ISRAEL TRAGEDY
by Zip Dobyns
Past issues of our Mutable Dilemma and/or Asteroid-World have included articles on the state of Israel, using a chart drawn for the end of the British Mandate when it became an independent country. Though some astrologers use a chart for the time Israel officially declared their independence, the chart for the start of legal independence has worked very well in the past events in the country. It is set for 0 A.M. on May 15, 1948 when the British fleet set sail out of the harbor in Tel Aviv. GMT is two hours earlier. A local chart calculated for Jerusalem should also be considered, even though the angles vary by less than one degree. This article is the first of my political series to go on our web site that deals with the dangerous situation in the Near East. During the year 2000, I used what time I had to focus on the U.S. elections. Though the situation in the U.S. will continue to be a major focus, it is time to look beyond our boundaries.
The basic chart for Israel as a legally independent country includes two grand crosses in fixed signs, partly in cardinal and partly in mutable houses. The conflict aspects involving cardinal and fixed factors show the potential for power struggles. The mutables bring in issues of beliefs, plus the values, goals, and ethics that are based on beliefs. The three monotheistic religions all consider the country of Israel/Palestine, and especially its main city, Jerusalem, to be sacred. Religious beliefs claim to possess the final Truth as revealed by God, so they tend to reject compromises. Their followers are often willing to die defending their beliefs, believing that they will be rewarded in the next life for their devotion. Obviously, the most insoluble wars usually involve such religious extremism, especially if the opponents have extreme fanatics on both sides as is the case in Israel.
The horoscope of the country of Israel shows adequate intelligence to find a reasonable solution if it were not for the religious extremists. Both the Ascendant and the East Point are in Aquarius. The Jupiter-Uranus opposition in Gemini-Sagittarius marks a potential student, teacher, writer, and inventor. Plus, the aspect has been sustained in Secondary Progressions for most of the country’s short life, at times by both P Jupiter opposite N Uranus and by P Uranus opposite N Jupiter. The lunar nodes in the 3rd and 9th houses repeat the intellectual potential, along with the Sun in the house of Gemini and Ceres and Mercury in the sign of Gemini. Vesta in its own Virgo house is closely trine the MC, which is equivalent to Saturn, and the Moon-Pluto conjunction is also in the Virgo house, octile/trioctile Uranus and Jupiter. Factors associated with earth show the capacity to apply the intellect in practical accomplishments IF the emotions that are symbolized by fire and water do not block the air ability to be objective and logical and the earth ability to be realistic. Jupiter is a fire planet in a fire sign. Uranus is in a fire house. Moon and Pluto are water planets in a fire sign. Combinations of fire and water intensify the emotions.
Israel has been highly successful in innovative technology in a variety of fields. But the Orthodox extremists have blocked a reasonable settlement and the economic condition of the Palestinians has continued to deteriorate. Even under the control of more liberal political parties, the building of Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas has been continued and even expanded. Palestinians have remained in separated pockets of land with Israeli control over roads and checkpoints that protect their own settlements. The roads can be closed at any time, preventing Palestinians from traveling to other villages, to jobs in Israel, from leaving the country, and even from getting needed supplies. When a few fanatical individuals can plant a bomb and have their whole country shut down in reprisals, hope dies and a quick martyrdom seems preferable to slow suicide for everyone.
I have watched the progressions in Israel’s chart for years, very concerned about the years of 2000 and beyond. I believe that astrology shows one’s psychological state, and that many life details are possible with each of our 12 psychological drives. Israel’s chart shows the country’s state of war that existed from its beginning, with the lasting progressed squares in fixed signs. The Moon-Pluto-Saturn conjunction opposes the Ascendant and squares the lunar nodes. A second fixed cross includes the Sun-Chiron opposition square the East Point and opposite Mars and the West Point. The square between Chiron and Saturn is close enough to tie the fixed conflict patterns into a massive conflict network. P Chiron retrograded to square P Saturn, and then P Saturn and P Vesta moved forward to square N Chiron for years. P Vesta signifies the ultimate Virgo with the danger of being totally dedicated to one’s immediate work-goal so nothing else seems important. The combination of Vesta and Saturn can mark incredible tunnel vision, resulting in a ruthless commitment that appears almost fanatical. The P lunar nodes squared the Ascendant axis for years, and are still square Pluto. Pluto moved into the opposition to the Ascendant which it will hold until 2050, after which it will still oppose the country’s local Ascendant in Jerusalem until 2078. The P mean lunar nodes will reach the squares to the Moon before the P true lunar nodes leave the squares to Pluto, so the aspects persist to about 2054.
Does this mean that conflict cannot be resolved? No, but the integration of conflicting desires requires compromises, and that is not easy for the fixed sides of life. The fixed quality signifies enduring self-will. When an irresistible force confronts an immovable object, there is an impasse. If one or both are unwilling to compromise, eventually the pressure will build to an explosion, but when the dust has cleared, the same impasse is still there. When each side believes that their God is the Real God of infinite power, that He is on their side and will give them their promised land if they stay committed to Him, and that He will take them into His heaven if they die while true to that commitment, there is no room for compromise.
President Clinton proposed what seemed to be a reasonable compromise to objective non-believers in either of the tribal gods, Allah or Jahweh. To have a viable homeland, the Palestinians would have to have all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, so they would have free access between all parts of their country. This would mean removal of the Jewish settlements in those areas, and loss to Israel of important water resources. The “right of return” of the Palestinians who lost their homes in other parts of Israel would be given up. Thousands of displaced families have lived for over 50 years in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. A financial compensation for lost homes and land could be worked out. If all of the displaced refugees were to return to Israel, the Jewish state would be overwhelmed. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem could be under international control so all religions would have access to it.
Will a compromise along those lines ever be accepted? At this point in time, neither side is ready to consider it. Arafat is being encouraged by his fellow Arabs to hold out for the “right of return,” for connections between Palestinian areas so they can’t be shut off from each other by Israeli blockades, and for control of part of East Jerusalem, including their special holy sites. Israel cannot accept the return of thousands of Palestinians, and the settlers in the areas that would be ceded to the Palestinians are often the most orthodox Jews who prefer perpetual war to surrender of what they believe was land given to them by God. There is no doubt that Israel is militarily totally dominant, and both the orthodox Jews and the Palestinians are capable of producing large families to continue the blood feud. The Palestinians are more willing to commit suicide, seeing no hope of a better life unless they gain more independence, and they continue to hope for increased support from their richer Arab neighbors. Their leaders may also hope that president-elect Bush with his oil background will tilt a little more in their direction.
Even before we look at the asteroids, the progressions and transits for these critical years of 2000 and 2001 provide a stark warning that this is a period of ripe destiny, of karmic consequences. Transiting Saturn has been aspecting the conflicted factors in the fixed signs as it moved through Taurus. It squared P Saturn and P Vesta, opposed Chiron, and then moved over the Sun in the spring of 2000 when Barak pulled the Israeli forces out of southern Lebanon. In the fall of 2000, when Sharon made his fateful trip to the Temple Mount, setting off the “intifada” or holy war, transiting Saturn stationed and turned retrograde opposite the country’s MC. Through the winter of 2000 to 2001, Saturn stationed again and turned direct on the natal Sun. It squares Mars and crosses the IC again in the spring of 2001.
Saturn is our key to the LAW, to people who enforce the law, to our inner law – our conscience, and to the consequences of how we have handled the law in the past. In contrast, and always in potential conflict, Mars signifies our personal will and our desire for personal power. The midpoint of Mars/Saturn shows a point where we have to integrate our personal will and power with the limits of our personal power – with the law. When an asteroid was finally discovered and named Israel, it was on the country’s Mars/Saturn midpoint within one degree! Natal Israel was in 21 Leo 54, and the midpoint was in 22 Leo 26 when the country was born. Moreover, the speed of the progressed planets and the asteroid keep the latter on that midpoint within one degree until about March 2055! The lesson of handling power is clearly mutual, faced jointly by Israelis and Palestinians, but the odds are not very encouraging that it will be learned quickly.
The spring of 2001 has dramatic progressed aspects, with a New Moon in 14 Cancer 40 that will be exact on May 1. The conjunction of P Moon and P Sun lasts for close to a month on either side of the exact aspect, but it starts a 30-year cycle. To further emphasize the importance of a possible new beginning, the Sun-Moon will be quincunx the natal Ascendant, trioctile the natal MC, and sextile-trine the true lunar nodes. The node aspects could mean finding a way toward security for both sides. The nodes are like two more Moons in a chart, looking for emotional security for home and family. A quincunx typically marks letting go some of the past and moving in new directions. The MC aspect points to the need to find a compromise involving laws and power, since the MC carries the same meaning as Saturn. As this article is written, the P Sun is still octile natal Mars. It will leave that two year aspect in February 2001, but it will still be trioctile natal Urania, which is in 0 Sagittarius 3 conjunct the MC. If we assume that Urania has some similarity to Uranus, the aspects could signify major changes, but no matter what happens, the changes will be both positive and painful. If compromises are worked out to bring peace, most people will be relieved but both sides will have to give up major goals, so they will also be frustrated. If the situation settles into a long-term war of periodic terrorism, the extremists will be pleased that they were not forced to compromise on their principles, but the current fear, anger, and periodic violence will persist and might even escalate at times.
In charts dealing with world affairs, whether of individuals or institutions, there are usually a large number of relevant asteroids. The chart of Israel is a good example. There are far too many to list, but I will include some. One of many reasons I had focused on these years was due to the P MC reaching natal Hel (a death goddess) and P Hiroshima, named for the first city in Japan an atom bomb was dropped on. A number of psychics have warned of the danger of either an atomic war starting in the Near East, or of a terrorist act setting off an atomic bomb in the area. Though the asteroid could signify that danger, I suspect its meaning is not that specific; that it describes the psychological state of fear and anger associated with such action. The natal and local MCs are just 27 minutes apart. Hel is in 19 Capricorn 14, and P Hiroshima is retrograding in 20 Capricorn 21 on January 20, 2001. The conjunctions of the angles with the asteroids therefore last from late 1998 to early 2003. However, after a short period, the P angles will reach natal Hiroshima at 25 Capricorn 42, so the danger period will last several years longer.
The danger seems especially strong at the present time, since the P angles are also quincunx P Saturn and P Vesta, square George and Andree (Andrew) in 20 Aries 13, and octile Nemesis and Hela in 5 to 6 Sagittarius. Hela was named for the same death goddess as Hel, and Nemesis was the god who punished you if you flouted Themis, divine justice. George W. Bush has chosen Andrew Card to manage the White House during his time in office. The current aspects fit their involvement with the traumatic events in Israel. It is intriguing that P George and P Libitina (a death goddess) are in 20 Taurus plus or minus a few minutes of longitude, where they trine the Israel P angles and P Hiroshima. Could this mean that George will successfully handle the Near East crisis? Unfortunately, when factors move from squares to trines, it does not guarantee a desirable outcome. The current aspect may show the timing of events while the natal aspect shows the nature of the events – UNLESS the individual has changed his habits in the interval between the dates of the natal and progressed charts!
If I had worked more with this chart for Israel before the election last November, I would have been more confident that Bush would be elected president. His personal name asteroid, George, was featured and associated with the need to deal with death. The other asteroid named for a George, but feminized to Georgia, was retrograding in 1 Sagittarius 2, coming to the Israel natal MC in early 2001 and connected to it since it had started a conjunction with Urania before the inauguration. To hammer in the message, P Busch in 6 Gemini 33 opposed Hela while the Israel P MCs will move into a trioctile to it. P Busch is also quincunx the country’s Ascendant/MC midpoint to form the equivalent of a current aspect to both of the Israel major angles. Will Bush impact the country or vice versa or both? P Busch is also octile Ra-Shalom, an asteroid named in honor of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace. P Ra-Shalom is just past P Busch, ending an octile to its natal position. P Busch is also square P Israel in 6 Virgo and natal Chaldaea in 5 Virgo 53. The latter asteroid was named for the ancient Near East region that is now part of Iraq and Iran. The patterns certainly fit a karmic connection between George W Bush and the country of Israel.
After noting the prominence of Bush’s name asteroids in the chart for Israel, I decided to check the asteroids for Bush’s main advisors for foreign affairs. Colin Powell was picked to be Secretary of State, and Condoleezza Rice to be Security Advisor. The asteroid named for a man called Rice was feminized to Riceia, and we have an asteroid named Powell. In the chart for Israel, natal Powell in 3 Leo 0 squares natal Libitina in 2 Taurus 29 and octiles natal Arabia and P Sumeria in 17 to 18 Gemini. P Powell in 27 Leo 8 will conjunct natal Mars in time. Natal Riceia in 7 Taurus 9 is trine P Israel. P Riceia in 4 Gemini is conjunct P Phaethon for an overreach danger, trioctile natal Hel and P Hiroshima, octile natal George and Andree, and quincunx P Karma and P United Nations to form a yod from Gemini to Capricorn and Scorpio. There may be additional asteroids with aspects when I have time to check further. So far, the aspects imply that Rice might be more immediately involved in the problems with Israel and Powell more immediately concerned with the Arabs. Like Chaldaea, Sumeria is related to modern Iraq and Iran, so we could anticipate his concern, in light of Powell’s position as Commander in Chief of U.S. forces during the Gulf War against Iraq. Rice’s stated position is focused on security. The latest information from Israel indicates that both the Palestinians and Israel have given up on any hope of an immediate peace settlement and they are focused on security, on just reducing the violence. Powell, on the other hand, has been watching Saddam Hussein escape the embargo placed on Iraq, and warning that the U.S. needs to strengthen it.
One of the suggestions for dealing with the Israel crisis has been to bring in the United Nations, but Israel may only be willing to consider that if the U.S. provides the peace keepers. Israel is afraid of condemnation by the rest of the world for their use of deadly force against rock throwing kids. In the Israel chart, natal U.N. is in 11 Scorpio 11, with the P south lunar node holding a very long conjunction to it. I interpret the south node as a lesson, the 9th house as a key to beliefs and ethics, and Scorpio as the need to learn to share power and possessions for mutual pleasure.
Israel’s natal Sun in 23 Taurus is conjunct Winchester, the asteroid of guns, and square Icarus in 23 Aquarius as additional keys to the country’s power struggles from its beginning. The midpoint of Mars/Saturn opposes Icarus within one degree. Natal Sumeria is on Winchester within one degree, and Hephaistos, who made weapons for the gods of Olympus, is on Sumeria, again within one degree. The three factors in late Taurus are therefore connected, and they form squares to the East Point axis and trioctiles to Neptune. At Bush’s inauguration, the Israel P Moon in 10 Cancer will be square Neptune, octile the Taurus trio, and trioctile the East Point/West Point axis. P Hela in 24 Scorpio opposes the Sun and squares Icarus and the East Point axis.
Many other aspects could be mentioned, including aspects involving the traditional planets. A collection of factors in 26 to 28 Gemini includes P Winchester (guns), P Venus, P Wright (planes), P Uranus, and P Mercury, with the group opposing Jupiter and quincunx P Nemesis in 26 Scorpio. The picture is not encouraging. Major compromises are required from both sides for a resolution, and sometimes it takes a lot of pain before people are willing to face the possibility that their beliefs are destructive.
Zip Dobyns
Copyright © 2001 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science,
Inc.
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