January 21, 2011 Weekend aspects
The Moon transits Leo as the weekend begins. Let your inner child out to play for a while. Then the Moon goes into Virgo Friday afternoon. We are more concerned with the mundane details of everyday life at this time. The Moon goes into partnership oriented Libra on Sunday afternoon. Jupiter enters youthful and courageous Aries on Saturday. And, the Sun and Mars have both entered freedom loving and friendly Aquarius. Happy birthday to all water bearers, including yours truly. Venus parallels the Sun on Saturday. Romantic partnerships make us feel sunny and optimistic. Venus parallels Mars on Sunday. Love and sex mix well together. Those are definitely happy love aspects. Flirt a bit. And, then Venus sextiles Saturn on Sunday. R Grisham states this about this aspect, “Stabilize a relationship that you want to have long-term (or legal) potential. Foreign-affairs ties and faraway partners are reliable.”
Ponderings of a Gay Astrologer
One of the ways that I use astrology is to process events that trouble me. The shooting that occurred in Tucson is certainly one of those events. I, like most, was horrified to hear the news. So, I thought that I would write some of what I found (astrologically speaking) in the aftermath of this very tragic event.
It’s quite interesting that Gabrielle Gifford is a Gemini. Gabriel is the messenger angel referred to in scripture. Gemini is the sign of communication … the messenger of the zodiac. In listening to others describe her (on the news shows), it appears that she is typical of the sign … very sociable, friendly, and extremely intelligent.
I thought that I would find some hard/difficult aspects made by transiting Mars to others planets (most likely malefic outer planets). That was not the case for the most part. The only hard aspect by Mars was a very wide square to transiting Saturn. Now, transiting Mercury was in a square aspect to Jupiter and Uranus. That explains the shocking news and the extreme weather patterns that developed, but not this violent event. I looked at Pluto, but there were no close hard aspects. Then I checked out a few asteroids. I found that the asteroid, Pallas, was in conjunction to transiting Pluto at the time. Astrologer Debbi Kempton-Smith states this about Pallas:
“Eleanor Bach writes in her ephemeris of the four asteroids, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, and Ceres: “ Pallas Athene sprang fully armed from Zeus’ head.” Nice lady, that Pallas! She always wants to bring peace, so she starts out with war; Pallas has the means to bring peace. Pallas prominent in your chart gives you highly developed political skills.”
I haven’t been able to get all the birth data about all the persons involved in this event. However, the ones that I do have indicate an interesting pattern. They all have hard aspects from transiting Pluto to their natal planets. Rep. Giffords has natal Mars in early Cancer, and transiting Pluto is in opposition. Judge Roll had natal Venus in early Cancer with transiting Pluto in opposition. And, Jared Loughner has natal Mars in fairly early Aries with transiting Pluto in a square aspect.
Jared Loughner also has natal Chiron in late Gemini. Transiting Uranus and Jupiter are in a square aspect to his natal Chiron from Pisces. And, last year (during the time he got in trouble at the college) transiting Saturn was in a square aspect to his natal Chiron from Virgo (his Sun sign). He accused others in his community of not being very well educated and/or knowledgeable. Oftentimes, we criticize others for attributes that we do not like in ourselves. It is known as projection. Now, he may have felt wounded about his intellectual abilities, however that does not mean that he is not intelligent. I suspect that he is. And, he also stated that the government was controlling us through “grammar.” That is an odd statement, but perhaps not from someone with Chiron in Gemini. And, with Uranus and Jupiter squaring his natal Chiron, he was not able to run from his issues and wounds. He needed to deal with them. Sadly, he chose the wrong way to deal with them.
SCOTUS Rejects Appeal From DC Marriage Equality Foes
On Tuesday, January 18th, the US Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal from the District’s Court of Appeals regarding DC’s marriage equality law. Bishop Jackson wanted to have the voters vote on this equality legislation. On this day, transiting Mercury was in opposition to the USA’s natal Jupiter. The District’s laws prohibit referendums that would violate its civil rights laws, which the courts have agreed that this type of initiative would do.
Delaware
I have heard that Delaware may consider legislation approving either civil unions or marriage equality for gays and lesbians in that state in the near future. The astrological transits look good for that as the state’s natal Uranus is in late Cancer with transiting Jupiter and Uranus in a trine aspect to it. Transiting Juno (civil marriage) is also in a sextile aspect to Delaware’s natal Uranus from late Virgo.
New York
It also appears likely that legislators in New York will again try to pass marriage equality in New York this year. While the astrological aspects look favorable for such legislation, this will be a heavy lift because the GOP controls New York’s Senate by 32 to 30. In addition, at least one Democrat in the State Senate (Senator Diaz) will again vote against marriage equality. However, Governor Cuomo seems committed to seeing marriage equality pass this year, and he has a very strong favorability rating. So, he might be able to bring a few GOPers over to the marriage equality side. He will definitely need to if it is to pass. New York’s natal Uranus is in early Leo, and transiting Jupiter is in a fairly close trine to it. Transiting Uranus will also be in a trine to it very soon. So, we’ll see.
December 03, 2010 Weekend Aspects
The next few days should be quite interesting. The Moon moves into Scorpio on Thursday and remains there until Saturday. On Friday, December 2, transiting Mars squares transiting Uranus (the second day of the DADT hearings in the Senate). It seems actions taken will result in the unexpected. And, this aspect could produce fireworks as the high energy and electricity of this aspect is difficult to harness. Be careful as accidents could occur. On Sunday, December 5, Uranus turns stationary direct. And, the Moon will square this planet of change and the unexpected early on December 6 (the day of the prop 8 hearing before the ninth circuit panel). On Sunday, December 5, Mercury conjoins Pluto. R Grisham says of this aspect, “Psychological awareness amps your understanding of meaning and motivation, but avoid power ploys and controlling coercions.”
DADT
The Pentagon’s Report on the Repeal of DADT has been released, and it shows what was expected. It showed that repealing DADT will not cause a problem for the armed services. What is more uncertain is whether this will be enough to move some Republican votes over to the repeal side. Both sides seem equally determined to win this battle. And, with the planetary aspects going on now, the Congress is likely to be the place of some of the fireworks. Mars squares Uranus (and Jupiter), the Sun is in opposition to the USA’s natal Uranus, and Uranus turns direct on Sunday. I’m not going to make any projection on the success of the DADT repeal as I still see it as a 50% chance of success. We’ll see. It definitely should be interesting.
Perry v Swarzenegger hearing before the Ninth Circuit Panel
We now know the judges that will hear this case. Two were appointed by Democrats, and one was appointed by a Republican. This hearing should be interesting as well. There might be a surprise or two. I feel more positively about this case. However, the case could be dismissed because the DI’s do not have Article III standing. If so, I think we will know soon, and marriage equality could come to California soon. Mars and the Moon are in a trine aspect to California’s natal Uranus on that day. And, we might know something by December 21 with the Full Moon (in opposition to California’s progressed Juno). If the panel decides that the proponents of proposition 8 have Article III standing, it will likely be sometime next year before we get a decision on it and the merits of the case.
Illinois Approves Civil Unions
Both houses of the Illinois legislature have approved legislation giving same gender couples many/most of the rights and obligations of marriage. The unions will be called civil unions rather than marriage. The Illinois State Assembly approved the bill on 11/30/10, and the Senate followed suit on 12/01/10. I was pleasantly surprised by this vote. The Sun and Uranus are in Sagittarius in Illinois’ natal chart. The transiting Sun is conjunct the two. The Moon has been in sextile aspect to the two during this time period. Transiting Jupiter is in a square aspect to the two, and is likely the aspect that pushed the vote over the top. Transiting Juno is in a square aspect to Illinois’ natal Uranus and in opposition to transiting Jupiter during this time period. Illinois’ governor is expected to sign the bill very soon.