Aspects in Mundane Event Charts
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 12:06 pm
Throughout my book, Sidereal Mundane Astrology, I concentrate on aspects that dominate in the solar and lunar ingresses for the events studied, paying little attention to aspects at the times of the events themselves. This was not true in the earliest editions of the book, in which, after examining the patterns that ingresses set in motion for the year, quarter-year, month, week, and day, I added a section on the hour of the event – the horoscope for the event itself – remarking on angularities and aspects at the time the event ripened.
However, more than half the time these event charts were disappointing. While the progressively narrowing cycles of solar and lunar ingresses and their transits and progressions routinely zoom in on the ripening manifestation of a distinct event, the event charts were, at best, the pin that burst the well-inflated balloon; yet, at least half the time, a little more inflation popped the balloon on its own without need of a pin.
Life is complex and so many factors conspire to produce events. A volcano’s eruption or an earthquake are eventual consequences of processes taking place for weeks, months, or years. Tornadoes and hurricanes form and move in relation to atmospheric conditions across vast areas of the globe. A shooter on his way to a murder spree has to contend with traffic conditions (not to mention the ticking astrological clock of his own horoscope). Timing of financial market crises depends on when the market is open.
Thinking of astrology’s philosophy for a moment, more than its practical application, it may be indeed that all these micro-contributors are also shown by ultimately-measurable astrological factors or the intersections and connections of dozens or hundreds of individual charts. However, we do not yet have the means to track that complexity. I also am inclined to think we do not need it: Astrological factors show the increased or reduced probability of certain kinds of phenomena manifesting given current conditions that make such an event possible.
No matter how good the astrology and the astrologer, it is hopeless to try to predict which day a woman will give birth if she isn’t pregnant.
Similarly, a nightclub fire from mismanaged pyrotechnics requires that a show be scheduled: the most perfect event chart for mid-morning on a Wednesday is unlikely to set off such a fire. An important Supreme Court ruling can only come down when the court is in session, on the days it reads its rulings. As astrologers, we get understandably excited that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima with Uranus 0°19' from Midheaven and conjunct Mars (with Moon exactly conjunct Saturn), but must also accept that when a jet flew into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the only important marker of the moment was Mercury rising and a 3°22’ Moon-Mars opposition that was equally close for seven hours. (Their plan depended on flight schedules.) The Wall Street bombing in 1920 relied more on when bankers took their lunch break than on when the right planet crossed an angle. John Kennedy’s assassination occurred as Saturn rose because he, as much as his car, was heading toward an intersection with destiny, but James Garfield, William McKinley, Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Kennedy and others had no such astrological markers in horoscopes of the exact minutes they, too, were shot.
It’s complicated.
To dramatize this difference, and to provide another tool for studying astrological factors of natural and unnatural mundane events, I compiled a list of close hard aspects (linked below) occurring in the event charts for the events studied. All conjunctions, oppositions, and squares within 3° are listed, with partile (1° orb) instances underlined.
Scanning the list is fascinating, of course. The mind starts making connections and many sensible patterns emerge. Notice also, though, the number of cases that do not seem to fit. At the very least, this list shows that these closest dynamic aspects for the events do not, by themselves, describe the events adequately.
A few aspects stand out more sharply than the others: Sun-Mars aspects perform unusually well, the events matching the aspect with greater fidelity. Luminary aspects to Uranus and Pluto are good signals of disruption without necessarily specifying what kind. The frequency that vehicles are central or pivotal in Mercury-Uranus events is striking.
Some aspects have confusing examples: Moon-Venus occurred both for the 1918 armistice ending World War I and for D-Day. Sun-Venus has three tragic mass shootings, the start of the world’s worst war, and many other painful events. Mercury-Venus events are mostly (but not entirely) a great puzzle.
I am struck by how few outer planet aspects reached maturity concurrent with significant, specific events. While these have been used successfully to plot longer cycles and general psychological trends in the world, the maturation of these aspects does not seem, as a rule, to coincide with specific events of a similar nature. (The striking exception is Uranus-Pluto aspects which, across the decades, have excellently marked compatible events.)
I don't know yet if I'm going to include this as an appendix in a future edition of Sidereal Mundane Astrology. It was worth compiling, and I think there are useful things to learn from it, but it may be unhelpful (even off-topic) as a catalog of things that don't work so well. I thought it at least worth sharing. Hopefully the list will be of interest and value.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ansnmu2xbktam4UTDuprI8yV_fRW1Q
However, more than half the time these event charts were disappointing. While the progressively narrowing cycles of solar and lunar ingresses and their transits and progressions routinely zoom in on the ripening manifestation of a distinct event, the event charts were, at best, the pin that burst the well-inflated balloon; yet, at least half the time, a little more inflation popped the balloon on its own without need of a pin.
Life is complex and so many factors conspire to produce events. A volcano’s eruption or an earthquake are eventual consequences of processes taking place for weeks, months, or years. Tornadoes and hurricanes form and move in relation to atmospheric conditions across vast areas of the globe. A shooter on his way to a murder spree has to contend with traffic conditions (not to mention the ticking astrological clock of his own horoscope). Timing of financial market crises depends on when the market is open.
Thinking of astrology’s philosophy for a moment, more than its practical application, it may be indeed that all these micro-contributors are also shown by ultimately-measurable astrological factors or the intersections and connections of dozens or hundreds of individual charts. However, we do not yet have the means to track that complexity. I also am inclined to think we do not need it: Astrological factors show the increased or reduced probability of certain kinds of phenomena manifesting given current conditions that make such an event possible.
No matter how good the astrology and the astrologer, it is hopeless to try to predict which day a woman will give birth if she isn’t pregnant.
Similarly, a nightclub fire from mismanaged pyrotechnics requires that a show be scheduled: the most perfect event chart for mid-morning on a Wednesday is unlikely to set off such a fire. An important Supreme Court ruling can only come down when the court is in session, on the days it reads its rulings. As astrologers, we get understandably excited that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima with Uranus 0°19' from Midheaven and conjunct Mars (with Moon exactly conjunct Saturn), but must also accept that when a jet flew into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the only important marker of the moment was Mercury rising and a 3°22’ Moon-Mars opposition that was equally close for seven hours. (Their plan depended on flight schedules.) The Wall Street bombing in 1920 relied more on when bankers took their lunch break than on when the right planet crossed an angle. John Kennedy’s assassination occurred as Saturn rose because he, as much as his car, was heading toward an intersection with destiny, but James Garfield, William McKinley, Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Kennedy and others had no such astrological markers in horoscopes of the exact minutes they, too, were shot.
It’s complicated.
To dramatize this difference, and to provide another tool for studying astrological factors of natural and unnatural mundane events, I compiled a list of close hard aspects (linked below) occurring in the event charts for the events studied. All conjunctions, oppositions, and squares within 3° are listed, with partile (1° orb) instances underlined.
Scanning the list is fascinating, of course. The mind starts making connections and many sensible patterns emerge. Notice also, though, the number of cases that do not seem to fit. At the very least, this list shows that these closest dynamic aspects for the events do not, by themselves, describe the events adequately.
A few aspects stand out more sharply than the others: Sun-Mars aspects perform unusually well, the events matching the aspect with greater fidelity. Luminary aspects to Uranus and Pluto are good signals of disruption without necessarily specifying what kind. The frequency that vehicles are central or pivotal in Mercury-Uranus events is striking.
Some aspects have confusing examples: Moon-Venus occurred both for the 1918 armistice ending World War I and for D-Day. Sun-Venus has three tragic mass shootings, the start of the world’s worst war, and many other painful events. Mercury-Venus events are mostly (but not entirely) a great puzzle.
I am struck by how few outer planet aspects reached maturity concurrent with significant, specific events. While these have been used successfully to plot longer cycles and general psychological trends in the world, the maturation of these aspects does not seem, as a rule, to coincide with specific events of a similar nature. (The striking exception is Uranus-Pluto aspects which, across the decades, have excellently marked compatible events.)
I don't know yet if I'm going to include this as an appendix in a future edition of Sidereal Mundane Astrology. It was worth compiling, and I think there are useful things to learn from it, but it may be unhelpful (even off-topic) as a catalog of things that don't work so well. I thought it at least worth sharing. Hopefully the list will be of interest and value.
https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ansnmu2xbktam4UTDuprI8yV_fRW1Q