Asteroid-World Summer 1987
Zip Dobyns
Bruce Babbitt’s year is 1938. The spring 1987 Asteroid-World chart is correct, but the Gemini 1987 The Mutable Dilemma has a typographical error.
Cross your fingers and hope it is accurate; a birth time of 10:14 A.M. CDT for Oliver North comes from a “friend” of his in Texas via the AFA and Alice Reichard. No birth certificate; in fact, the chart is said to be rectified but coming from a friend of North, it might be “fine-tuned” from an approximate time. We will keep our judgments tentative. Astro Computing received the time of 0:43 A.M. from an “unknown source”. A third time was published in the current issue of Aspects, but it is acknowledged to be speculative (one astrologer’s guess).
A chart for the 10:14 time looks reasonable, with Scorpio rising, Jupiter in the ninth house close to the MC, and the Mars-Vesta-Fanatica close conjunction in the eighth house in a quincunx to the Ascendant. If the birth time is accurate, progressed (P) Mars was retrograding over natal Mars in an exact (within one degree orb) quincunx to the Ascendant when the newspaper in Lebanon broke the story about the arms sales to Iran. P Fanatica was also quincunx the Ascendant and conjunct the eighth house cusp. P Vesta was square North’s local MC in Washington, DC. P Mercury was conjunct his Washington Ascendant, fitting the tremendous media publicity, and P Moon was on his natal MC at the midpoint of natal and P Jupiter. If he stays out of jail, that MC-Jupiter midpoint fits the movie career, lecture circuit, and books already proposed for his future. The National Enquirer has invited readers to vote for or against North as a candidate for the Presidency!
Other aspects in North’s chart include the long square of P Saturn to natal Mercury. Mercury’s rulership of the Virgo in the tenth house and Saturn’s rulership of the Capricorn in the local (Washington, DC) first house, make the aspect a case of “personal will against the limits of personal will” as well as an indication of power struggles between various power people and different branches of the government. P Sun continues to hold a quincunx to Saturn while P Moon was quincunx natal Moon when the story broke. North’s life certainly moved in a new direction in the fall of 1986. If the birth time is accurate, P Ascendant will oppose Saturn in about two years. The legal probing of the Special Prosecutor, the Christic lawsuit, and the inevitable legal appeals could easily take years before criminal charges could be sustained and judgment rendered, while a pardon might wash out the whole thing. If a morning birth time is correct, P Moon will conjunct natal and then P Chiron in the spring and summer of 1988, which could point to judicial action if Chiron is similar to Jupiter as I theorize. Walsh, the Special Prosecutor, expects to bring charges in October 1987 though the delay in getting the Swiss bank records could postpone the action. The Christics expect to be in court with their lawsuit in the first half of 1988.
Among the interesting asteroid patterns, when the news broke in November 1986, P Neptune was just ending a conjunction with Atlantis which had existed since North was born; his power struggles stopped bring secret. P Atlantis was trine P Mars and will continue for some years in a trine to natal Mars, Vesta, and Fanatica. P America was conjunct P Sun and quincunx Saturn. P Washingtonia, Pele, and Fama were all conjunct in the first house and square natal Jupiter. For a number of years, they had been quincunx natal Mars-Vesta-Fanatica, but those aspects were out of orb. Squares to Jupiter could be read as poor judgment, or acting against one’s better judgment, or simply not being able to reach one’s goals and ideals. Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and also the name of a famous volcano in Martinique in the Caribbean. North certainly erupted into fame in Washington. P Arabia and P Arachne were on P Chiron in North’s tenth house when the news came out about his activity in the Arabian area. Arachne was the lady who was turned into a spider by Athene, fitting the web of intrigue woven by North and the rest of the “secret team”. They were also conjunct natal Amun (a Sun god) and Adonis (a near-eastern god who became a sacrificial victim). P Pluto holds a near lifetime square to natal America, and in a few years it will move back into the square to natal Fama, Pele, and Washingtonia.
The adulation of North and increased support for the Contras seems to have been a short-lived phenomenon in the U.S. Currently, polls suggest that a majority want the U.S. to work for peace and economic justice in the tormented countries of Central America. There are many more interesting asteroids in North’s chart, but his time is really still highly uncertain and I am eager to move on to other charts. We have a bonanza from Marian March through Lois Rodden; birth times for Richard Secord, Richard Gephardt, and Paul Simon. The balance of their data has been presented in earlier newsletters. Gephardt and Simon are Democratic contenders for the Presidency and Secord is one of the “secret team.” I was especially fascinated to find that Secord has Mars rising, within three degrees of the Ascendant in the twelfth house, with Fanatica just over one degree above the Ascendant so it is on the midpoint of Mars/Ascendant. Fanatica is also conjunct Hispania which could symbolize Hispanic or Latin America.
To digress briefly, Marc Penfield reminded me that a timed chart for the CIA was given in the book International Horoscopes, written by Glenn Malec and published by AFA. However, all the sources we have been able to check give July 26, 1947 for the CIA’s legal beginning while Malec gives July 27. Malec’s time of 3:40 A.M. EDT also seems questionable for signatures by Congressional leaders and President Truman. Malec quotes the New York Times as his source, and we have not yet been able to check that. I am mentioning the chart here because even with uncertainty over the day and time, the CIA chart will have a one degree conjunction between Mars and Fanatica with both just over a degree from Oliver North’s Mars-Fanatica which are within two degrees of Mars in the U.S. Declaration of Independence horoscope. John Poindexter (time unknown) has a grand cross in the area (18 to 21 degrees of the mutable signs) including Saturn at 21 Pisces. William Casey (time unknown) had his natal Sun at 22 Pisces conjunct Lachesis and Moira, two of the “fate” asteroids, while another (Dike) was conjunct Urania and Fanatica at 25 Pisces. During his years in the Reagan White House, Poindexter had P Mars conjunct natal Venus-Atlantis and octile Dike, Gaea (earth) and Fanatica. With his low-key manners demonstrated in the Congressional Hearings, Poindexter must have his Leo Mars and Sun in a water or an earth house. Virgo rising would be possible, giving him a first house Neptune with the Leo in the twelfth house. The Gauquelins found Mars most often in the twelfth house for military leaders and sports champions. Poindexter has P Atlantis and P Washingtonia together and opposite natal Saturn as he hangs between honorable retirement and possible disgrace and jail.
Returning to Secord for whom we now have a birth time, he has Winchester, so far seeming more connected to guns than to anything else, square his Moon, sextile his Sun, and semisextile his Ascendant. Of course his whole career has been in the U.S. military or selling weapons. Progressed Winchester is conjunct his natal Hispania, Fanatica and his P Antivertex, and just coming to his natal Ascendant when the news broke in November 1986. P Karl Marx is also in the collection, and P Phaethon is approaching. We can hope that Phaethon is pointing to a coming fall. P Fanatica has reached natal Nemesis and Columbia. Nemesis was the deity who “got you” when you flouted the Law “Themis”. Columbia could symbolize both the District of Columbia and the country which is the main source of the cocaine which the Contras and secret team are said to have been bringing into the U.S. to fund their anti-Communism. P Ascendant had just reached P Columbia when the news broke on the arms sales to Iran. Secord’s local (Washington, DC) P Ascendant had just passed P Nemesis but Nemesis was still opposite P Saturn. They will continue to the opposition to natal Saturn while P Ascendant from Secord’s birthplace and P Columbia will move into the opposition to P Saturn in the next couple of years. Secord’s natal Atlantis is three degrees from his natal Sun, and is exactly conjunct Poindexter’s Gaea-Fanatica. His P Atlantis was sextile natal Mars and trine P MC in November 1986. It is moving toward a sextile to natal Ascendant and a conjunction with natal Moon while P Mercury moves toward a conjunction with natal Jupiter and a trine to Uranus. He may still win out.
More traditional aspects in Secord’s current chart include P Venus conjunct Pluto and P Sun conjunct P Neptune (it was on natal Neptune during the Iran-sales period along with P Mercury opposite MC). Local P MC is square P Mars for some years, as well as quincunx P south node of the Moon, trine P Pallas, and coming to the trioctile to P Jupiter by early 1988. Uranus holds a long square to Pluto but is trine to Jupiter and Juno. I think Secord genuinely believes that his actions were patriotic and justified, to save the U.S. from Communism. His natal Sun is closely conjunct the Sun in our Declaration chart. It will be interesting to see how the court cases develop.
One other relevant chart was obtained for me by a client in Berkeley, California. I now have a birth certificate for Edwin Meese, born on December 2, 1931 at 3:29 A.M. PST in Oakland, California. He has a lot of steam-roller potential with strength in fire and earth, with his water strengthened by a Moon-Neptune conjunction (right on Ted Kennedy’s) which is octile Pluto and trioctile Saturn. Air is his weakest element, despite a Libra Ascendant, and the south node in Libra in the twelfth house suggests a lesson in cooperation and equality and acceptance (air) as well as in faith and morality (twelfth house). In the spring of 1987, during the Congressional Hearings, Meese’s P Moon opposed six progressed asteroids in 17-18 Pisces: Sapientia, Horus, Dembowska, Pandora, Fanatica, and Karl Marx. Issues would seem to include wisdom (or the lack of it), power (Dembowska is very like Saturn), and the obsession over communism which seems characteristic of the “secret team.” According to the Christic Institute, Meese was involved in the decision to bring the “team” back into the government in the early days of the Reagan presidency. Natally, Meese has Atlantis opposite America, quincunx Moon, trine Ceres, octile Chiron and trioctile Pallas. Atlantis continues to be an incredible key to power struggles or to the abuse of power. P Atlantis is conjunct P Helio (a Sun god) and P Nemesis (consequences), trine natal Mercury-Venus, and forming a yod, quincunx his local (Washington) Ascendant and birthplace Antivertex and the midpoint of natal and P south node of the Moon. P Nemesis is still within orb of an octile to the local MC. Local P Antivertex is conjunct natal Fanatica and quincunx birthplace P MC. Though the Congressional Hearings did not threaten Meese, the Christic lawsuit may be more of a challenge and he is currently involved in the Wedtech scandal.
Turning to the presidential race, Gephardt has a strong chart with a fire-earth emphasis; another good steam roller. It takes a fair amount of that kind of overdrive to aim at the highest office in the country. I was fascinated to find Gephardt’s P Saturn on his local (Washington, DC) MC and in a long square to his natal Sun. Natal Saturn is closely conjunct Jupiter in the tenth house, and square the Ascendant, a further statement of the power drive including the struggle of self-will (Ascendant) versus the limits of self-will (any form of letter ten). However, talent and success are also strongly shown in the chart. P Uranus holds a long trine to his sixth house Venus, and P Neptune has been sextile Chiron all his life though it also has a long quincunx to Mercury which Chiron completes to form a yod. The yod symbolizes the issue of ideals versus what is possible as well as fitting the constant emphasis on mental activity, communication, and travel, all of which are omnipresent in his job as Congressman. P Pluto holds a lifetime sextile-trine to the true nodes of the Moon, appropriate for Gephardt’s commitment to his wife and family even though his work constantly takes him away. The nodes across the third-ninth houses with the Moon on the south node mark the potential of constant travel or changes of residence.
Gephardt has many interesting asteroids including America square Uranus which is conjunct Hybris, another key to possible overreach. Midas and Fama are on his natal Jupiter-Saturn, currently joined by P Prometheus (a well-known overreacher) and P Moira (one of the Fates). P Dembowska is conjunct the Descendant. That is the asteroid Batya looks for first in cases of “it seemed like a good idea at the time.” P Venus is conjunct P America and sextile natal Venus and Uranus. P Vesta squares P Jupiter with both trioctile a conjunction of P Urania and P Atlantis. P Attila is conjunct P Mercury and quincunx Pluto and the north node of the Moon (a yod). By the November 1988 election, P Moon will cross the sixth cusp in a trine to natal Jupiter-Saturn and a trioctile to Uranus. It will also be approaching a quincunx to natal Ascendant and an opposition to P Washingtonia. P Mars conjunct P Sisyphus (who rolled the rock up the hill) and P Semele (one of many “moon goddesses”) will be just starting a trine to Uranus. Despite all the aspects, it does not seem likely that Gephardt could make it to the top but he might be a candidate for the Vice Presidency. He also might run again in four years when he will have P Sun on natal Moon-south node, trine Pluto, trioctile his local Ascendant, and quincunx Juno.
Paul Simon’s chart does not suggest the power drive I normally expect in a candidate for the presidency. He does have a Moon-Mars conjunction in the tenth house, but it is in Cancer. It does gain strength by being conjunct the U.S. Declaration of Independence Venus-Jupiter conjunction, and it is part of a network of aspects in Simon’s chart. A sextile to Jupiter-Chiron on one side and to Neptune-East Point on the other side symbolize Simon’s strong idealism. Ceres and Juno complete a grand trine in water signs, while Sun and Pallas complete a yod; all focused into the elevated Mars-Moon. P Uranus in Aries in the seventh house holds a lifetime square to the natal Moon. The chart certainly fits Simon’s reputation as a liberal with a strong social conscience. Earth and water are the dominant elements, showing the concern for security; in his case, concern for the security of his fellow human beings.
Atlantis opposes Simon’s Venus while Washingtonia squares his Mars and America trines Mars, both connecting to the strong aspect network with factors ranging from 4 to 7 degrees and distributed through eight different signs. Dembowska is just over a degree below his Ascendant and P Moon is conjunct Dembowska for the nomination in the summer of 1988 and conjunct P Dembowska for the election. If, as I think, Dembowska is like Saturn, that could indicate taking on power and responsibility if his ambition is realistic, or being defeated if he is over-reaching. Dembowska does seem to be prominent in most or all of our candidates. P America is on the south node of the Moon for years. Simon’s chart is more like a teacher than a politician and I am sure he is both teaching America and learning from it. For a good many years, P Washingtonia will stay on P Vesta and both are more temporarily square Simon’s local (Washington, DC) MC. One possible symbol for his peace efforts is P Neptune opposite Potomac all his life. The Pentagon, our military headquarters, is built beside the Potomac River in Washington. At the election, P Potomac is opposite Simon’s natal Ascendant almost to the minute of arc. Though there are some helpful aspects such as P MC trine natal Vesta and P Mars sextile P Vesta, the chart does not look strong enough to achieve the Presidency.
I had intended to include the horoscope of Patricia Schroeder, a Congressional Representative from Colorado who is considering a run for the nomination, but I have received conflicting information on her birth time. According to Elinor Kimmel of Denver, she was born on July 30, 1940 at 6 A.M. PST in Portland Oregon. Another source says the birth time was in the evening, so we will wait for clarifying information. Dukakis is also in doubt at the moment so all previous comments must be held in abeyance until we find out whether his time was morning or evening. Laxalt has abandoned the race, so we can stop trying to get his data. Sam Nunn who had been mentioned as a “possible” contender has also said that he will not run.
While on the subject of “dirty data,” to use Lois Rodden’s term, all bets are currently off on the Reagans. I have flipped more than once on Nancy Reagan’s time which is alternately given as A.M. or P.M., but I had been confident of the Scorpio rising chart for Ronald. But according to Marc Penfield, a new biography on Ronald includes a detailed description of the events around his birth and makes it sound as if it was early afternoon. I have not had time to go again over the whole list of events in his life to see whether I can find a workable afternoon birth time, so the Reagans are “on the shelf” for the moment.
I am considering retreating for a week in each month to try to make time for my neglected writing and reading. I have joined a camping resort organization and can go in our new camper and just read, write, and swim with no mail, telephone, newspaper, clients, shopping, or meals to prepare. We got the camper this past spring and used it on a trip through the Rocky Mountain states, including three days rafting in Colorado on the Arkansas river. The river rafting was a great experience shared with Batya and we’re ready to go again.
For those who are following the progress of potential peace in Central America, the Arias proposal was signed by the Presidents of five countries at approximately 1:25 A.M. CST on August 7, 1987 in Guatemala City. The discussion extended past midnight on the sixth, and reporter Tony Avirgan said that at 1:30 A.M. on the 7th they were toasting the accord which had just been signed. Unfortunately, the chart suggests an uphill struggle with Saturn opposite the Ascendant and trioctile Mercury, ruler of the Ascendant. Pluto and Neptune form a yod to the East Point while Moon and Pallas form a yod to the Ascendant. Major adjustments and compromises are clearly going to be necessary to move toward more peace. But there are two grand trines; a fire one involving Mars, Ceres-Uranus, and Antivertex-Jupiter, and a water one involving Juno-MC, Vesta, and Pluto, so we can all pray for wisdom for the involved leaders, including our own leaders. Among the asteroids in the chart was Amnestia which was reached by the Moon within minutes after the signatures; Attila on the Antivertex; Potomac on the IC; Atlantis square Saturn; Washingtonia square Ceres; America square Venus; and Winchester quincunx the Ascendant by 1:26 A.M.
One other chart with some interesting asteroids is the Cancer Ingress calculated for Los Angeles. Readers will probably have heard about the rash of shootings on our freeways in July. Of course I wanted to see whether the Cancer Ingress had appropriate aspects for this area. Winchester is conjunct the first house Part of Death in Scorpio, trioctile the Sun at zero Cancer with California octile the Sun and Medusa square Winchester and California and trioctile the Sun. Gaea, the earth, was at zero Aries so square the Sun. Mercury (the violence was happening on short trips) was conjunct a collection of five asteroids: Aten for fame, Moira and Nemesis (Fates), Guernica (famous for the deaths of non-combatants in the Spanish civil war), and Armisticia (as is commonly the case, the asteroid shows the issue so Armisticia can indicate an armistice or a lack of it and war). Mercury was also octile Atlantis and Apollo (a Sun god). Helio, another Sun god for fame and power, was opposite Mars with Attila conjunct Sapientia which squared Mars. Attila the Hun was noted for his violent conquests and Sapientia points to wisdom or the lack of it. Mars was also conjunct the north nodes of Saturn and Pluto. Sometimes I get so caught up in the asteroids I forget to look at all the other factors which are also useful parts of the repeated message of astrology. There were also many appropriate midpoints in the chart.
Time and space run out but if anyone wants to calculate them personally, the septuplets in England were reportedly born at 6:30 A.M. in Liverpool. Five had died in the last news that I heard. We didn’t need the asteroids on the terrible Detroit airplane crash. Saturn was on the MC at 8:45 P.M. on August 16, 1987. The attempted coup in Manila is reported to have begun at 1 A.M. on August 27. It has impressive asteroids which will have to wait for another issue of Asteroid-World since I want to make room for a great contribution from a reader who is doing the project I have most wanted to see done: describing the source of the asteroid names which we use as our starting theory on their possible meanings. For this issue of Asteroid-World, she has concentrated on asteroids with Near Eastern associations, and some of them were a surprise to me! I expect we will be calculating some more of them in the near future, but right now all efforts are focused on programs for our new LaserJet printer which promises to relieve us of the tedium of The Mutable Dilemma paste-up! Cheers!!!