Astrological Forecasts

We tend to hear a lot about ‘essential dignity’ and dispositors in traditional astrology, but very little is said about that all important piece of our astrological puzzle, the all ‘dasturiya’ which is the planet that rises directly to the east of any given planet. In traditional astrology, we come to take for granted that the disposing planet, that planet which owns the sign the planet or luminary we are examining. The disposing planet is often called the ‘lord’ because the disposer tends to ‘lord’ over said planet.  Let’s take Venus for example. She is said to be soft, and ever sweet and full of ardor. Place her in the sign, Virgo, and Mercury will act as her director.  Since Mercury is neuter, the person with this Venus may be more  drawn to the library, than to the boudoir.

Disposition, of course, is ‘old hat’ to most traditionalists and moderns alike, but what Abu Massar referred to as the dasturiya, seems to have vanished from the traditional lexicon. Hopefully we can remedy this situation, because the dasturiya, (especially of the Sun) is one of the most potent planets in the entire chart, goading the person to achieve. In a sense, the dispositor acts like a lord, while the dasturiya acts like a nagging wife. You just cannot avoid it! The ancients felt that the dasturiya of the Sun, especially important. According to the ancients, the Sun was the fountain of divine fire, which inspired man to find his purpose in life. To get a fire going, we need a spark. We might say that the dasturiya, especially that of the Sun, will act as a  divine  spark, igniting us to find own special greatness. To find the  dasturiya we need only look just east. In the case of the Sun, we look to the planet or luminary which rises directly previous to the Sun.

For instance, we can look at the chart of Abraham Lincoln, who according to the note in his mother’s bible was said to have been born ‘right at sun up.’  Thus, we notice, his Sun is right at the eastern horizon. Having the Sun here, btw, according to the ancients is one of the  the best places for the Sun, and it alone will give young Abraham the vigor to live a long and productive life. It will add to his ability to ‘get ahead’ because so placed it will enhance his sense of purpose, and most importantly, placed on the strongest angle of the chart, gives him the ability to act.

With the Sun rising, Lincoln will have a healthy ego, but placed in Aquarius, the Sun’s detriment, Lincoln will think in terms of the bigger picture. Such a person will not be what one could consider warm and gregarious, because when the Sun is in Aquarius, it is ruled by the grim Saturn. So Abe will be aloof, and considered even a bit cold. Perhaps given his Aquarius Sun, he might be well ahead of his time, and not afraid (to parody the Apple commercials) ‘think different. Given his times, he might have become a reformer, or even an inventor, one who would go far, because the dispositor or ruler of his beautifully placed Sun, the ringed planet, Saturn is also very strongly placed up at the Midheaven, or the noon position. The combination of the Sun in Aquarius disposed by Saturn in Sagittarius, will give him the zeal to push through is goals.  With Abe’s Sun placed at dawn position, and dispositor at noon, we already have confluent indicators that Abe will be an ambitious and mature young man who will take the long view, and have what it takes to go very far in life.

However, what sets Lincoln apart from other men of determination and ambition is because of his dasturiya. Money is a powerful elixir.They say that ‘power corrupts totally.’ There is a reason for this. Let’s face it, when a person gets to a certain stage in life, it is easier to keep the wheel going. Once a person ‘gets to the top’ it is human nature to try to keep on accumulating; to protect ‘whats mine.’   This is where the adage, ‘the rich get richer’ came from, because once most people get to the top of the pyramid, they spend the rest of their born days, grabbing more and fighting off competitors. It is Lincoln’s dasturiya,  the Moon which at sets him apart,  not just from other successful politicians, who ‘make it’ but from all presidents because she forces him to remember his roots. Detrimented in Capricorn, and also disposed by that powerful 10th house Saturn, it becomes the goad that sparks his altruistic zeal that made Lincoln stand up for every one of his subjects, not just the rich and powerful. When he said,  “that government, of the people, by the people and for the people, will not perish from this earth”   it was his Moon talking. We know from mundane astrology that the represents the common man. Because he did what the Moon forced him to do, take care of everybody in need, black, white and in between. And because of this, Lincoln stands out above all other presidents.

Now mind you, even though the Moon is Lincoln’s royal goad in life, we do not see ‘lunar’ features or temperament outwardly. This is because of ‘accidental’ placement. In charts, when it comes to ‘what you see’ it is the angular planets.  So with Lincoln, we see the overt characteristics like his very dark angular, some would call, Saturnian features (the Sun in Aquarius, angular 1^st with dispositor Saturn in angular 10). And indeed, Lincoln was not what you would call a touch feely kind of a guy. In fact, he was said to have been dumped by his first girlfriend who said he was ‘no gentlemen’ when they had returned from long walk with a pregnant woman, toting sleeping babe in her arms, and had never once offered to carry her load. When confronted with this, he said something to the effect of, ‘well, I figured if she wanted help she woulda asked.”  So instead of seeing a soft and round personage, the lunar dasturiya is placed in the 12^th a cadent, house, and nstead, acts like a subtle voice whispering from the shadows. In addition, like his Sun, Lincoln’s Moon is also detrimented. Since Lincoln is a man, the Moon will represent the women in his life. Mary Todd Lincoln was known to have suffered emotional stress, some said she was unstable. In addition, his mother was considered a ‘lose woman’ because it was said that she cohabited with Lincoln’s dad, prior to marriage.  Thus she was shunned from society, which out in the ‘frontier’ meant company. It was also said that she was a cultured and literate woman, but also a sad woman because of all the isolation. We see this in Lincoln’s placement of the detrimented Moon in Capricorn (the sign opposite its home base of Cancer). I think it in many ways, given that the Moon is his dasturiya, that he was deeply affected by her being an outcast, so that he remembered all the other outcasts and became a president who was ‘of, by and for the people’ not just some of them, but every last one of them.

This post was inspired by the brilliant work of Silva who did an amazing piece on the doryphory at our list Angelicus Merlin. Her astrological work,  each an exquisite lesson in itself, of which I am forever indebted, is not to be missed. Enjoy!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/angelicusmerlin/

While most everybody in the media has been down playing the problems at Goldman Sachs, recently, big changes are coming up in their future. Why, one of the ways in which we look into the future of any given companies stock by a method known to astrologers as directing. After all just as people grow, so do charts. Companies have their ups and downs, and directing is one of the easiest way to see those fluctuations in fortune.

There are several different kinds of directions, the one most utilized in the western tradition is called ‘secondary progression.’ When we direct This method takes the planets and luminaries and projects them forward in the sign they are in symbolically. In general, this moves the planets forward (or backwards) in general by ‘ephemeris’ time, which is approximately one day in the ephemeris is equal to one year in the life of the company.

In the situation we have with Goldman Sachs, we have a company that has had vigorous growth since the stock went public in 1999. Moving the Goldman’s stock (GS) forward by secondary direction, we see that the Moon has just come to the same degree as the Sun. Whenever the Moon and the Sun are one in real life, we call a ‘new Moon.’ The reason we call it a ‘new’ Moon is because it is the start of the lunar month. If you watch what takes place at this time, all the old business from last month comes to an end, and brand new focus takes place. The first sighting of the New Moon was so important to the ancients that 1st century CE astrologer, Al-Biruni tells us that the ancient Jews who would send forth their swiftest warriors to the mountain peaks, where they were instructed to build a fire at the very first second that they saw the tiny crescent of the New Moon. This is because our script changes, every time that the Sun and Moon are one, every month.

Because the directed Moon moves so slowly, the coming together of the Sun and Moon is a rare event in a stock’s life, taking place but once every 27 years. When this happens, as it with GS, sweeping changes take place, which set the stage for almost the next decade.  Goldman is going to see heads roll because the coming together of Sun and Moon took place on the dreaded fixed star, Algol, who represents the severed head of the Medusa. It is an indication that it will be hard for GS to get away with the ABACUS scandal as easily as it was able to cover its bad bets back in 2008.

This coming together of the Moon and the Sun is all the more poignant because the sign Cancer is rising on the eastern horizon. This makes the Moon the landlord, so to speak, of the chart. We see the Moon in the main or natal chart is in the devil may care sign of Sagittarius. This sign has a great deal to do with gambling and taking risks of all kinds. This is not surprising given the nature of this company, which is known to create and bet on all kinds of financial instruments. There is nothing controversial about an investment bank taking risks. However, legal problems arise because in the case of GS, it appears that the government, bailed this company out, using taxpayer money to cover for bets that appear that the risk was not fully disclosed to the potential investor.

The investor is the person that the company sells the stock to. This would be the 7th house. Notice when the Moon is in the 6th house, it subverts the customer, because it stands behind the customer, like a predator in the house of self undoing to the potential investor.

With Capricorn on setting in the west, the people who are sold financial instruments will be represented by Saturn. Now, a real problem arises for any potential investor because when we look at the condition of their representative, we see that potential customers are at a great disadvantage because they are not getting the full picture about the risks that they are about to take on because their rep is only 6 degrees shy of the Sun. When the symbolic client is too close to the Sun, they become blinded in the Sun’s glare. They are not given all the facts necessary to make a wise purchase. Even Lilly, made a misinformed decision when he went ahead and bought property, when his own symbolic ruler was in this state. In essence, when we see ruler of the 7th combust, clients get burned. In this case, they also get ‘taken to the cleaners’ given Mars opposition.

Management is full of hot air, promising one thing, and delivering another given Jupiter’s conjunction with Mercury in Aries. Most the money to be made on this stock go to the upper echelon. However, big changes are coming up at GS. Even though reporting huge profits for this quarter, the stock went down. Allegations of fraud are being played down by a complacent media. However, one cannot fool Mother Nature. Given Venus’ placement by direction, this is not GS’s death knell by any means.   Even if the SEC suit turns out to be a slap on the wrist, by Summer, we may see some top heads roll. Will one of those heads be CEO Lloyd Blankfein (born September 20 1954 NYC)?

Stay tuned ….

On Friday, we learned that found out that the all time winner in the ‘get away with financial murder’ department, Goldman Sachs has been sued for fraud by the SEC. You may remember that it was those captains of the universe at GS that created the toxic debt instrument, the Collateral Debt Obligation, better known as CDOs, that nearly wiped out the financial institutions.  GS has a lot of chutzpah, because not only are they said to have helped to create the toxicity, but they also managed to get billions of dollars in  TARP  bailout money.

By Joshua Gallu and Christine Harper

April 16 (Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was sued by U.S. regulators for fraud tied to collateralized debt obligations that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The firm’s shares tumbled as much as 16 percent and financial stocks slumped.

Goldman Sachs created and sold CDOs tied to subprime mortgages in early 2007, as the U.S. housing market faltered, without disclosing that hedge fund Paulson & Co. helped pick the underlying securities and bet against them, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement today. Billionaire John Paulson’s firm earned $1 billion on the trade and wasn’t accused of wrongdoing. The SEC also sued Fabrice Tourre, a Goldman Sachs vice president who helped created the CDOs.

‘ “The product was new and complex but the deception and conflicts are old and simple,” SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said. “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.”

“Goldman Sachs became emblematic of public outrage at the banking industry after posting a record $13.4 billion profit in 2009, a year after receiving $10 billion in taxpayer aid during the financial crisis.”   More from Bloomberg

Like yours truly, back in 2006 (see Llewellyn’s 2006 Moon Sign Book), Paulson warned investors that the building boom was about to go bust. However, unlike yours truly, Paulson put his money where his mouth was and made a fortune by creating a financial instrument (collateral debt obligation or CDO)  of real estate mortgage based securities (RMBS) that he was betting against.   At first, he lost money, then in 2007, he hit pay dirt – big time. It is estimated in 2007, alone, Paulson & Co. made $15 billion dollars. This transaction, is said to have netted Paulson close to $4 billion dollars.

So where is the fraud?

Not on John Paulson’s part, he has been absolved off all liability in this situation. We need to roll back the clock to 2007. In a nutshell, John Paulson went to Goldman Sachs (as well as other investment banks)  and asked them to ‘create’ (structure) a type of RMBS (special emphasis on the last two letters) that some say was designed to fail. Gary Zuckerman’s book, ‘The Greatest Trade,’ tells us that Paulson shopped around to various banks. Not all of them took the bait.  According to Zuckerman, thinking that Paulson would want especially ‘ugly mortgages,’ Bear Stearns turned him down. There has been the analogy raised that this was like benching your best player, while betting on the opposing team.  While there might be of questionable ethics to create a CDO to fail and then bet against it,  there is hardly anything illegal about that. Investment banks come up with (structure) financial instruments of all types, all the time.

What was the SEC alleges to be fraudulent is that Goldman Sachs,  as well as, their Vice President Fabrice Tourre  not only created the financial instrument, but also prepared the marketing materials, and sold them directly to customers. In addition, and perhaps worst of all, the SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs did not disclose the risk, specifically that hedge fund, Paulson & Co. had a significant bet (short) against this particular financial instrument.

Will this be the end of Goldman Sachs?  Given the heavily restricted resources of the Securities and Exchange Commission and what seems to be the vast resources of Goldman Sachs, I tend to doubt it. However,  given the allegations, it might not be a bad time to check out Goldman Sachs initial public offering. Goldman Sachs went public, that is offered shares in their company stock on May 4th 1999. We use 9:30 a.m., New York, because this is the time that the New York Stock Exchange opened.

Looking at the chart, we see that Cancer rises, making the Moon very important in this chart.  We see that the Moon is in the gambling sign of Sagittarius, placed in the 6th sector of service. In a sense, what G.S. does is to serve the investment community with a host of financial services. The Moon will represent the company, and all who work there.  I have to admit, I was surprised to see a movable sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) rising. The movable signs are so named because they are very changeable. And as such, when we see one of them rise, because of the speed involved, there is a sense of hyper speed up. Companies with movable signs on the rise, see a lot of action, but there is less stability than I would like to see in a company that has this kind of influence on the markets.

The next thing I look for is what planet or luminary has power over the sign rising coming up in the east. In the case of GS, the company and all who work, therein, and because we are talking about an stock,  not a corporation (which has different rules) and all who own a piece of it, (stockholders) instead of something stable, to bring balance, instead, we see the fluctuating Moon.  Aptly, the Moon is in speculative sign, Sagittarius, in the service sector, indeed that is what Goldman purports to do, serve the banking and investment community. The Moon is in a wonderful relationship with its ruler, Mr. Moneybags, Jupiter.  Luck is always important in the realm of big time finance, or else it wouldn’t have gotten this big to begin with. In addition to owning the company, Jupiter has a lot to say about the upper echelon of the company. We might say that Goldman Sachs has friends in high places, as can be clearly seen by Jupiter’s position in the tail end of the 10th house. The revolving door between GS and government is well known. We have several C.E.Os who left GS to become Secretary of the Treasury.  Jupiter will represent management.

The deal in question went on April 26, 2007. What is intriguing to me is that it looks like management (the 10th) was very anxious for this deal to proceed.  I do not know the particulars, but with Mars, the North Node and Uranus sitting in the house of bigwigs, on that fateful day, while the diminishing Saturn sat in the

As this suit comes about,  Jupiter just happens to be cresting at the 10th house of the stock. In traditional astrology, the 10th house is what we pay for things. Since the 10th house is the top of the chart, the noon position, it might suggest that the stock price is peaking.  It is interesting to note that the deal itself,  went down on April 26 2007. If we look at the transiting planets on that day,  it looks like management might have been a bit too anxious for push this deal through with anxious Mars, and Uranus all right up at the top on that day.  In addition, the planet of  bear markets and diminishing returns, Saturn was not only in their money house (2nd) but also square their money ruler… It looks, at least from an astrological point of view that Goldman Sachs was ‘hot to trot’ for this deal. We have to wonder what kind of other deals GS had made back in 2007.  Were they anxious about some other trades, or where they just greedy or was this just business as usual? We will probably never know. What we do know is that in 2007, Goldman was trading upwards of $250, but in March had dropped quite a bit, and what we also know is that Goldman dropped 13% on Friday. There are now probes taking place in both Great Britain and Germany.  Don’t forget that Goldman is a huge player  in China.

To be continued…..

Market Changes Direction

I don’t have much time, so this has to be brief, but for all my friends, clients and readers, but especially my dear trading buddies, who may be a bit overweight in equities, or ‘long’ etfs; the tide has turned.

Since I so want you all to keep your money, so I am asking each of you to please consider reallocating into more secure positions. If your portfolio is under the guidance of somebody else, please make them aware that market forces are changing. For those who have been trading long, if you have been beaten up, waiting for the recovery to return, try not to be sad. Remember the market goes up, and the market goes down. If you try to go long when you should be going short you lose money. We don’t want to lose money, now do we? Of course not, so if you are long, close your positions into any positive news.

For those who are having trouble understanding this, or who have just parked their money elsewhere. Here is your mantra:

70% of market moves with market

70% of the market moves with the market

70% of the market moves with the market.

Say that over and over again until you get it in your head. We have moved into bear country. You don’t go into bear country without proper precautions, so if you are long equities, then its time to think about the much maligned US Dollar. If you are a trader, get your puts in place. Above all, don’t be afraid to stick with them.

And here is your mantra:

Sell on the good news

Sell on the good news

Sell on the good news

Why? Well several reasons first,  all we have to do is take one look at the Spring Ingess Chart set for 2009. What say you, “2009? That’s long gone, its 2010?”

Modern times mean fast times, so fast we  think, ‘here to day, gone tomorrow.’  Ours is is the study of beginnings. Following Hermes/Thoth, astrologers know that what was written above, will be lived out down here on earth.  We must remember that the first day of spring, is just like the first breath a baby takes. And just as the baby’s destiny is marked out by that breath of prana, so too are the 365 days following the Spring Equinox, marked in that all important chart. It is this nano second that the Western Astrological Tradition is based upon.

Spring Equinox 2009

The first thing we notice is that there are cardinal cusps on all the angles (the 4 corners of the chart). Cardinal signs have the ability to act, and it promises a fast market because of it. The next thing we notice is that the ruler of the chart, is Mars, and he is in a watery house. This may not look very bullish, and indeed, it is not. The first house shows the condition of the people and how the citizenry feel. In this case, and with Aries rising, the grumpy Mars tells us how the people are. Mars in Pisces is a sign of worry. The 12th is a house of loss. This is a sign that the natives are restless, but quiet about it. Since the 12th is a cadent or falling house, they feel helpless. The condition of the people in any chart is important, and might be bad, if we were not looking at the spring chart for hints concerning money. Here we leave the house of the people and look to the money houses, the first, our moveable assets, the 11th, the profits from our businesses, the 8th our debts, and the 5th the stock market, but with this caveat, the stock market is the stock market if you are only in it for fun and games. (continue reading…)

Aftermath of the deadly Haitian Earthquake

A devastating 7.0 earthquake has rocked the city of Port Au Prince. This little island nation seems to be a magnet for disaster. It has not been that long since it suffered the ravages of not one but two hurricanes. The mind boggles to think of the pain and suffering that the people of Haiti endure on a daily basis. And now, this.  No building in Port Au Prince has been spared. Experts guess half a million souls have perished.

Sitting in the comfort of my home, it is almost impossible to understand the terror that comes with earthquakes. Looking at the video reminds me of how much I take for granted. I cannot begin to understand the shock and awe that survivors feel.

” I’m going to share my whole experience because I’m hoping it will be therapeutic. In any case I think I’m going to have nightmares for a long time…. When the tremors ceased, a large dust cloud was rising from the building a few doors down. A 3 story school full of teenage girls had collapsed. I stood around looking stupid for longer than I’d like to admit. I looked at the truck from Toyota, tried to call my wife (the service was out) and looked around me at people’s reactions. Virtually everyone reacted in strange ways.  Eventually, I went to the school and started working to pull trapped students from the wreckage.”    More from Chris Rollings

We like to think the ground beneath our feet is always stable as a rock. In a sense, the great strides we have made in science, have fooled us into thinking that we are in control. And that is just how it is – most of the time. Every so often, our great Mother Earth, reminds she is alive and breathing fire. We are forced to face the facts. We are not in charge here, Mother Nature is.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey the earthquake struck at 4:53pm local time. Looking at the chart below several factors of death and destruction jump out at us.

7.1 Earthquake Levels Port Au Prince

Click here for large chart image

When reading any kind of chart, wise astrologers always start with the first house. The Ascending degree marks the ‘go’ point in any astrological map. After all, ours is the study of beginnings, and the Ascendant marks the symbolic  dawn, the first light of the new day. This is because, in order to properly evaluate any given situation,  we are constantly returning to this place. In a sense, it is the alpha and the omega of the charts.  This because it represents the one portion of the body we cannot live without, our head.

Just as a person cannot live without a head, so too, a country can hardly be called a country, were it not for the people who live there. Thus, in their wisdom,  the ancients designated the first house and all planets within its borders, and the Moon to represent the citizenry. Whenever we evaluate charts, especially charts for sorrowful events like this, we try to gauge at the strength of  people represented by first house, its ruler, and celestial markers placed within its borders, and the Moon. We then contrast the strength or weakness of  the people of Haiti, with those things that can kill or maim them. These are the rulers, and tenants of the 8th house, and the 4th.

With ultra sensitive Cancer rising on the cusp of this all important house,  the planet of mothers, Moon will be doubly emphasized. Like a vampire, the Dragon’s Tail in the first, sucks the verve of the people dry.  Placed in  Cancer, it brings helplessness to the people of Port Au Prince. Because the Moon rules the Ascendant, it is doubly emphasized. Placed in what the ancients called a cadent house, she has little or no ability to act on her own. If this were not enough, the  6th house is the place of illness and servitude. In addition to this, the Moon has just separated from a square to the planet of shock, Uranus. Even worse,  the Moon at 27 Sagittarius,   is smack dab on the antiscion of deadly, Pluto at 3 Capricorn. John Frawley says that planets on each others antiscions act as sort of ‘shadow’ conjunctions.  It is this combination, that cements the pull of long finger of death, taking the people down into his earthly grave. The Moon does apply to one good planet,  Jupiter. However, the application by sextile is weak. In addition, located in the house of death, and without essential strength, and since Jupiter is in Aquarius, a sign ruled by the deadly Saturn, the benefic Jupiter  turns malefic, magnifying the horrors.

Looking by contrast at the harbingers of death (rulers of the 4th and the 8th) it becomes very clear that  death is much stronger than life.  At the time of Haiti’s Earthquake, the deadly 8th cusp had Aquarius on the cusp, as such, Saturn (for better precision, traditionalists stick to traditional rulerships) owns the death charge.   In this case, Saturn is in Libra, its sign of exaltation. When we think of strength, most revert to sign of rulership, such as Saturn ruling the signs, Capricorn, and Aquarius.  When a planet is in its own sign, we can say it is at home. Its comfortable in its own skin. On the other hand, when a planet is in the sign its exaltation, the function of the planet is charged. Its powers are so exaggerated that they pack a ‘whallop.’ Some ancients like the great, M’ashallah considered exaltations to be stronger than ownership.  Whether exaltation signs are stronger than rulership, is debatable. What we do know for certain, is that when the deadly Saturn, is in Libra and ruling the 8th house, he has a much bigger arsenal, and a more deadly aim. Already we are seeing problems. Death is strong, and the people are weak. If this were not enough, Saturn is stationing, and thus moving very slowly. When a planet moves slowly, for better or worse, the more it imprints upon us. In the case of malefics like Saturn, death becomes that much more deadly.

But it gets even worse, because Saturn is situated within the 5 degrees prior to the 4th of the grave. According to Ptolemy, planets so placed are already doing the work of the next house, in this case, the work of the grim reaper. This gives to death what the people do not have, the power to act.  The 4th house is the house of the ground beneath our feet.  We already mentioned that Saturn owns the 8th house but due to its strength in the sign of Libra, it is also the almuten or the most powerful and dominating influence at the cusp of the ground ruler, the 4th. Add all this together, and you have a formula for disaster of untold proportions.

By contrast, a mere 48 hours and six minutes earlier, another potentially deadly quake of 6.5 on the Richter Scale struck the Northern California cities of Eureka and Ferndale.

6.5 North Coast Earthquake

Click here for large chart image

The San Andreas Fault is just outside my window.  As such, even though last Saturday’s 6.5 Ferndale/Eureka Quake was more than 200 miles away, I felt this earthquake, ever so slightly. I was on the phone with my friend, Helen when I felt this tiny little jag and thought, ‘earthquake.’  A few minutes later, my husband Alex came in and asked me if I felt the shock.

Having stuck at the same time of day, only 2 days apart, both earthquake charts, have striking similarities. Both earthquakes struck on days owned by malefic or nasty planets. This is one of the things I was recently reminded by the great astrologer, Linda Reid,  day of the week counts.  In this case, the 6.5 Ferndale/Eureka took place on  Saturday,  a day ruled by the slow killer, Saturn, while the 7.0 Port Au Prince quake took place on a Tuesday, a day ruled by violent and cruel, Mars.  It is interesting to note that the Great San Francisco Quake  also took place on a Tuesday, while Loma Prieta (with fewer deaths) took place on a Friday (a Venus day).

In both instances, the maternal sign, Cancer rises, thus making the Moon,  as rep. for the good or ill of the people,  doubly important.  Given the magnitude of both earthquakes, it should be no surprise that in both charts, the people (the Moon) is weak, while in both charts, death house, is strong and able to act, and act with awe inspiring force.

The Haitian Earthquake peoples positioning gives us graphic evidence of that environment is everything.  In this we can liken astrology  to  real estate, because so much depends upon,  ‘location, location location.’   Poor placement, known to traditional astrologers as ‘accidental debility’ is  the astrological equivalent of growing up in a bad neighborhood. When you grow up in the projects. It is just plain harder for you to make a success in life. The same holds true for planets. When in a rotten house, there is less hope. On the bright side, if a planet or luminary is in a bad house, but associating or in aspect by a good or beneficent planet or luminary there is some hope of ‘pulling oneself up by the bootstrap’ and escaping the celestial ghetto, traditional astrologers call cadency. If on the other hand, the cadent planet or luminary,  is hanging out with a bunch of thugs,  in the form of malefic planets, as it is in Haiti’s Earthquake., the Moon will be able to produce only ill effects. The ancients called this  ‘accidental’ placement. There is good placement, which is called ‘accidental dignity’ and there is bad, known as ‘accidental debility.

In addition to placement, what sign a planet or luminary is in, is very important.  Notice, the Ferndale/Eureka Quake’s ‘people’ designate, the Moon, there is no problem with location. Notice that the Moon is in the benign and bountiful, house of creativity, the 5th house. Just as there are good and bad places for a planet to hang out, there are also good and bad sign for the planet to be in. Looking at the Eureka/Ferndale Quake, we notice that the people are also weak, but this weakness had nothing to do with placement and everything to do with sign. In a nutshell,  certain signs are just plain no good for a planet.  The Ferndale Earthquake chart has the Moon in her fall, Scorpio. This is just about the worst place for the Moon to be.

The Moon can be likened to a celestial mother, who gives everything, including life to her children. When in the sign, Scorpio, the Moon becomes imprinted by the dark side of Mars, becomes like a vampire, sucking the very lifeblood ut of the host. When the Moon is here, she becomes the epitome of  ‘essential debility. Thus, on Saturday, the people were weakened by the cruelty of Mars’ deadly force.  However, remember, the people are not in the cadent ghetto, but not just a good neighborhood, but a great one, the trinal and joyous 5th house. Not only that, this Moon has friends to help her out of her rotten sign, in the form of a beautiful grand trine to Uranus,  the planet of all things modern, and the South Node. We also notice that the people’s designate is still under the influence of the light and giver of life, the Sun, and Venus, in the  7th of laws. The Moon all by herself in the happy 5th, seems to indicate that laws in the form of strict building codes, coupled with the sparse population, probably saved the people from what could have been a much greater disaster. In addition, nothing pulls the Moon towards death. In other words, the 6.5  Northern California quake chart has nothing tying the people to death like the antiscion between the Moon and Pluto in the Haitian Earthquake.  As such, despite the violence of the quake, the residents of western Humbolt County, California only suffered minor damage in the way of broken glass, but there was no loss of life.

The people of Haiti need your support and prayers. Please donate to generously to Doctors without Borders http://www.msf.org

 

I have recently become most fascinated by the Part of Fortune. It appears to be one of those items, like the star based Lunar Mansions, to be older than the 12 signs of the zodiac. It is basically an equation,  whereby we take the degree of the Ascendant and add it to the Moon, and then subtract the Sun from the total.  The result is the Part or the Lot of Fortune.

The ancients considered this to be a very special location because it marked the place that is equidistant to the Sun and the Moon.  According to Firmicus Maternus, it was said to show amongst other things, ‘the quality of the life, the amount of inheritance,  and the love between men and women.’ A pretty powerful spot indeed!

The Part of Fortune is said to have been handed down to us by the same man that is said to have brought us the written word,  Hermes- Thoth. He is said  to have lived 9000 years before Christ was born.

The inventor of the Part of Fortune

It does two great things. It marks the phases of the Moon by moving around the chart as the month goes on. For example, at the New Moon it will be placed in the first house. At the first quarter, it will be placed in the 4th house, and by the full Moon it will be placed in the 7th house, and so on. For more on the Parsfortuna and the phases,  Thomas Decker does a fabulous job of exploring this on his great blog http://altairastrology.wordpress.com

Here is a chart drawn for an midnight on the day of a New Moon.

( Click here for larger chart )

The Part of Fortune will always be in the first house at New Moon

Notice that the Part of Fortune is in the first house almost 90 degrees  away from the Moon who is in the 4th with the Sun.

According to Firmicus Maternus, it was Abraham who said that the Part of Fortune was the ‘place of the Moon.’

Bonatti said that the Part of Fortune acted like an extra  ‘ascendant of the Moon.’

At midnight on the day of a new Moon,  we see the Moon in the 4th house, just beyond the Sun.

As the long night journeys towards day,   the Moon will edge ever closer and closer  to the  Part of Fortune.

By 4:00 AM  we see the Moon moving upwards towards the Part of Fortune.

( Click here for larger chart )

At 4 AM the Moon edges closer to the Part of Fortune

As we can see in the chart to the left, the Moon is now in the 2nd house and heads closer and closer to the Part of Fortune.

Finally as dawn approaches, the Moon draws ever closer to the Part of Fortune. The chart below  is drawn for the wee small hours when there is light but the Sun has not popped up above the horizon.

Notice  just minutes before the Sun actually rises, we see the Moon is just  below the Part of Fortune also within minutes.

( Click here for larger chart )

At the very moment that the Sun crosses above the eastern horizon  (when the Degree on the Ascendant is one and the same as the Sun), the Part of Fortune will be on the exact same degree as the Part of Fortune.

Each Morning at Sunrise the Moon will be exactly with the Part of Fortune

( Click here for larger chart )

So what is all the fuss? Well, as we know from the old game of ‘telephone’ where one game player whispers something to another, and then another person does the same, and then another and another,  all the way around the room how different the original message winds up being by the time it reaches the last game player.  Well, we can imagine how much affectation can happen with a little equation over 9000 years! Evidently, some where along the way, the idea of ‘sect’ became important. This idea is where the Moon becomes the light of night, and the Sun the light of day. This was obviously a big deal by the time Christ was born.  Many ancients, said that if a person is born at night, that the formula had to be changed to satisfy this idea of the Moon being in charge at night. Thus some ancients, amongst them, Paulus, Firmicus, and Bonatti, said in order to find the Part of Fortune for the night born amongst us, the formula will be ASC + Sun – Moon.

Sounds logical, doesn’t it?

There is one big problem with this idea. If the switch has to be made for those born at night, then we lose this beautiful tie between the Moon, the ASC and the Sun.

We all agree what the formula was for day births, and that the Moon will be exactly with the Part at the moment the Sun crosses the horizon, because we all agree that by then it is day time. However, if we draw up the chart for just one minute before dawn using ASC + Sun – Moon, what we see is that the contact with the Moon is thrown off, completely and the Part of Fortune falls way into the 12t house, thus losing both the marking of the phase of a new Moon, but even worse, the Place of the Moon is thrown way off!!

( Click here for larger chart )

Riddle:

How on earth does this mark the Moon???

Answer:

It doesn’t.

Now just to make sure you are paying attention. Here is the chart for the Part of Fortune on the very same day using the acceptable formula but just one minute, later….Which begs the question, if the ancients agree that the Part of Fortune is to be the ‘place of the Moon, doesn’t the switch blow this tie altogether ? In other words, if we switch for night time, then we wind up with at 6:54 am in San Francisco, one minute before dawn, the Part of Fortune is in the 12th house, and one minute later it is in the first house?

( Click here for larger chart )

When citations don’t make any sense, then I have to question authorities.

Claudius Ptolemy and William Lilly sayeth not to switch. Both have come to be dismissed by many in the field of astrology. In the case of Ptolemy, this may be just because he was so overrated for 1400 years or so. However, in saying we should not switch formulas for night births, it would seem he is being true to Abraham’s statement that the Part of Fortune is the ‘place of the Moon.’

The subject of the famous savant, Michel Nostradamus,  probably one of the greatest astrologers of all time,  recently came up on our traditional astrological mailing list, Angelicus Merlin:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/angelicusmerlin

As many know, he was one of the greatest physicians of his era. He was said to have healed so many people during the Black Plague that his work was brought to the attention of the king of France, who hired him to become the king’s personal physician. It was no surprise that many know of his predictions, but it was very surprising to find that so few astrologers also knew that like most doctors of his day, he was also an astrologer.

In a case of serendipity, the gifted Australian astrologers,  Silva and Anne Fryer, had only recently suggested we spend more time on missing item horary charts,  I thought it might be fun to share a missing item horary reading from the great astrologer, himself.

I thank Anton Grigoryev for sharing this horary with me, many years, ago. The astute will remember that the late Olivia Barclay shared this horary at UAC some years back. Those who attended my talk at the South Bay Astrological Society, may remember I presented this chart there, in 2007.

Where are the Missing Church Bells?

February 13 1562 (Gregorian)

Feb 3 (OS)

18h30m LMT* (I have changed the time from 18:30 in my copy of this chart so we can arrive at the same house cusps as the original).

Provence 44n00 5e00

scan of the original chart

Provence 44n00 5e00

Nostradamus Missing Church Bells

To my venerable Lords, Messiers, the Canons of the Cathedral Church of the most ancient city of Orange. Venerable Lords, with respect to your inquiry concerning the specificd and enumerated sacrilegious thefts, concerning theft and hoard hidden but not concealed.

“According to the astronomical figure drawn above, you will see fully that it shows that the theft of the sacred objects has been perpetrated with the collusion of two of your brothers of the Church. Indeed, ones who have previously extended to you private counsel on several occasions as to what has befallen your silver. One of them gave his opinion that ith ad been takend to Avignon, the other that it had been taken to some other place. Both were of the opinion that it had been sold, as indeed was their intention.

“Booty to be divided among canons who were at present like soldiers. This opinion was not rendered as good and godly and commendable. Several would not agree with it, although some were pleased, though in the end not agreed on one point or another. But all was halted as the silver was put in the house of one of your people and locked up; which was not done agreeably to some. One opinion held that it was necessary to melt it down into bars and sell it, storing it for the present in the home of one of them.

“Then two or three came forth to say that this could not possibly be for scarcely any length of time, since the Roman Church would be involved in the most sinister events. It was locked up, and although with but tow of them remaining of the opinion that it should be sold and melted down and plotting secretly with one another.

“There were only three, and they brothers of the Church, and they have ravished that which was without fault with the intention of stealing everything and not withouth the collusion of the custodian, for you entrusted the sheep to the wolf. As indeed Jesus Christ for some committed His flock to long plunderings of His Church, wlso under the shadow of faith and probity, as you have committed your silver, sacred and dedicated as it is to the sacred ornamentation of your temple, donated in ages past by Kings and Monarchs, Lordly Sovereigns of the earth as ttrue observers of the faith and religion.

“But note, my Venerable Lords, that unless by those of your company who were not without knowledge of the day and the night when the theft of the sacred objects was perpetrated there be restored and replaced in full what was stolen, not only in its place and into the hands of those entrusted with its custody, but also returned into the temple, remembering the silver chalice, there will full upon them the greatest misfortune that ever befell anyone, on them and their family; and furthermore, pestilence will approach yhour city and within its ramparts as great as ever covered your city or was contained within your walls, and let them not object to the above. Priests are like comrades of propitious gods.

“But they will see, as it is said, that God takes his vengeance on those who have profaned his Holy Temple and who have stolen what has in ages past was donated by the observers of the Christian religion.

“Therefore, let this letter of mine be read in the presence of your people; as if not; opened until all are present, and then without fail the faces of those in collusion will change with great shame and confusion that they will be unable to repress.

“Therefore, keep this my letter as a complete witness of the truth, time to come to bear witness to it, and rest assured, my venerable Lords, if that which was stolen is not brought back one way or another, that they will die the most miserable death, more lingering and more violent and mof more inconceivable intensity than ever before occurred unless everything is restored and replaced in its ancient repository, and thus you will find it to be.

“I am grieved that the sheep has been entrusted to the wolf, as much to take note of it as to devise what message to send about it.

“What I write you is according to astronomical judgment and, I protest lacking in offense to anyone in this world. I am human and can err, be wrong and be deceived; nevertheless, be there anyone in your city familiar with the astronomical doctrine extending to the judicial, by the figure let him judge if he understands not that my saying contains the truth.

“Have no fear whatever, sirs but that shortly all will be found, and that if it be not thus, rest assured that their unhappy destiny approaches for those who have perpetrated sacrilege by their execrable crime.

“Further, I cannot write you for the present. God watch over you and to restore you to your first state. Although there are several who would be displeased if they had to wear again the amice, several of them near you, and one there is who will not want to find himself accompanied by another of the same type. God guard you from evil. From Salon, this February, 1562.”

-M. Nostradamus, Salon de Crau Provence

If nothing else, this reading proves that Nostradamus was not only an astrologer,  but practiced horary astrology. I adjusted the time so that it could agree with the house cusps of Nostradumus. I wonder if it really was 6:50pm, after all, a 5 and a 3 look very similar, and can easily be mistaken for one another, with the fading and ink blurs of ancient documents.

One of the things I found interesting is that it is clear that Nostradamus is following the same tried and true horary principles in his work on the missing church bells.

Here we have 11 Virgo rising, so the querent, will be Mercury. Mercury is in the 5th house on the very last degree of Capricorn, and conjoined to, but separating from Venus. By this, double bodied planets on the cusp of the ASC, and the ruler with Venus, we know that more than one person asked this question, as we can see from Nostradamus’ reference to ‘messieurs/’ The the next thing that we notice is that he said contrary to what some had stated, the missing bells had not been moved but were still there. Notice the ruler of the 1st house, is with the ruler of the 2nd house, Venus. This is a sign that the missing objects were close to the seekers, perhaps so close that one of the querent’s might well have been the guilty party!

One of the things that is interesting is that although both luminaries were below the horizon, Nostradamus said that they would be found. This could be because the Moon is just a hair beyond the Sun, and will trine her dispositor, Saturn, in the Midheaven. Saturn, has a lot of strength in Libra, as the almuten of the 2nd. Another thing we might notice is that Nostradamus ignored this age old warning to the astrologer of a malefic in the 10th and the artist getting no credit for his or her work.

Unlike Lilly, Nostradamus was not afraid to point fingers. He came right out and said that the thieves were the clerics, themselves!! How did he come to this conclusion? Well, if we follow traditional methods, for finding the thief, we rule out Saturn. The first place we are told to look, when trying to catch a thief is peregrine planets in angles. The only planet in an angle is Saturn, and Saturn has strength by triplicity. The next place to look is the ruler of the 7th, and there we see, Pisces at its cusp, with Jupiter, known as the natural ruler of priests, in the house of priests, the 9th house. Albeit the house of far away, that they didn’t go anywhere could be because they are in the fixed and earthy sign Taurus. Notice that the Moon last squared Jupiter, from the 12th house of the 7th, perhaps the theft, itself?

I find it most interesting that Nostradamus said for them to read his letter to the entire populace and the thief will be found. We look and see ruler of the 3rd house of pronouncements, in the 9th house, and fallen, but notice that the Moon will be on its contrantiscion, and that Mars is also approaching a trine to the Part of Fortune in the first. Perhaps this is why Nostradamus suggested the public reading.

We will never know if the bells were found, but I bet they were!

“Things are not the way they used to be.

I wont tell no lie; One and all have to face reality now.

Though I’ve tried to find the answer to all the questions they ask.

Its just impossible to go livin’ through the past –

Dont tell no lie.

Theres a natural mystic blowing through the air – If you listen carefully now you will hear.”

-Robert Nesta Marley

Before an at times, audibly skeptical audience, President Ahmadinejad took his oath for a second term as president of Iran last week. For better or worse, the very second that a candidate goes from being a ‘regular’ person to the exalted status of ‘president’ every person living within the borders of the country, in this case, Iran, becomes literally ‘subject’ to that moment in time. If Ahmadinejad, and his band of mullahs were hoping to quell the massive dissent that has risen since his contested June election; this was certainly not the best time to hold an inauguration. From the looks of it, at best, there will be a lot of double talk from this administration, at its worst, they may paint themselves into a corner from which they may not be able to recover.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inauguration as Iranian president for a second term was marked by opposition walkouts, demonstrations and criticism from his own conservative camp today as pressure mounted on the disputed winner of Iran’s election.

 

Senior officials and clerics attended the ceremony at Iran’s parliament but it was boycotted by many opposition leaders and moderate politicians. Those of the reform faction who did attend walked out when Ahmadinejad started speaking, according to the opposition website Parleman News.

MORE

 

Virgo, the sign of minutiae, rises in the east. The sign Virgo can be likened to the old fable of the princess and the pea. No matter how high the pillows are stacked, there will always be a certain amount of discomfort. Perhaps it is the angelic half of Virgo being forced to face the ugly realities of life on this imperfect earth, that makes it the complainer of the zodiac. I don’t know. I do know that when we see Virgo rising in a world chart, its a good can bet the natives will be restless. The Sun is the brightest of all the celestial bodies. Without its light, we could not live. The king was considered god’s representative on earth. This is why the ancients made the Sun the natural ruler of kings and rulers, and the Moon to the citizenry. It is an all or nothing proposition, because the ruler and people are at odds, and are both in signs of fixity, so neither side will budge. Ahmadinejad’s attempt at compromise, choosing as he did, a reformist vice president, only served to harden the stance of the members of his own conservative party, some of whom, walked out during his ceremony. However, one should never underestimate, Ahmadinejad. He is not without friends. He is the Sun, strong and at home, in the royal Leo, and placed in the 11th.  Like the Sun, his inaugural speech repeatedly called for taking ‘great acts.’  This might imply his government will certainly try to dominate the will of his people. However, taking a closer look, it becomes apparent that without the support of the army, this administration is lost.  This is because there is but one solar aspect ahead, the weakest of all, a sextile to Mars, thus begging question, how many of your people can you beat and throw behind bars?

Why? First and foremost, this chart looks like a ship without an anchor. The type of sign rising was very important to the ancients, for it spelled out the durability of the event. We see double bodied or mutable signs on the angles (1, 4, 7 and 10). This is a shaky start. Mutable signs have the ability to exist two different worlds, simultaneously. Gemini (two people), Virgo (angels wings on human body) Sagittarius (half man half horse) and Pisces (two fish swimming in opposite directions). There is no doubt that this ‘morphing’ makes them the most versatile signs of the zodiac. However, it becomes easy to scatter their forces. Duplicity often results. There will be those who profess to be on the side of the president, but are not, and there will be those who profess to be reformers, but also are not. It implies, the see saw effect, in which the government starts out one direction, but will be forced to change course.

It should surprise nobody that the winged messenger, god/goddess of communications, Mercury, owns both the house both of the people, and that of the government. Mercury is strong in his own sign of Virgo, but all its brilliance is chained, imprisoned as it is, in the 12th. Lilly said that the 12th house represented:

‘Men who maliciously undermine their neighbors or inform secretly against them.’

In other words, Mercury in the 12th, is the epitome, of the Judas, who smiles so sweetly to your face, professing undying loyalty, while selling you out for 30 pieces of silver. Watching ones back, may be not only be good advice, but the way to survive. When we see both citizen’ and government in the so placed, that old cold war cartoon, ‘Spy vs. Spy’ comes to mind, where nobody can be fully trusted.  In such a situation,  sabotage becomes the norm.

Ever break an old fashioned thermometer? Remember trying to scoop up the pieces of the Mercury, and how it would slip from your fingers? The same is true of words. No matter how hard they try, the messages will get out. It is time for the mullah to face reality. There is a whole other world out there. Dialogue with the opposition is a must. Even the most sophisticated surveillance equipment will not bring submission.

Since the same planet owns both citizen and president, we turn to the natural rulers for specifics.

After all, a nation is only as good as the people that inhabit it. They want more freedom, and represented by the fixed Moon in Aquarius, Ahmadinejad should not discount their tenacity. After all, Aquarius is a sign of stubborn thought. Strong arming the people will only serve to strengthen their resolve. Given that more than 40% of the population is under 30; time really is on their side. With the Moon in early degrees, this defiance is only in its gestation.  Saturn hovering at the Ascendant, increases the dissatisfaction. Oil,the national product, is on the decline. The government will not be able to give as generously to their support base as they had in the past. This story is far from over. Mercury’s upcoming September retrograde may give this administration something to think about.

As of this moment, the ousted president of Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya and his supporters are sitting on the border of Honduras trying to return to his country and regain his presidency.

I had some free time recently to finally take a look into the Honduran situation. For a quick recap, a coup d’ etat, took place in Honduras on which took place several weeks ago on June 28th. The coup ousted elected President Manuel Zelaya and has been roundly condemned by governments all over the world. As usual, the Solar Ingress chart, better known as the Summer Solstice, once again, furnishes a great many interesting clues which help our understanding of the facts.

I find in the pages of Flowers of Astrology by Abu Ma’shar translated and available through Ben Dykes (http://bendykes.com) some remarks about the role of fixed stars afflicting significator on the chart.

June,20. 11:46 p.m; Tegucicalpa(87w13/14n6) Asc:28 Piscis 35; M.C. 28 Sag 56

A list of stars is furnished by Abu Ma’shar and Ptolemy, are said to be of the nature of Mars and Saturn, and therefore, will be the object of our consideration, which I will not, however, be presenting now (begging your pardon ;-).

According to the great master, Abu Massar, “when the lord of a house in the ingress chart is in conjunction with some star, it will affect the matters of that house.” (Ben Dikes’ commentary on Abu Mashar’s “Flowers”).

Here we see that Mercury, the lord of house 7 is conjunct the fixed star, Aldebaran. Abu Massar says of this, “…If the lord of the 7th house from ascendant of the revolution of the year is with any of these stars, litigants and those making war against the king will be multiple, and will kill each other… society will torn apart by much discord (chapter 6 of “Flowers”). [ed.note: while this is not the Spring Ingress, there is no reason we cannot use the same rules for all seasonal ingresses of the Sun that Abu Massar presents).

Sagittarius is on the cusp of the house of kings and rulers, the 10th house. Notice, that the lord of the 10th, Jupiter finds itself in a cadent house. Cadent houses, were called, ‘falling’ houses. In this case, this places Manuel Zelaya’s planetary representative in the 12th house. This was said by the ancients to be the house of exile and prison. We also notice that the natural ruler of kings and presidents, the Sun sits in the house of the opposition, while at the same time the ruler of the 10th, Jupiter is being applied to by the lord the crisis and death house ruler, Mars. The perfection of which, took place in just a little more than a week after the Summer Solstice. And history follows suit, on June 28th, President of Honduras was arrested and sent into exiled by the military.

We notice also that the Lord of the Part of War, the Moon, is with the fixed star known as the ‘Bull’s Eye’ Aldebaran. The part of War is calculated by considering the relationship of the planet of the grave, Saturn to the natural rulers of the common people, the Moon and the Ascending degree.

We can infer from where the threat came, by the fortitude of the planets. Mercury, [ruler of the 4th] which we saw represents those who oppose, and make war against the “king” is in his own domicile, Gemini, his own house, and also in his own triplicity. When ”a planet is in his own house, evil will arise from their own domestic friends and alliances. If it is in his exaltation, say it will proceed from some of the nobles, princes, dukes, or such that are in high power and authority or near unto the ‘crown;’ but if in his triplicity, from such as have their dependency on the aforesaid nobility” (Ramsey-Astrologia Restaurata,book 2 section 2 available from Todd Carnes website http://carnesoft.net).

In this case, we see, Mercury which shows the alliances of the king. This may refer to those in the legislature, deputies; those have dependency on the nobles. There is evidence that this could indicate the military generals who are allies of the dominant class- because Mercury is also with military star Aldebaran.

OCOTAL, Nicaragua —” When Ángel Hsiky, a farm worker, heard his ousted president’s call for supporters to help him return to Honduras, he threw a change of clothes in a knapsack, kissed his wife and 9-month-old boy goodbye and headed to the Nicaraguan border… “We’ve come to bring our president back home,” said Mr. Hsiky, 23, who is from Mr. Zelaya’s Olancho Province in central Honduras.

“Since Mr. Zelaya arrived here on Friday to taunt the de facto government that exiled him a month ago, hundreds of Hondurans have answered his call to join him just across the border in Nicaragua.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/world/americas/28honduras.html?_r=1&hp

How did it come to this? 

How did Manuel Zelaya lose power?

Gerson Pelafsky takes a look:

This Fourth of July, as the Oedespedotes, of North Korea, Mars, trudged over the binary eclipsing star, Algol, and atthe same time, the Scorpionic star, Antares was occulted, a two pronged attack was launched. The first was outright; the launching of seven ‘scud like’ ballistic missiles. The second was far more subtle. As of this writing, no government agency is pointing fingers, at least, not officially. Off the record, however, the word is that not only did the North Koreans brazenly defy the U. N. and launch their scuds, but they are said to have also conducted what social scientists are dubbing ‘the war of the future,’ a full out cyber attack on government computer networks in both South Korea and the United States.

(continue reading…)