Asteroid-World Winter 1987
Zip Dobyns
It may be time to supplement the traditional motto “Go West, young man,” with “Look South, students of the world.” In the sweep of history, power has clearly moved west through the centuries for which we have written records. Starting with the great Empires of Mesopotamia and Egypt, world leadership was held in turn by Rome, Spain, Great Britain, and the U.S.A. (China had a series of empires at the same time in its own sphere). A fascinating and horrifying book which I read some months ago describes the western progression from Spain to Britain to the U.S.A., and suggests that the next center of power will be in the Far East. The book is called Hyperinflation or Depression, and it was published in 1984. The author, Richard Zambell, offers six possible candidates to inherit the mantle of power: Australia, Canada, Japan, West Germany, China, and Russia. (Its control of Siberia lets Russia qualify for the Far Eastern group). Zambell thinks that Russia is the most likely winner, but suggests that the “free world” could aid Australia to maintain the power in capitalist hands. The “horror” in the book is the author’s support for ruthless power and the rights of individuals as ultimate values. In his world of Social Darwinism, there is little room for cooperation and none for compassion. The rich are, by definition, the fit, and should be free to keep and use their wealth as they please, as in the days of the “robber barons” and 12 hour a day, six days a week child labor. All vestiges of socialism must be eradicated. To escape the danger of Russia ruling the world, Zambell thinks that it is necessary to allow what he sees as an inevitable depression to weed out all the “economically unfit.” Zambell writes, “Simply put, the U.S. and her allies must promote a 1980s depression of greater magnitude than the 1929-1933 slump, lasting perhaps 10-20 years. Only by so doing can capitalist nations rid themselves of the inefficient companies, huge debt overhangs, and to put aside the perpetual cheer-leading that ‘everything is or will soon be rosy.’ Such perpetual optimism has torpedoed each supreme power preceding us.” p. 144
Another fascinating book on economic history is called Power Cycles. It was written by William and Douglas Kirkland and published in 1985. Like Zambell, the Kirklands are economic consultants, and both books emphasize the Kondratieff wave theory. The Kirklands analyze the stock market cycle, the monetary cycle, the real estate cycle, and the debt cycle, concluding that the latter seems to capture the essence of the Kondratieff wave. They write; “In fact, the accumulation and destruction of debt along with the emotions of fear and greed, should probably be considered the primary driving forces of all long-term investment cycles. In its broadest sense, the long-term bond rate chart shown in Figure 27 becomes a proxy for the aggregate debt level of the nation.” p. 187 The Kirklands also agree with Zambell that a financial crisis and depression are inevitable, but they disagree with the idea that the U.S. will lose its position of power in the world. They feel that the money panic will start in off-shore banks, the “tax-havens” such as the Bahamas, Panama, and the Cayman Islands, and will then spread to pull in the rest of the banking community of the world, but that the U.S. will remain a haven for the wealth of the world. They predict that the rest of the near-eastern countries will follow the example of Iran and be taken over by religious regimes, while the newly democratic countries of Central and South America will revert to military dictatorships. Their confidence in the U.S. banking system ignores the fact that the major banks of other countries which loaned massive amounts to less developed countries have written off much of the debt while most U.S. banks are still carrying it at face value. If our banks have to write-off the whole debt of other countries in addition to failing farms, oil companies, and other business, general faith in our system might be shaken. The rising value of the yen added to the Japanese high rate of savings has made Japanese banks the world leaders. The top five Investment banks and the top five Commercial banks are now Japanese.
Both of the books discussed above draw on similar historical “facts” but their interpretations of the facts, and their forecasts based on them, have some major differences. I would like to suggest still another scenario which is also based on historical events but which adds a consideration of astrological factors. In an earlier issue of The Mutable Dilemma, I listed some of the astronomical events which seemed to me to call attention to the southern hemisphere. Halley, the most celebrated comet in history, was most visible in 1985-6 from the southern hemisphere. In mid-July 1986, Mars came the closest to earth since 1971 while it was at maximum south declination so its brightness (more than Jupiter) could be appreciated mostly in the southern hemisphere. The 1971 close passage of Mars coincided in time with Nixon’s opening of China and a 90 day freeze on prices and wages.
Around October 29, 1986, Neptune reached its farthest south declination since the 19th century. Mercury transits over the face of the Sun about 13 times in a century. It made such a transit on November 13, 1986 and was mostly visible in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Pluto moves into south declination around November 13, 1987; returns briefly to north declination in late February 1988, and returns to the south in early September 1988, remaining there for many years. Uranus will reach its furthest south declination around late August to early September 1989.
Current economic happenings seem to me to support increasing economic power in Asia, but Zambell’s excessive value placed on ruthlessness leads him to focus too much on military power and to be unable to conceive of real cooperation. The Kirklands, coming from the same capitalistic values, also assume that real cooperation is impossible. And in spite of the parallels which both books draw between the depression of the early 1930s and the years just ahead in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they fail to mention that the period of the 1930s was actually a time of better growth for the southern hemisphere. In the 1970s, the less developed countries (a majority of them in the southern hemisphere) went heavily into debt as they were forced to pay enormously higher prices for oil and almost everything else (as manufacturing prices escalated in response to the oil price jumps). Even the interest on their debts was increased as the U.S. raised interest rates to rescue their collapsed bond market and currency, and the Arabs pegged their oil prices to the U.S. dollar.
The events are an eerie replay of the 1920s following World War I when many countries went heavily into debt while U.S. President Coolidge lowered taxes on the rich and decreased limits on business monopolies. Naturally, businesses raised their prices while commodities (which remained unorganized and competitive) stayed in recession and the wealthy drove the stock market to new highs. In the 1930s, following the great stock market crash of 1929, the countries of Latin America mostly repudiated their unpayable debts. Then, while the countries of the northern hemisphere set up trade barriers to try to protect national markets, and sank into the worst depression since the 1830s, the countries of South America had a period of increased growth and development. Could it happen again? You bet it could.
On February 24, 1987, we had another message from the sky. Just four days after Brazil declared it could no longer pay the interest on the money it owed to commercial banks, a supernova was sighted from the Las Campanas astronomical observatory in the mountains of northern Chile. It is reported to be the closest supernova or exploding star since the one sighted by Kepler in 1604, and it is visible only from the southern hemisphere. According to the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, it was spotted “just before dawn” by scientists from the University of Toronto working in Chile. Daylight soon blotted it out, but further studies were made starting that night with a more powerful telescope at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory near La Serena, Chile. Preliminary information suggests that the supernova might be a type previously unknown to astronomers, neither Type 1 nor Type 2. Our current information is that it has stabilized at a magnitude of 4.5 (though it may get brighter) and that it is getting redder. It is in the Greater Magellanic Cloud which covers most of the space between 5 and 6 hours of Right Ascension (RA) and 66 to 72 south declination. This RA is roughly equivalent to the second half of Gemini when measuring along the ecliptic. As most readers will know, RA measures along the equator and zodiacal longitude measures along the ecliptic, earth’s path around the sun. The two great circles intersect at zero Aries and zero Libra and diverge by 23+ degrees at zero Cancer and zero Capricorn, so planets near zero Aries or Libra and near the ecliptic will have similar positions in charts drawn in either the ecliptic or the equatorial coordinate system.
In my first speculative chart, I put the Pisces Sun in the first house to fit the newspaper description of a sighting just before dawn, and that put Gemini in the bottom half of the horoscope. Further checking confirmed that the Cloud would be circumpolar from the observatory in Chile, circling the pole above the horizon and never setting, so a fourth or fifth house object at that altitude would still be visible. However, when Mark actually converted the location of the supernova from Right Ascension to Zodiacal Longitude, after we acquired more definite data on the location of the Observatory and the direction of the supernova, we had a new surprise. The location of the supernova at about 69 S 17 Declination and 5 hours and 36 minutes of Right Ascension, puts it close to one of spots where the ecliptic and equator have their maximum divergence. The pole of the ecliptic (at right angles to the ecliptic) actually falls very close to the edge of the Magellanic Cloud, within four degrees of the supernova. So the supernova with a latitude of 86 south 26 is conjunct the pole of the ecliptic and square (at right angles to) the whole zodiac which stretches along the ecliptic. This means that though we can say that the supernova is in about seven degrees of Aquarius, we cannot say that it is conjunct any object within or close to the belt of the ecliptic. Said more precisely, it is on an arc which passes through seven Aquarius when it is extended to cross the ecliptic.
When I actually got the time of discovery (given as .23 UT which translates to about 5:31 A.M. UT), my “before dawn” estimate was replaced by a third house Sun with an MC of 14 Virgo and 29 Sagittarius rising. The supernova would fall in the second house but, as mentioned above, would be visible because of its high latitude. Aquarius in the Taurus house point to an issue involving humanitarian principles and money and material possessions. Though we have to be cautious about aspects between the supernova and planets or asteroids in the discovery chart, we can at least deal with the chart as a key to the meaning of the supernova for this point in time. Uranus symbolizes new knowledge, and its position conjunct the center of our Galaxy at 26 Sagittarius and just above the Ascendant is certainly appropriate for the excitement in the astronomical world over the increased understanding of cosmic processes which they expect to gain from studies of the supernova. The Magellanic Cloud where it is located is called a “companion galaxy” to our own. Makeover, one of Batya’s “humor” asteroids, is on the Ascendant, suggesting major changes coming for the earth, perhaps especially related to the southern hemisphere. Washingtonia is conjunct the MC, and the U.S. will certainly play a major role in those changes. Whether our influence will be for better or for worse depends on our collective wisdom, including the leaders we choose in coming years.
Other asteroids (among many) which are part of the mutable emphasis include Nefertiti opposite the Ascendant, Richter and Hygiea opposite Saturn, Brasilia and Fanatica conjunct Saturn, Sphinx conjunct Uranus, with Merlin (in Virgo) and Chaldaea (in Pisces) square Uranus. Chaldaea may be the original home of historical astrology. Merlin is associated with the power of mind to influence the world. Brazil and its capital Brasilia are currently the center of a financial crisis of major proportions, with Fanatica an appropriate asteroid for the emotional intensity of the situation. Uranus on Sphinx could suggest that hidden knowledge will be uncovered. Hygiea (health) and Richter (named for an astronomer, but seemingly “working” for the man with the same name who developed the scale used to measure earthquakes) point to the possibility of serious quakes. Just over a week later, Ecuador had earthquakes which led to their stopping interest payments on their debt on March 10. Nefertiti was the wife of Iknaton, the Egyptian pharaoh credited with the earliest promulgation of monotheism. Kepler, witness of the last close supernova, marked the boundary between the world-view that the cosmos is meaningful and guided by a Higher Power, and the world-view of materialistic science that the cosmos is meaningless and ruled by chance. Kepler was the last famous astronomer who was also still an astrologer. The fields divided after Kepler. Does the new supernova mark the coming reunion of astrology and astronomy as the new physics pushes science beyond materialism?
In the discovery chart, the Sun at 5 Pisces is conjunct Roma, Yugoslavia, California, Nemausa, Pomona, Nephthys, and Tristan within one degree as well as opposite China. There are also seven asteroids within one degree of Jupiter which squares the Ascendant from the first house. Two of these are Arabia which plays a major role in determining the price of oil in the world, and Cal Tech which in association with Jet Propulsion Lab is heavily involved in astronomy and space and the study of earthquakes. Cal Tech is in Pasadena, next door to Los Angeles. Nephthys was an Egyptian goddess of the underworld and death, and Tristan (with Isolda) is associated with love and death. Nemausa sometimes seems to be a key to a central issue in a chart. Pomona is a city near Los Angeles.
In fixed signs, Pluto is conjunct Xizang (Tibet) and Tokyo and opposite Byelorussia (the Soviet District in which Chernobyl is located, which took the brunt of the radiation damage). Pallas is part of a fixed cross including a conjunction with Moskva (Moscow) and Winchester (guns, religion, education?), an opposition to Hestia (the Greek Vesta), and squares to Adonis and Tantalus (in Aquarius) and Aesculapia and Atlantis (in Leo). Adonis is associated with excessive self-absorption. Tantalus was punished for over-reach by being unable to reach the food and drink he craved. Aesculapia was a great healer. Atlantis, as you all know by now, is a warning against the abuse of power—especially with modern technology. Pallas is a major key to politics and politicians, and the patterns certainly suggest power struggles over money, jobs, and freedom among other possibilities. Many of the aspected geographic asteroids were named for areas which are in earthquake zones. It will be interesting to see whether these areas have earthquakes or economic quakes or are prominent in other ways.
One of the important developments in the southern hemisphere in recent months was the economic agreement between Brazil and Argentina. Though traditional rivals in the past, their common struggles to free themselves from military dictatorships and to deal with overwhelming debts have encouraged an attempt at cooperation. The economic agreement went into effect at zero A.M. on January 1, 1987. Drawn for Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, there are mutable signs on the angles with Uranus closely square the Ascendant and Mars opposed to the Ascendant within five minutes of longitude. The tensions of inflation and unemployment and debt, and the anxiety of the people are certainly shown. Setting the chart in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, puts cardinal signs on the angles with the Sun closely square the Ascendant, Vesta exactly opposite the Ascendant, and Neptune within a degree of the IC. Again, economic solutions will not be easy. But the efforts at cooperation are continuing. On January 22, 1987 at 2 P.M. Cuba time, Brazil and Argentina signed a telecommunication agreement, and at 5 P.M. the two Presidents saw each other on television while they talked, and their people were able to watch the exchange as it was broadcast on public TV. Brazil and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations in June 1986. A Cuban Institute of Radio and TV began broadcasting from a Russian launched satellite on July 26, 1986, probably at 6 P .M. Cuban time (EDT). The satellite is in geostationary orbit at 0 latitude (on the equator) and at 14 W 0 longitude. Its broadcasting range covers Central and South America, Europe, and Africa, plus the eastern U.S.A. up to Chicago. If that initial broadcast time is accurate, the local (Washington, DC) Ascendant was 27 Sagittarius 5 on the Galactic Center. Jupiter was rising at the site of the Satellite and Uranus was just past the MC in the ninth house. Another relevant event was a meeting in Guatemala City which ended on Tuesday, February 10, 1987, when the European Economic Community (EEC) and the Contadora Group signed a treaty to provide economic help to Central America. It is very possible that we are seeing the early stages of a United States of Latin America which could continue to encourage democracy and to mitigate the appalling poverty that persists in so many areas.
Turning our attention to our own country, which has continued to resist the Contadora efforts to bring peace to Central America, this first week of March fits my expectations for the Reagans. As I anticipated in the Sagittarius Mutable Dilemma, pressure has eased somewhat. Most commentators have applauded Reagan’s speech and his appointments of Howard Baker as White House Chief of Staff (replacing Don Regan) and William Webster as prospective head of the CIA. As is so often the case, the details fit the chart but are not specifically predictable. The Moon-Juno aspects which are present in the horoscopes of both Nancy and Ronald this spring fit the high focus on Nancy as critics attack her blatant power play in pushing out Don Regan and choosing Baker to replace him.
I have the birth date and place for Howard Baker, but not his time: November 15, 1925 in Huntsville, TN. The American Atlas lists two Huntsvilles in Tennessee, but I am assuming he was born in the larger one. If he was born in the daytime hours, he has a fairly close Moon-Saturn-Sun conjunction in Scorpio which is trine Uranus in Pisces and Pluto in Cancer as well as sextile Jupiter in Capricorn. Mars is in early Scorpio. Baker is reported to be highly reputable and respected. The water emphasis fits his sensitivity to people, and his Mercury in Sagittarius fits his sense of humor. Don Regan’s progressed (P) Moon was conjunct P Pallas (so often a key to politics) and quincunx P Neptune when he was booted out of the White House, the aspects I was looking at when I suggested he might depart in the spring. The Moon’s aspect to P Neptune is present for most of February and March, and then applies to natal Neptune through April and May when the Congressional committees will be investigating Irangate.
Two other prominent Washington players for whom I have dates but no times are Robert Byrd, new leader of the Senate since the Democrats gained the majority, and Sam Nunn, head of the armed services committee who has been very vocal in opposing Reagan’s attempt to start immediate testing of SDI in space, “reinterpreting” previous agreements. Byrd was born on November 20, 1917 in North Wilkesboro, N.C., and Nunn was born on September 8, 1938, in Perry, Georgia. Nunn was considering running for president, but has temporarily decided not to attempt it in 1988. A prominent figure who does plan to run in 1988 is the former Majority leader in the Senate, Robert Dole. I was delighted to get a phone call from Lois Rodden with his time of birth which comes originally from Joy Lynn Hill who got it from Dole: July 22, 1923 in Russell, Kansas at 12:10 A.M. CST. He has been very outspoken throughout the Iran-Contra scandal, calling for Reagan to clean house of his incompetent assistants and to take charge. Dole’s MC is conjunct Reagan’s Mercury and opposite Reagan’s Neptune and his Jupiter-Moon in Scorpio is conjunct Reagan’s Jupiter-south node of the Moon. I will enclose Dole’s chart and you can decide for yourselves if you think he has a chance to become president. His P Saturn stays square his natal MC for years, fitting the constant power struggles of politics. Howard Baker said when he took the job of Chief of Staff that he would give up his idea of running for President, but if he continues to get the favorable press he has received to date, he might have more luck than George Bush.
Another potential candidate in 1988, but on the Democratic side, is Michael Dukakis, governor of Massachusetts. He has said that he will formally announce his candidacy on May 4. His time of birth is also available, thanks to Lois Rodden: November 3, 1933 in Brookline, MA, at 6 P.M. EST. He has progressed (P) Saturn conjunct his natal MC for years (as did Walter Mondale), and natal Sun was in a close square to Saturn. Pluto and Uranus hold a long progressed square from Cancer to Aries, and an exact Vesta-Neptune conjunction is within a two-degree square to the Ascendant. The patterns certainly fit a power-struggle life, and politics is an excellent place to satisfy that competitive nature. Progressed to the 1988 election, the chart has many favorable aspects including P Mars and P Vesta in a grand trine to his natal Washington, DC Ascendant and natal Moon; P Jupiter in a long trine to P north node of the Moon which is on natal Pallas; P Mercury sextile-trine the natal nodes, trine Uranus, and quincunx Pluto; P local MC trine natal Mercury; P MC conjunct Ceres, sextile Saturn, etc. Natal America is part of the grand trine in zero degrees of the air signs and in the fire houses, but P America squares the natal Moon and local Ascendant. I was impressed by Cuomo’s statement when he announced that he would not run in 1988, that the next President might be a Democratic Hoover, inheriting the insoluble economic problems left by Reagan. Dukakis has P Hooveria conjunct natal Uranus, square Pluto and octile natal Ascendant. He also has natal Juno on Brasilia in his sixth house. His P Washingtonia is moving slowly over the midpoint of natal and P Saturn, octile natal Venus. Natal Hispania (which could relate to all of Latin America) is conjunct his natal Vesta-Neptune, pointing to issues around work and the savior-victim polarity for the public. P Ceres and P MC are quincunx the Hispania-Vesta-Neptune group, and the Quotidian MC in Washington crosses Ceres-PMC during the three days prior to the election, holding the exact quincunx to the Hispania group through Election Day. Quotidian angles move about one degree a day. Of course, there is much more but time and space run out for my newsletter.
I have the date only for one more declared candidate; Bruce Babbitt, former governor of Arizona. He was born on June 27, 1938, somewhere in Arizona. If anyone has the rest of his data, I would love to get it. He has a stellium in Cancer; a possible new moon on Venus and Jupiter in our Declaration chart, Mars and Mercury on the Declaration Sun, and Pluto opposite the Declaration Pluto.
A different power struggle is currently ongoing over the degree to which the U.S.A. can test the products of our Star Wars research. Dr. Rita Bremer sent me the data for our first test in space of Star Wars technology. The launch of the initial Delta rocket was carried out from Cape Canaveral on September 5, 1986 at 11:08 A.M., EDT. Atlantis was on the local (Washington, DC) MC within a third of a degree of longitude. The Ascendants for Canaveral and Washington were both five degrees of Scorpio with Pluto also at 5 Scorpio. Kazakhstan, the asteroid named for the Russian state where one of their space launch sites is located, was on the Canaveral MC—just over a half degree from exact. A Russian sub watched the test. Asteroid Washingtonia was octile the Part of Death. Mr. Spock was on Uranus. The NORC (a prototype computer) was on the local East Point. Siva, Medea, and Karl Marx were on the local Antivertex. Columbia (for the District of?) and Potomac (the river through Washington, location of the Pentagon) were in a grand trine with Gaea (earth) and Hybris (variant spelling for hubris—the pride that goes before a fall). Leningrad (major Russian city), Daghestan (another Russian state), and Lutetia (original name of Paris) were also on the natal MC. Moskva (Moscow) was on the midpoint of Ascendant-MC. Megaira (slaughter), Frigga (the Norse Juno), and Themis were on the Moon. Themis was the LAW. When one disregarded it, Nemesis meted out the punishment. Nemesis was just past the eighth house cusp, quincunx Pluto-Ascendant. Iris (rainbow of hope) and Nike (victory) were on Pluto-Ascendant. Of course, all mentioned aspects are within one degree, and the listed ones are only the beginning. Among the more traditional factors, the south node of Neptune and the Arabic Part of Uranus (Ascendant plus Uranus minus Sun) were both on the local IC and quincunx the Part of Death. Since the local IC was within a one degree quincunx to natal Sun-Mercury, the combination formed a tight yod. I will let you draw your own conclusions.
One of the recent new items on Irangate listed the time that Poindexter initialed a memo on President Reagan’s “Finding” to proceed with the arms sales to Iran. A chart drawn for January 17, 1986 at 10 A.M. in Washington, DC puts Uranus in the ninth house exactly square the Pisces Ascendant, fitting the monumental bad judgment based on mistaken faith. Atlantis was in Aries in the first house trine Uranus and quincunx Scorpio Mars in the eighth house. The Aries Moon, three degrees past Atlantis, trined the midpoint of Uranus-MC and was within a three to four degree square to Vesta-Venus-Sun in Capricorn. The true nodes of the Moon fell exactly on the MC-IC in Teheran, Iran, so Pluto was within two degrees of the IC there. Mars within a two degree square to Jupiter was another indication of questionable judgment.
I had many other charts for which there is no space, including the Ecuador earthquakes on March 5. The second, higher magnitude one at 9:11 P.M. had Pele square the Ascendant through much of the damage area, with Phaethon and Vesta opposite the Ascendant. More traditional factors included a rising Pluto closely opposite Mars, with Moon on the eighth cusp so the Part of Death was on the Ascendant. Hygiea (health) and Richter (the name of the man who developed a widely used earthquake measuring scale) were opposite Saturn. As mentioned above, on March 10, Ecuador announced that they could not pay the interest on their national debt, and would observe a moratorium for the balance of this year. Since their debt is relatively small, the monetary powers are mostly concerned about the big three; Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil — all negotiating as this is written. The new CEO of Citibank is playing hardball with Brazil. We will see who blinks first.
After all the serious issues in the preceding material, perhaps we might close with an asteroid chosen by Batya Stark for her special brand of humor. Unfortunately, the circumstances of my cases are not funny to the subjects. In January 1987, I received data from two individuals who had each reached a weight of 345 pounds. One went on a semi-starvation diet when her P Fatme (going retrograde) reached the degree that put her natal Ascendant at the midpoint of natal and P Fatme, while her P Moon squared P Fatme. The other individual planned stomach suturing surgery (to shrink the size of the stomach) when P Fatme and P Ceres reached natal Russia in Cancer and his personal name asteroid progressed to quincunx natal Saturn-Fatme in the eighth house while his P Moon was conjunct P Ascendant opposite natal Saturn-Fatme. The technique and the suturing material for that surgery were developed in Russia. Even the asteroids selected to make jokes seem to “work.” Our world is stranger than we conceive; perhaps stranger than we can conceive.