Middle East Challenge

Zip Dobyns

Possible charts for Lebanon and Israel were presented in the Sagittarius 1982 issue of The Mutable Dilemma. Readers who are following the chart for Lebanon’s independence in 1943 will not have been surprised at the continuing violence in this troubled country. We commented in the article a year ago that the progressed Sun was about to conjunct progressed Icarus warning of the danger of over-reach, involving egos and the handling of power. At the same time, progressed Uranus-Mars-Vesta remain together in an opposition to natal Mercury, calling for attention and effort to avoid erratic thinking, problems in communication, and impulsive actions. The ninth house-Sagittarius themes point out the danger of conflicts over faith.

Of course there are many more aspects in the progressed chart, but some of the most mind-blowing involve the new geographic asteroids. The contacts between different charts are also awe-inspiring when we realize the incredible order in the cosmos. Since at the moment, I am almost the only person to have the geographic asteroids, I am hesitant to emphasize them, yet they are fascinating. For starters, the U.S. was not important in Lebanon’s early years of independence, but the chart clearly suggested that we would play a major role in their attempt to “come of age”. The asteroid “America” is conjunct the natal Sun in the chart of Lebanon within less than one degree of orb. The asteroid “Arabia” is within a one-degree conjunction to Chiron, rising in the first house in the Lebanese chart, and it is preparing to make a station on the natal Moon, also in the first house; an aspect that will remain within orb for many years.

I have no idea yet whether “Arabia” might relate to the single country “Saudi Arabia” or to “Arabs” in general. Perhaps the latter is more likely. Certainly the trauma in Lebanon involves Arabs from many countries, at war over different sects or over territory. The PLO (Palestinians), Syrians, Iranians, Druze, and others have turned Lebanon into a battlefield, from one end of the country to the other. A first house Moon may indicate an identification with home and emotional security, but it can also represent conflict between the independence to do what we please and the Moon’s desire for attachment, whether dependency or nurturance. Unfortunately, too much devotion to one’s own family can lead to feuds with other families. The Moon’s placement in Virgo should be helpful if the people are willing to be practical and to work together for shared goals. The link to Chiron in the natal chart repeats the importance of religious beliefs. One- nine combinations can be convinced that they know the Truth and are doing God’s Will, and the religious convictions can lead to fanaticism unless they are tempered by empathy for others or by the realization that we never reach final Truth. We are always on the journey seeking it. But the religious beliefs in the Middle East are deep rooted, leading to wars between and within both countries and religions, including rivalry between sects within a single religion.

The United States was drawn into the struggle after Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982. Our marines were sent to try to maintain peace while the Lebanese government put its house in order. Our Los Angeles Times published the minute the first marine set foot on Lebanese soil on Sept. 29, 1982 at 1:55 P.M. in Beirut. When we look at the contacts with other relevant charts, we have to assume that destiny is working. The South node of the Moon in the Marine arrival chart is at 9 Capricorn conjunct the Lebanese progressed Sun and Icarus and President Reagan’s progressed Moon if my birth time for him is close to accurate. The MC of the Marine chart is exactly conjunct Reagan’s South node of the Moon in Scorpio. Someone should be learning something about handling power.

The Lebanese Sun and asteroid “America” are one degree from the Ascendant I am using for Reagan. The progressed MC for Lebanon is on Reagan’s Neptune and on the Washington (local) MC for the Marine arrival chart. One stops believing in chance when our Marines land in Lebanon at the one time out of 24 hours when the angles in their own capital city match the progressed angles of the country to which they have come.

Remember that angles are produced by our projection of imaginary circles on the sky and then noting where they intersect. There is “nothing really there” in any material sense. Then we pile abstraction on abstraction by moving the MC about one degree a year and calculating the other angles from the new MC. Clearly, the whole business is symbolic, but it helps us to understand the psychological issues we face, as individuals or as part of larger institutions and organizations. With understanding, we can choose more effective options.

Returning to the Marine Arrival chart, its Ascendant of 25 degrees of Capricorn is exactly square Pluto for nearly two years. By 1983, the Washington progressed East Point has reached the exact degree of Saturn in the Arrival chart, the Washington Ascendant is octile Uranus, and the eighth cusp is holding a square to Mars. By Oct. 23, 1983, when the bomb killed over 200 Marines, progressed Moon in the Arrival chart was opposite the eighth cusp, quincunx Sun and natal Part of Death, square Mars, and trioctile Saturn. Progressed Part of Death was opposite the Ascendant. The Washington progressed eighth cusp had reached the degree of the Lebanon IC. Water, including the cusps of all natural water houses (4, 8, 12), marks the potential of closure, endings. The Washington progressed Part of Death was conjunct Neptune in the Arrival chart, opposite the midpoint of natal and progressed Saturn in the chart of Lebanon. The formula for the Part of Death is Ascendant plus eighth house cusp minus Moon. It may be interpreted as another water feature in the chart, with many different types of endings possible. There will often be aspects without overt events, but not events without aspects. Remember that the chart is a map of psychological states. When these are handled properly on the inner level, we may see very little that is dramatic on the outer level. People just go on growing quietly.

Though the intense network of aspects is easing off in the Arrival chart as this is written in early Dec. 1983, there are still challenging ones to come. As the progressed Moon moves into the trioctile to Pluto in Jan.-Feb. 1984, the Washington Part of Death will move back to conjunct Icarus and square the asteroid “America.” “America” and Icarus reach a one-degree square in Sept. 1984 when the progressed Moon will form a T-square to them. Transiting Icarus stations on Reagan’s natal planets five times in the year from Sept. 1983 to Sept. 1984; on natal Mars at 3 Capricorn in Sept.-Oct. 1983, Jan. 1984, and Sept. 1984; on natal Mercury- Dembowska at 21 Capricorn in Dec. 1983; on natal Icarus at 21 Aquarius in May 1984. His fire will be showing, especially in Jan. 1984 when the progressed Moon will be at the midpoint of Mars/Ascendant, octile both, if his time is accurate. The Iranian captivity defeated Carter. I wonder whether Lebanon will defeat Reagan?

There are so many other contacts in the chart, but reading lists of aspects is pretty uninteresting. On the whole, having the charts available for personal study has always been more satisfying to me and I hope our readers feel the same. But a few more contacts might be worth mentioning. In the U.S. Declaration of Independence chart that I am currently using (set for 9:36 A.M. EST—given in modern time for convenience), the progressed Moon was at 26 Virgo at the time of the bomb that killed so many of our Marines. The chart I am using for Reagan has its Washington, DC MC at 25 Virgo on the U.S. progressed Neptune and, temporarily, on the U.S. progressed Moon. The last President we had with a Neptune-MC conjunction was Richard Nixon. It was Nixon’s own Neptune on his own Washington MC, but the comparison is still not encouraging. I find myself saying “Nixon” occasionally when meaning to say “Reagan”, so my unconscious clearly associates the two. I noted in the discussion of Lebanon three issues back that the Lebanese Uranus-MC at 7 Gemini falls on the U.S. Uranus-MC at 8 Gemini, with both of them opposite Reagan’s Washington Ascendant at 8 Sagittarius. Reagan has Dembowska (like another Saturn) closely conjunct his Capricorn Mercury. Lebanon has Dembowska rising, within one degree of Reagan’s MC if our time is accurate. Reagan’s progressed Mars squares Lebanon’s natal Sun-”America” conjunction, and the Marines arrived in Lebanon with that Reagan Mars exactly on the Antivertex and square Chiron. The power issue is indicated repeatedly in these combinations of MC and Dembowska (both equivalent to Saturn as keys to executive power), Mars and Ascendant (as keys to personal power), the Sun as another form of personal power, wanting more than Mars, wanting power over others, and Uranus and Chiron along with Mars as keys to resistance to any external control.

At this point, all we can do is to continue to oppose the extreme military escalation to which our current government seems committed. Modern technology offers so much promise if it can only be used to help humans, for space labs and computers, for robots to do the dangerous, difficult, tedious jobs and to develop crops that will grow in barren soil with salt water and replace the oil once taken from whales, etc. We could have a paradise on earth if we could learn to cooperate and share for mutual good. The lesson of Pluto, now in its own sign, Scorpio, is precisely that; learning to share resources and pleasures. If each of us in her/his own way will light a candle, the darkness will diminish at least a bit.

P.S. We usually only print horoscopes in a single issue, and assume that readers keep back issues as permanent additions to their libraries so that later issues can refer to charts that were previously discussed. In the event that back issues were not saved, or have been lost, or for new subscribers, the data used for the Lebanon chart is Nov. 22, 1943, at 0 A.M., two hours east of GMT, in Beirut, 33 N 54, 35 E 28. If readers would also like to work with a chart on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the data I have is June 6, 1982 with approximate time of 9 A.M. GMT (when they passed the United Nations check station in southern Lebanon) and approximate location of 33 N and 35 E 20. The chart repeats the same angle areas we have been discussing. The MC is around 6 Gemini with Mercury at 8 Gemini. The Ascendant is around 8 Virgo with Psyche also at 8 Virgo. The Moon is at 12 Sagittarius, and the recent eclipse (Dec. 1983) was conjunct it, hardly encouraging for an immediate solution to the tension. Mars is at 4 Libra, square Reagan’s natal Mars. The interweaving of destiny is fascinating.

Copyright © 1983 Los Angeles Community Church of Religious Science, Inc.

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