YEAR
t Saturn sq. Capsolar MC 1/15-2/20
t Jupiter conj. Capsolar Asc 2/14-3/26
Event window: (Sa + Ne) Jan 15-Feb 20, (+ Ju) Feb 14-20

Month: Caplunar {0 Mixed}
Venus sq. Asc 0°10' , on IC 0°24'
Moon-Uranus sq. 2°10' in mundo
Moon-Mars sq. 2°40'
Moon-Pluto conj. 3°18'
-- Mars-Pluto sq. 0°38'

Week: Arilunar {+3}
Moon on Asc 0°57'
Uranus on Asc 1°27'
Mars on Asc 3°05'
Saturn & Pluto more widely foreground
-- Mars-Saturn sq. 1°35' in mundo
-- Mars conj. Uranus 1°38' in mundo
-- Moon-Uranus conj. 2°24' in mundo
-- -- Mo/Ur on Asc 0°15'
-- Moon-Mars conj. 2°26'

Day: Capsolar Quotidian & Transits {+2/+1 = +2}
p Asc conj. s Pluto 0°46', t Pluto 0°13'
-------------------------------
t Saturn sq. s MC 1°30'
t Jupiter conj. s Asc 1°55'
t Venus conj. s EP 0°25'

Day: Cansolar Quotidian & Transits {0 Mixed}
p MC conj. r Venus 0°23'
p Asc sq. s Sun 0°38', p Sun 0°05'
----------------------------------
t Neptune sq. s MC 0°17'

[Jim Eshelman]

February 20, 2019, 10:38 PM, Dhaka (Old City), Bangladesh 23.7165° N, 90.3941° E
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Dhaka_fire

I have moved this discussion to its own thread:
https://solunars.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=2993

[Jim Eshelman]

February 23, 2019, about 12:40 PM, Anahuac, TX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Air_Flight_3591

Just before 12:45 PM, an Amazon cargo jet (Atlas Air Flight 3591, a Boeing 767) crashed nose first into a Trinity Bay east of Houston from a height of 6,524 feet and disintegrated on impact. The three people aboard died.

Year: Capsolar {+2}
Mars on IC 1°46'
Jupiter distantly foreground

Bridge

Month: Caplunar (Dormant.) Moon-Mars Moon-Pluto.

Week: Liblunar {+2}
Mercury on IC 2°42'
Neptune on IC 2°45'
-- Me/Ne on IC 0°01'
Jupiter on EP 0°40'
-- Mercury-Jupiter sq. 0°34'
Moon-Venus sq. 2°32'
Moon-Pluto 2°43'

Day: Capsolar Quotidian & Transit {+1}
p Asc sq. t Moon 0°38'
----------------------------
t Mercury sq t Asc 1°21'

Day: Cansolar Quotidian {+2}
p Asc sq. s Sun 1°12', sq. t Pluto 1°30', sq. t Venus 0°47'
-- t Venus-Pluto conj. 0°43'
p MC conj. t Saturn 1°53'

[Jim Eshelman]

Severe thunderstorms yesterday (February 23, 2019) is causing flooding in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys (Kentucky, Tennessee, even northern Alabama), plus a tornado through Mississippi. A state of emergency was declared by the Alabama governor effective 9 PM last night due to the excess of rain.

The tornado through Columbus, MS killed one woman yesterday afternoon (a building fell on her and three others). Other tornadoes were spotted in other Mississippi towns (Artesia, Leedy, Burnsille). I don't have a time for this beyond "afternoon," but there are tweets in its aftermath timed 3:36 PM and later. Therefore, 3:00 PM is a reasonable "afternoon" estimate for our purposes.

It was not going to be a good day in a lot of places. Just looking at the main aspects for the day, Venus conjoined Pluto, which typically shows losses of people and deeply meaningful things. Moon opposed Uranus and then Mars much of the day. Even the Mercury-Jupiter square, generally good for most purposes, shows meteorologically for wind + rain, often at extreme levels.

Columbus, MS has lived with Neptune exactly setting since its Cansolar last summer (the Capsolar is dormant). It's current Caplunar has only Venus angular, half a degree from IC - hardly pleasant circumstances, but one of the two strongest indications for rain. The Liblunar is dormant; the Canlunar (like the Cansolar) has Neptune on IC square Jupiter on EP - Jupiter-Neptune being the single most distinctive signature aspect for tornado.

That last is so important and matching what statistics have previously shown we should expect that it's worth working out in detail.

167°01' RAMC Neptune on IC (Neptune 1°21' from IC in PV long)
168°14' RAMC Canlunar
169°33' RAMC Jupiter on EP

For the day, CapQ Asc squared transiting Mars. CanQ MC conjoined the Venus-Pluto conjunction, while its Asc conjoined ingress Uranus. (Accurate even down to the Uranus-Pluto tendency for structures to fail, i.e., buildings to collapse.)

[Jupiter Sets at Dawn]

Omaha had a blizzard. Yesterday started out with Sun. Then rain. Then the rain froze and the wind picked up. I am working on shoveling 11" of snow out of the driveway and then covering what's left with ice melt so nobody takes a header, especially me.

There was a twenty-five semi pileup (we gave up counting cars involved for the rest of the winter) about 2:30 - 3PM out on the interstate near Gretna, NE. They tried to close the interstates and couldn't get the little barrier arms on the on ramps down so they had to leave police to block off access. The police declared a "don't call us unless somebody had to go to the hospital" alert.

The guy running the plow swung away and didn't fill the bottom of my driveway with ice because I gave him a thumbs up and smiled while I was shoveling. So good day for me!

[Jim Eshelman]

Omaha had a blizzard. Yesterday started out with Sun. Then rain. Then the rain froze and the wind picked up. I am working on shoveling 11" of snow out of the driveway and then covering what's left with ice melt so nobody takes a header, especially me.

There was a twenty-five semi pileup (we gave up counting cars involved for the rest of the winter) about 2:30 - 3PM out on the interstate near Gretna, NE. They tried to close the interstates and couldn't get the little barrier arms on the on ramps down so they had to leave police to block off access. The police declared a "don't call us unless somebody had to go to the hospital" alert.

You've got one of the best Capsolars in the nation, except it does have that "when it [snows] it pours" quality with Jupiter a degree and a half above Ascendant (plus the "stormy" Mars about 4° off IC). The Jupiter-Neptune is farther from your angles in the Caplunar than in Mississippi, or you'd have earned your righteous claim as Tornado Country, too. (Glad you didn't.) But you do still get Neptune right on IC of the Liblunar for the week.

Today you have Venus on CapQ Ascendant. Is it, perchance, a beautiful day with the sun bouncing brilliantly off all the snow? This tells me, though, that yesterday (when Venus and Asc were a degree earlier) you also had the Venus-Pluto angular (but in the CapQ, not the CanQ). Uranus is on CanQ Asc today... be careful in a day or two when CanQ MC conjoins transiting Saturn. (Load up on wood now.)