THE 2001 CAPRICORN INGRESS

As students of mundane astrology know, one of the standard tools for trying to understand the world is the cardinal ingress chart when the transiting Sun enters each cardinal zodiac sign: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. The ingress charts are drawn for the region(s) of your choice, normally for the capital city of one’s own country and often for one’s one residential area. Sometimes the Aries ingress chart is used for a whole year, until the next time the Sun enters zero Aries. Mostly, the other three ingress charts, for Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, are considered valid for only the following three months. The signs of and aspects between the planets will be identical for all of the earth, but the house positions will obviously be quite different in different geographic regions. Aspects from the planets to the local angles are especially relevant and useful.

I had been mostly testing our expanding set of newly named asteroids on charts for events in the world, and neglecting any effort to see “the big picture.” However, following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I calculated all of the cardinal ingress charts for 2000 and 2001, locating them in several relevant areas, but especially concentrating on Washington D.C. and New York. Both the attacks on NY and DC and the anthrax panic came during the Cancer 2001 ingress, with continuing repercussions through the Libra ingress. Obviously, long articles could be written about both, with the 20-20 vision of hindsight. However, it seems more important to discuss the coming Capricorn ingress since it presents a different and dramatic theme. This article is being written in early November, but I have been mulling over this chart for weeks, trying to decide whether or not to discuss it on our web site.

As our readers know, I am convinced that astrology is a symbol system that shows states of mind. The planets are a visible way to see the cosmic order because they are part of it, not because they create or even influence it. Mental states (emotions and ideas) may be manifested in many different details on the physical level, and sometimes they remain on the mental level without tangible manifestation. Sometimes, we can guess in advance the tangible consequences of coming mental states, but part of the reason that astrology is not taken seriously is because so many astrologers guess the wrong details. The theme of this coming Capricorn 2001 ingress is a clear focus on nuclear issues, but at this point I have no idea whether the concern will remain mental-emotional, or whether there will be relevant events somewhere in the world.

The Sun will enter 0 Capricorn on December 21, 2001 at 19:22 UT. I will concentrate on the chart drawn for Washington D.C., our capital. We don’t need astrology to see that the nuclear issue is already being featured in the media. Bush has said that bin Laden may have nuclear weapons. Bin Laden has responded that he does have both nuclear and bioterrorism weapons, and that IF these weapons are used against him, he will not hesitate to respond in kind. The U.S. government has passed “no fly” zones around our nuclear power plants, including limiting access by water for those, like San Onofre in California, which are located on the ocean. Theoretically, our nuclear power plants are built to withstand a small airplane crashing into them, but not a big commercial jet such as those that hit the World Trade Center. The U.S. is not alone in this current concern. France has placed missiles around its big nuclear reprossessing plant to shoot down any airplane that approaches too closely. A widely dispersed web posting claims that a number of terrorists have slipped into the U.S. from Canada with hand-held missiles that might be used to attack our nuclear power plants. Our CIA supplied such weapons to the mujahedeen fighting Russia in Afghanistan, and they could come back to haunt us. The nightly media discuss the difference between suitcase-sized nuclear bombs which are powerful explosives, and “dirty” bombs that do most of their damage by releasing radiation. We are getting an education on why we need to focus on renewable, clean energy!

Turning to the ingress chart, aspects become especially important when there is a network of connecting factors. The factors may include many variations of our astrological alphabet: planets, planetary nodes, not limited to the lunar nodes, Arabic Parts, midpoints, etc. As our readers know, my special fascination has been with the minor planets that we call “asteroids.” We have been testing some of them for 30 years now, and I keep adding some new ones to test as astronomers discover and name them. So far, the astronomer who “resonates” with one seems to be the one attracted to find it and give it an appropriate name, but we will obviously continue to test them.

In the Capricorn 2001 ingress chart, the nuclear theme is dramatic! Asteroid Hiroshima is conjunct the Sun in 0 Capricorn 40, and asteroid Nagasaki is conjunct Mars in 8 Pisces 59. I don’t suppose that any readers need to be reminded that those are the two cities on which the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs to force Japan to surrender in 1945. I limit aspects to the “new” asteroids to one-degree orbs, but when there is a “network” of factors with overlapping orbs, they have to be seen as connected. Mars in 9 Pisces 25 and Saturn retrograding in 10 Gemini 2 form such a network, and they bring in factors in 23 to 25 degrees of the cardinal signs to form octiles and trioctiles.

In addition to the nuclear theme, the personal name asteroids of the Bush family and Cheney are also featured in these “networks,” and some of the “death” goddesses are also connected. Asteroid George is in 8 Sagittarius 38 on Atlantis (associated with the abuse of power) in 9 Sagittarius 12, so both are within one-degree squares of Mars. Asteroid Busch (the slight variation on spelling does not seem to prevent it signifying George Bush) is in 9 Pisces 37. Welsh, Laura’s maiden name, is in 29 Sagittarius 11, within one degree of the ingress Sun. Richard is retrograding in 8 Gemini 38 exactly opposite George. Laura, in 26 Cancer 55, is less closely connected though it barely misses an octile to the death goddess, Atropos, which is retrograding in 10 Gemini 51. Asteroid Powell retrograding in 24 Cancer 35 is part of the network of aspects. Hela, another death goddess, squares the Sun from 0 Libra, while Hel, named for the same Norse goddess, completes a T-square from 0 Aries. The Roman goddess of death, Libitina, is not connected to the preceding networks, but she conjuncts Fermi, the physicist who directed the first nuclear chain reaction that made the atomic bomb possible, in 12 Aquarius. Georgia, the variation on George that was actually named for George Washington, is in 12 Scorpio, conjunct Medea in 13 Scorpio. Medea killed her children.

Nowadays, this is known as “collateral damage.”

Coincidentally, locating the chart in Kabul puts Hela exactly on the Ascendant, Hel exactly on the Descendant, and the Sun exactly on the IC.

When the chart is calculated for Washington D.C., the Ascendant in 21 Taurus 41 is square the tenth house Uranus and the Part of Death in 21 Aquarius 29. There is no doubt that the U.S. is producing death in Afghanistan. The open question is whether this coming winter might include what the CIA calls “blowback,” consequences from our previous actions. A cluster of asteroids are in 22 Leo, where they square the Ascendant in DC. They include Ankara, the capital of Turkey, Thomas, Victoria, and Thompson among others. The name “Tom” could point to Tom Daschle, whose anthrax letter was the most damaging, the FBI director of the investigation of the Trade Center towers attack, and Tom Brokaw, who also received an anthrax letter, though with the less deadly form of the bacteria. Tommy Thomson, the cabinet director of Health and Human Services, is obviously also a central player in the drama, and Tom Ridge was more recently appointed to coordinate “homeland security” issues.

There is always more that might be said, but the preceding patterns are thought-provoking. Will the winter pass without a major incident in our homeland? A great many of us are praying for peace in the world.

Zip Dobyns

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