28 October, 2012

Huricane Sandy - Here She Comes

There was a 7.7 quake off the British Columbia coast on Saturday night, close to Haida Gwaii also known as Queen Charlotte Islands.  It is not a highly populated area but some felt the quake as far as Vancouver, Canada and Port Townsend, U.S.A.  The only thing that indicated a presence some kind of a force were the chandeliers at my friend’s house – they started swaying for about five minutes, all in synch and yes, it wasn’t the wine! My girlfriends and I were drinking after all but this was a real earthquake.  Luckily, Haida Gwaii is not a highly populated area and even though the Canadian papers talked about the fact that this was a very powerful earthquake, it did not make it in to many news headlines.  The spotlight has been focused on Sandy, the super storm and rightfully so. 

Have you experienced the calm before the storm feeling before?   At times we feel that the calm before the storm is a cliché.  When things seem to be in the most perfect order then some kind of invisible hand comes in and shakes them up and they fall like dominoes.  Well, many of the events in our lives are to an extent affected by astrological cycles and they too, have their ebbs and flows.  Let me share some of them as we look at Sandy, the super storm also named the Frankenstrom that smashed into East Coast of the USA in the late hours on Monday.  With its total diameter of almost 3,200 km, Sandy is the largest storm in Atlantic storm history.  The destruction it leaves behind is, at least for now, incomprehensible. 

Since I have mentioned the Canadian earthquake I must say that we do tend to experience a higher probability of earthquakes and tectonic changes during Uranus square Pluto aspects.  The earthquakes have been more frequent in the last few of years.  Pluto is in Capricorn and Uranus is in Aries.  Earth and fire, strength and volatility is an interesting mix.  The ring of fire has definitely experienced more earthquakes and volcanic activities in the last couple of years.  So if Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn is the combination for tectonic changes and earthquakes, what do we need to look at when it comes to Sandy?  Well, Uranus square Pluto does not only mean earthquakes, it also symbolizes tension, darkness, and the underworld.  What have we been hiding?  Will all of that come to surface now as Uranus, the revolutionary in Aries will shake things up?  Back to Sandy’s chart – Uranus square Pluto just intensifies the storm.  It not only brings destruction and darkness, leaving millions without power, it also makes us think about things we wanted to look at but were perhaps afraid of.  Is there a better way we can live in this world?  Is this a natural cause or an environmental one?  Has it been perhaps pre-engineered?  It is up to everyone to make up their own mind and decide.  

Let’s look at the timing of the storm.  The main astrological event of this week is Taurus Full Moon which occurred on October 29th.  Taurus is an earth sign, it rules the structures, the buildings, the land and it symbolizes the material goods and the stability.  Storms that occur at the height of the Full Moon tend to be stronger than usual because of the extra high tides. Since Taurus symbolizes material resources this translates directly to the economic damage caused by Sandy because of flooding and heavy rains.  This loss will be devastating and it is something that I feel is important to note, since Taurus rules the second house, the house of resources.  Will the US have to put pretty much all of its resources to repair the damage caused by this super storm?  Aren't we already crippled by fighting wars that have spanned for more than a decade now?  The preparation for the storm has been costly and the cleanup will be difficult and perhaps even more costly.  The Moon is void and will remain void until Wednesday.  By then, the storm will subside, the Moon will be in Gemini, the life will as it always does, emerge from the darkness.  People will have their work cut out for them.  Gemini Moon will bring them together, the strangers will meet, hopefully helping each other and supporting each other as they work together to bring things back to normal. This will be a lengthy process. 

In the storm’s chart Saturn is conjunct Sun in Scorpio.  Neptune and Chiron are in Pisces and so is the Ascendant.  If you run the chart for New York City and Atlantic City in New Jersey, the Ascendant is the same since these cities are on the same longitude.  Ascendant often sets the tone of one's chart and its ruling planet becomes the ruling planet of the chart.  My Ascendant is in Taurus so my ruling planet is Venus.  Ascendant is all about timing.  The Ascendant of Sandy, the super storm, is in Pisces and this sets a tone for a very watery chart with Neptune as its ruler.  Neptune's glyph is the trident of Poseidon, God of the Seas.  Before the discovery of Neptune, Jupiter was the ruler of Pisces.  In ancient Roman mythology, Jupiter was the king of the gods and the god of the sky and thunder.  I like to combine both ancient and modern astrology and mythology, and in this case, the rising sign of this storm can be viewed through both perspectives – the perspective of the water and the sky.  With that being said, the chart is set for the "perfect" storm.

With Saturn in Scorpio conjunct the Sun we will feel tension and bickering, fear and confusion for days after Sandy subsides, but this time, closer to now and next week, we will see it through the political perspective.  Neptune is about illusions, and Sandy's Neptune is in the Twelfth House, house of deep psychological emotions, house of our inner self.  We may never find a correlation between the timing of the storm and 2012 US Elections.  There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there that talk about the perfect timing, the confusion, the smokescreen.  The eyes of the public are on the weather.  The election frenzy has turned into a 24 hour weather channel.  Is it yet another illusion created by Neptune, the lord of deception?  

As I mentioned earlier, the chart of hurricane Sandy is very watery.  This watery chart brings heavy rains and flooding.  Saturn in Scorpio opposing the full moon will just add to the devastation of the storm.  While Sun, Neptune, Saturn, Chiron and the Ascendant are all in water signs what about the other planets?  Mercury is in Sagittarius and it was square to Neptune a couple of hours before the full moon.  Mercury is about communication, Sagittarius is often very expansive, reaching far and wide.  Square aspect explains the disruption that was experienced not only during the preparation of the 2012 Election but also during the preparations for the storm.  Mercury rules transportation, communication, trade and as we saw earlier, the region was paralyzed way before the storm was scheduled to hit the coast. 

The chaos of the storm will translate to the political chaos which will continue into the next week and then, on November 6, the presidential election night, Mercury will go retrograde as it did during the Election night of 2000.  The American public and the world may have to wait a while to find out the results of the presidential election.  Mercury will be in Sagittarius, which can make the truth elusive; Neptune will be in Pisces which can make things uncertain. so if you think hurricane Sandy is wild, get ready for even wilder election night!

So here she comes, hurricane Sandy, taking away the old, creating chaos, confusion, shaking things up.  Lastly, let’s look at one more interesting thing in Sandy’s chart, let’s look at her Chiron in Pisces, in the Twelfth House.  Chiron in Pisces is trine Sun in Scorpio.  This aspect represents a powerful emotional healing.  The hurricane itself and the devastation Sandy brings is a tragedy but with the losses there comes a sense of something new, followed by a rebirth.  Chiron in Pisces is self-healing, the master of all physicians, the wounded healer.  Chiron embodies compassion and the selfless service to others.  And here we are, perhaps we are waking up.  In the midst of the darkness of the super storm, we have found light.  A way for us to wake up, to pick ourselves up, to clean and to purge, to open ourselves to the new and to begin once again.  The allegory of the wounded healer, urging us to purge, with its strength and power, it is pushing us against our limits.  Let it do what needs to be done, let it cleanse, let it heal.  



The bay, a view from my window 

As I write this I am looking at the sea.  I am on my day off and on those days it seems that the time goes by much slower.  Looking out the window I see the water is calm, no rain, no wind, just the typical drizzle, there were eagles flying around earlier today.  The water looks dark but there is some sunlight in the distance.  It feels like the Pacific is so far away from the hurricane affected area of the East Coast.  It also feels years apart in a way.  Other times it feels so strangely close, like some kind of invisible connection one has with the rest of the world.  Not to get too depressing, but I wonder about the calmness.  I wonder about the healing that is cut out for us all regardless of where we live since it is the healing within, and through this healing we still can save our Mother Earth.  Let it heal I think to myself, let it heal.  

Till next time, perhaps on much lighter note my friends.  To those in the affected areas, my thoughts are with you.  Be safe!  Blessings and love to you!