STARFIRE

February 2010

February 2010- Looking at the Haitian Earthquake Chart
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Looking at the Haitian Earthquake Chart

What do I know about astrometeorology, the astrological study of weather? Not enough to fill half a page with notes. Astrometeorology is a very specialized form of mundane astrology. I find references to research about weather occasionally, usually on behalf of commodities traders dealing in products like cotton that are found in specific geographical areas. I’ve seen, but not tested, a few notes on planets and weather, and I know that geodetic and local space charts are used to track weather conditions. I know Carolyn Egan http://www.astrosage.com/ understands and teaches workshops on astrometeorology.

Now you know what I know about weather. And we still have a chart and a whole column ahead of us.

The Haitian chart fascinates me because it has many signs of good fortune in it, even though it is a precise chart for a horrifyingly destructive earthquake. My data for the chart comes from the United States Geological Survey’s earthquake hazard website http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

The chart is precise to the second, taken from seismic data for both time and location.

So how can a chart that looks like a good day be accurate for such a bad event?

One answer, of course, is that the International Red Cross saved 130 people and saved people long after all expectations for survivors had passed. Spica, a fixed star of good fortune, conjunct the Sun and Venus (and the North Node) in the 7th house of the public symbolizes that success. But it doesn’t account for the 150,000 people who died.

The public in this chart is ruled by the Moon, which always rules the public, and the Moon is moving toward a conjunction with Pluto, the planet of permanent change. Pluto is currently transiting through Capricorn, ruled by Saturn.

Carl Payne Tobey defines Capricorn as the sign that opposes and contains or limits individual survival. Usually we think of Capricorn as part of the price of survival (which may include big business and big government). Saturn rules Capricorn and is in Libra, making its retrograde station and "not moving" at the moment of the earthquake. Saturn is exalted or especially powerful in Libra, and Saturn in Libra is ordinarily considered a fortunate placement.

Nevertheless, we have to look to Saturn as the primary indicator of the earthquake. Saturn is in the tag end of the 3rd house, threatening aging and destruction to homes roughly in its neighborhood. And we have an earthquake a few miles from the city, in the rural neighborhood. The Moon was last over Saturn, indicating an underground trigger event involving Saturn.

The Ascendant/Descendant axis passed through a degree associated with crises only two minutes before the earthquake struck. No other planet is in a critical degree. Pluto, with its lasting changes and upheaval, is in a degree ancient astrologers considered medical. Nothing else indicates such massive destruction to my eye.

And yet–the chart has four planets in earth signs, so we would clearly expect tangible, visible results for whatever was happening. Two planets were retrograde and four others moving less than two minutes per day. Is that the imbalance?

The Moon was out of bounds, and that often shows an extremely emotional situation. In this case, the Moon shows both the fears and responses of the Haitians and the charitable response around the world.

What intrigues me about this chart, though, is that it looks on the surface as if it’s a good enough day. The Moon is dark, suggesting that any events shown by the chart will affect the future more than the past or present. But the Moon isn’t void; it’s sextile Jupiter from the sixth house (daily events) to the eighth (shared money), normally a good aspect. With hindsight, we can see the Moon-Jupiter aspect symbolizing the flow of money to Haiti to repair the damage. And we can see that Jupiter and Neptune in the eighth house (death) does show the huge number of deaths and suggests that many of them will be from suffocation or perhaps lack of drugs.

And here’s what I want you to see: Even when we precisely time an event, the chart shows its result, not the event itself. Even the precise data is going to be recorded a second or two after the earthquake itself. When you read that chart, you are reading the events that follow the disaster, not the prediction of the disaster.

That’s why this chart shows the flow of money into Haiti and the success of the rescue effort.

Events have potential until they happen, and then the charts begin to show the potential results of the event. Like the clock, they tick on mechanically, showing what’s next.

In this case, the chart shows the potential for building a strong economy in Haiti with an inflow of international investment. It shows the potential for jobs and a permanent change in the local economy.

The chart also shows personal losses for Haitians (Mars in the second of personal resources) that it will take a long time to recover (Mars retrograde). Saturn on the cusp of the fourth house reveals the lack of shelter and housing and doesn’t bode well for rebuilding private dwellings in the near future.

There’s no compassion in astrology charts, but there is guidance for dealing with unthinkable chaos.

The chart says international relief efforts and reinvestment can be expected to be successful, but it’s going to take a special effort, a huge program like Habitat for Humanity, to restore personal dwellings and replace what desperately poor families lost. Some, at least, of the relief money needs to be targeted for families and homes. Jupiter and Neptune in the eighth suggest that humanitarian and spiritual groups will remain in Haiti and do what they can.

What the chart doesn’t show is long-term, effective leadership. Rebuilding has to go beyond infrastructure and jobs, and we shouldn’t forget the painful lessons of Hurricane Katrina now.

As individuals (Ascendant) with compassion (Moon in the sixth in internationally-minded Sagittarius), we can hold charitable organizations and governments accountable for helping individuals in Haiti. We can seek out and fund those charities that serve families. And Jupiter and Neptune in the eighth point to this disaster as one that can be helped enormously by prayers and by holding a vision for Haiti’s future.

When the Moon shows a disaster that is unimaginable and out of bounds, it also shows a public response that knows no bounds. And, in this case, we have a chart showing that as the people of Haiti recover from unimaginable loss, it is possible for good to rise out of the ashes like the legendary Phoenix.

Mary O’Gara, Ph.D.