Spring Equinox and Aries Ingress
Update and Geocentric, Heliocentric charts
Profiles: Nancy Pelosi, Sandra Bullock, UK’s PM Gordon Brown

This past week, humble and small Rhode Island – and the rest of America’s Atlantic Coast – was enjoying preternaturally warm sunny springtime weather, oddly coinciding with the week of the spring equinox.  Alas, everything changes and now it drizzles.

If you are interested in an astrology session or to learn astrology, you’re welcome to contact me at josephcrane@verizon.net or info@astrologyinstitute.com. And feel free to peruse our newly-renovated website, www.astrologyinstitute.com.

Mars has gone direct – see last month’s newsletter – although it hasn’t moved very far to date.  On April 5 Pluto goes retrograde at 5p and ten days later Mercury goes retrograde at 12w. The evening planets and stars are brilliant at this time of year: Sirius, the twin stars of Gemini, and the stars in Orion are moving further to the west.  At the same time Mars, finally moving direct in early Leo, is also moving to the West and Saturn is becoming more visible as it moves into opposition to the Sun, therefore receiving most of the Sun’s light from our perspective.

This month we look at the Aries Ingress, geocentric and heliocentric planetary positions, and profiles on Nancy Pelosi of the House of Representatives, Sandra Bullock who won an Oscar and whose week afterward featured an unwelcome inclusion into her personal life, and finally the UK’s PM Gordon Brown – who faces the ballot (probably in May) with Pluto at his Midheaven degree.

Spring Equinox and Aries Ingress

This moment was, of course, when the Sun’s apparent motion touches the lines of the equator and ecliptic converging.  It means that for the Northern Hemisphere the amount of daylight finally exceeds the darkness and it’s the reverse for the Southern Hemisphere.

Adjusting for location we can also look at this chart for a particular place – and I chose the USA capital, Washington DC.  Let’s interpret this chart as a mundane chart that is based on some traditional horary techniques. 

Looking at this chart quickly, it doesn’t seem to bode well for the Yankees – and I don’t mean New York’s famous baseball team.  The ruler of an Ascendant in Cancer is, of course, the Moon.  It’s a strong Moon – exalted in Taurus, in a good place the 11th of the Good Daimon, and it is a waxing Moon.  The problem is the Moon’s applying square to Neptune – a harbinger of confusion, delusion, weakness from draining of vitality or substance.  Neptune is in the 8th and may have more to do with undercurrents of money and finance (unlike the 2nd, inhabited by Mars that is more above-board).  

Traditionally the 11th place is that of the King’s retainers – or the legislative branch of government. Just last night health insurance regulation passed through Congress, staggering across the finish line exhausted.  Neptune makes productive activity seem like sprinting through water.  Yet, like the health care package, progress is possible, due to the Moon’s dignified nature and the ruler of the 11th, Venus in Aries, being in the 10th.

Interestingly, the tenth place -- the leadership of the US -- is very strong. Three planets are in Aries including Sun in its exaltation. Sun also applies in a trine to Mars in the 2nd.  Medieval astrologer Guido Bonatti would call this a “perfect reception”: they are in each other’s domiciles, it’s the next application for the Sun, and the aspect is a trine. This may indicate that the President and executive branch may indeed prevail and get some things done, particularly along economic lines (Mars in the 2nd).  Well, if I was the executive branch’s astrologer, I would suggest that their all-consuming passion over the next several months should be the economy.

You may also notice that the Midheaven at 04 Aries is contra-antiscion with Uranus at 26 Pisces – and the midpoint, of course, is 00° Aries and therefore conjunct the equinox Sun.  It was to his advantage that Obama cancelled an overseas trip to Asia to concentrate further on things closer to home; he’s going to need plenty of sleep over the next several months, for things will happen suddenly and unexpectedly.  Obama himself may also surprise people, especially with transiting Mars activating so much of his own chart in the next few months.  (See February newsletter.)

There are a few more difficulties, however: Saturn in the 4th opposes the Sun, indicating further dropping of poll numbers (the 4th is given to represent the land and the people).  This is what the Republicans are hoping for.  If you include the square from Pluto in the 7th, there may be an outside calamity or, more likely, some kind of threat from others.  Saturn in Libra, also being exalted, may keep the land and people from calamity but it certainly looks difficult. 

With Pluto in the 7th, expect not a break from anywhere – Iran, Israel, China, Russia, or Republicans.  Again, the 7th is governed by Saturn that opposes the Sun, representing the leadership.

Those who will take the greatest advantage will be the press and pundits – notice Jupiter oriental in sect and its sign Pisces.  The “punditocracy” should do very well in the months ahead. 

Geocentric and Heliocentric charts

On my way to finishing the Paradiso part of my manuscript – that thankfully did not take an eternity – I was pondering how to present a cosmic inversion the poet inflicts on us late in the canticle.  Instead of the planetary spheres and fixed stars going around the Earth, as we had previously seen, we read about a dazzling bright light (representing God) and 9 concentric spheres surrounding this light – this is the cosmos.  It’s the same information but a critical change of perspective. 

I realized that astrologers use different perspectives to describe much of the same information when they compare geocentric and heliocentric positions. Such a comparison may help us understand the astrology that we already use and often don’t question. 

I chose the previous Sun-Mercury conjunction as opportune time to give an example of geocentric and heliocentric positions.  The chart on the bottom left will be from the Earth’s point of view and we will see the Sun as a planet; the other chart is from the Sun’s point of view and we will see Earth as a planet that orbits the Sun.

98% of modern astrological charts are done in geocentric form – from the Earth’s point of view.   You notice that Mercury and the Sun are in the same degree of the zodiac, Venus is moving ahead of the Sun escaping from its beams and becoming visible in the evening; Saturn is retrograde, as are all planets that are across from the Sun. 

For the heliocentric chart you need to think of the planets’ zodiacal positions as a convenient way of measuring distance.  You will not find a horizon there either – so we don’t get the 12 houses or places, for there is no horizon in the Sun -- unless you happen to visit its surface.

The Sun does not appear in a heliocentric chart, for we are casting other planets in the zodiac from the Sun’s point of view.  Instead we see Earth, across from where we would find the Sun in a geocentric chart.   The Moon, being so close to Earth from a Sun’s viewpoint, would not be an additional planet but simply part of an Earth system, as we do for the Moons of Mars through Pluto.  You will notice that here Earth is closing in on Saturn and that Mercury is across from the Earth. 

We need to get used to our zodiac when applied to the planets that circle the Sun not the Earth.  As we all know, the tropical zodiac begins with the intersection of the ecliptic and equator on the Earth, not on the Sun or out in space. 

Notice, however the geocentric and heliocentric positions for the outer planets and how close they are in their zodiacal degrees.  When you look at their positions and think about it some, they give us a sense of how close the distances are between Earth and Sun in comparison with the planets outside Saturn and their distances from each other and from us and the Sun.

Both charts represent the locations of various planets and contain the same information.  The only difference is that of perspective.  In the Paradiso Dante is doing something similar.  His picture of the cosmos, containing much the same information as our world of appearances, is theocentric.

Now we move to our three profiles for March.

Nancy Pelosi – An Early Birthday Present

Last night the House of Representatives passed the health care insurance reform bill and many of today’s photos feature Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, looking very happy.  She did much of the heavy lifting to garner enough votes to get the bill narrowly passed. It also came out that after Scott Brown was elected to the Senate Pelosi prevailed on Obama to go for the full package when he was going to try for a scaled-down version. The package is as much her singular achievement (my Republican friends would prefer a different word) as it is Obama’s.

She will turn 70 on Friday and her birthday present has come early this year.

Nancy Pelosi was elected to the House of Representatives in a special election in 1987; in 2001 she became Minority Whip, later Minority Leader.  When the Democrats took over the House of Representatives in January 2007 she became the first woman Speaker.  Her voting record is reliably liberal although her leadership style is more pragmatic than ideological.  Her public appearances do not distinguish her and she is at her best as a back-room arm-twister and deal-maker.  She has been consistently demonized by conservative and Republican operatives. They have made much of her being a powerful and ambitious woman as well as having the ill-fortune of representing San Francisco.

Consulting my usual sources (Astrodatabank, Sirius astrology software program), there is no reliable birth time for Pelosi.  Nor do I have the opportunity to do a full rectification that might yield a plausible – if not iron-clad – birth time.

Here is a chart for 12 noon and with a house system so that the Sun is the first house and the other eleven go in order from there.  So as not to confuse the reader, I have taken out designations for an Ascendant and Midheaven.

Even without much information several features stand out.

Sun in Aries is moving toward Jupiter and this can cause difficulties for Jupiter since the Sun’s beams have begun to obscure it.  This situation might be rescued somewhat by Jupiter being in its own triplicity – if Pelosi was born at night.

On the other side of the Sun is Mercury, retrograde and in a sign of debility although clearly a morning star.  This might favor Mercury more if she was born during the day.

(My hunch is that Pelosi was born during the day.)

If she was born anytime before late afternoon on March 26, her Moon’s application would be to Mercury.  That could further strengthen Mercury’s importance for her chart.  (I also feel that Mercury is the governing planet for politicians in a democracy.)

Sun also has a trine from Pluto.  This is interesting at this time in her life. During the entire health care onslaught, transiting Mars has been stationing at her natal Pluto degree of 00° Leo; transiting Pluto has been close to a square to her natal Sun, and closer if she was born in the morning – this will continue through April and come back in 2011.  This has been an intense time for a tough-minded woman and things may not get any easier for her in the near future.

Mars is the dispositor for Pelosi’s Sun and it’s in Taurus conjunct Venus who is conjunct Uranus.  Mars isn’t particularly at ease in Taurus for it is Venus’ sign instead.  I wouldn’t call Pelosi particularly Venusian but she certainly is Aries-Taurus – aggressive and unstoppable.  Even her fiercest adversaries would agree.

The Moon moves about 13° day and there’s no doubt that Pelosi has Moon in Scorpio.  If Venus in Taurus had the opportunity to be charming and sensual, it’s negated by the rather intense Moon in Scorpio as well as Mars that is conjunct an otherwise congenial Venus in Taurus.  This also means that the dispositor for her Sun and Moon is Mars in steamroller Taurus.   

If you’re interested in doing a rectification for Pelosi’s chart, you could pay close attention to the next 12-18 months: by progression Venus will go retrograde and she will also have a New Moon; we don’t know exactly when if without a birth time.  It’s possible, for example, that she retire from Congress “at the top of her game” in the next year or so.  I suspect she will try a few more major legislative projects before allowing this to happen.

This must serve for now as a summary for Nancy Pelosi. Although we don’t have the information we would like, we certainly get the profile of Pelosi as ruthless and ambitious, to be trifled with at one’s peril.

Sandra Bullock – What a Week it Was

Yes we do have information that gives us a birth time for her. 

Sandra Bullock won a Best Actress Academy Award for her role in the film The Blind Side that came out late in 2009.  Based on my observations and some very informal polling after viewing the movie, it was not that she did such an outstanding acting job but that she finally had an interesting and complex character to portray and she did so very well.

Previously in 2009 she starred in The Proposal, a film with mixed critical reactions but solid box-office popularity.  Her movie career has featured many competent performances in some pretty bad movies, yet her presence has made many a movie more popular than it had the right to be.  It also ensured that she would become very wealthy and famous. 

Her chart is quite striking, as befitting the native.  And of course, “She’s a Leo.”

It is difficult to get past her Ascendant in Gemini and Venus and Mars on her Ascendant.  Venus in the first usually bestows charm; Gemini’s governing planet Mercury is in Leo.  Bring the two together and there would be personal charisma.  We must also consider Mars at the same degree as her Ascendant – although Bullock can play well the “girl next door”, Mars here can make her competitive, feisty, and probably at times temperamental.

Bullock was born a few days after a Full Moon; her Sun is in Leo (she looks the part) and Moon in airy Aquarius.  It seems that Moon and the Gemini planets give her mental sharpness and flexibility that befits somebody able to competently take on a variety of roles.

Moon is applying to Jupiter, the ruler of the 10th place of career; Jupiter is in earthy Taurus.  You will also note that Saturn is not only in the 10th place but is conjunct the degree of the Midheaven.  This is clearly an indication of somebody who can work very hard and claw her way to the top.  Aligning with Saturn’s conformist nature, Bullock has become successful by fitting into what has come her way, even if this has meant performing well in some very bad movies.

In early March she fulfilled the “Oscar Jinx” – just a few days after winning her Academy Award, the news reported that her husband (with the infelicitous name of Jesse James) had had an affair.  The first press reports stated that James considered the his marriage to Bullock “a sham,” but over the next two days he admitted that he was fully to blame for this turn of events.  Happily to date the media has not pursued the matter further.

Some predictive factors seem to have helped her win the Academy Award – progressed Venus has been conjunct progressed Ascendant (solar arc MC progressions), and Jupiter has been transiting her 10th.  This year her profections have gone into the 10th house that amplifies transiting Jupiter’s ability to bring abundance. Bullock’s decennials for this time give Mars-Mercury as general and specific planetary lords; these two planets are in sect and are in close sextile with one another natally. 

Two transits point to the difficulties that emerged in Sandra Bullock’s personal life.  Mercury may be important as a specific planetary lord yet at this time Mercury is being opposed by transiting Neptune.  This is especially significant since Mercury is the ruler of her Ascendant in Gemini and would impact the appearance and character of the native.  Odds are that she was blind-sided by her husband’s infidelity and also when the press caught wind of it. 

At the end of January transiting Uranus was square to her Venus; in March Uranus was square her Ascendant and Mars.  One could speculate about the timing of her knowledge of her husband’s infidelity, its being leaked to the press, and her response to all of it.  With transiting Uranus square Mars on her Ascendant, I would definitely hide breakable objects.

Having said all this about Sandra Bullock’s recent incursion into the “scandal sheets”, I can only hope for this matter to just go away.

Politics across the Pond: Gordon Brown

We may have just worked with the natal chart of “Miss Congeniality”, taking the name from one of Sandra Bullock’s popular but mediocre movies; the politician we discuss below is more like “Mr. Uncongeniality”, judging from his reputation among the voters in the UK.

 Since taking over as Prime Minister from the charismatic but choleric Tony Brown in 2007, the polls have gone down precipitously for his Labour Party: one-party ennui has set in among the people, the Conservatives have an innovative leader in David Cameron, scandals have hit different cabinet ministers, and increasingly Brown’s abrasive and un-charming personality have become an issue as he and his party move toward national elections in the late spring. 

All this is happening when (1) there have been few real crises during this time, but (2) politics “across the pond” can make US politics seem downright dignified and decorous in comparison.

Gordon Brown was not as head of his party during the time of national elections – in 2007 he simply took over from Tony Blair.  (It was a deal long in the making and longer in the executing.)  Now, three years later he became Prime Minister, his party has to stand for elections in the late spring -- when Pluto is exactly conjunct his Midheaven degree!  There are some really good astrologers in the UK, more than in the US – who works for this man?

Here is his natal chart:

A few years ago a medical columnist in a British periodical penned this controversial depiction of Gordon Brown.  The Prime Minister, the column said…

 "...shows symptoms of the personality disorders grouped together in DSM4 as cluster A disorders. He is likely to be demanding, self- absorbed, have difficulties in relationships with others, suffer discomfort in social situations with unfamiliar people, have vaguely unsettling inappropriate gestures or facial expressions and may be so focused that he finds it difficult to concentrate on subjects other than that which has caught his immediate attention."

      (http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2008/05/does-gordon-brown-have-personality.html)

In the US we have wondered about George Bush’s Oedipal thing with his father and Bill Clinton’s compulsive sexuality but not since Nixon has a US national leader been so lead to the analytic couch. Brown has been considered indecisive, paranoid, and what we might call a rage-aholic. 

Does his natal chart give us any insight into this man?  Indeed there is much for an astrologer to look at.

We could begin with the many planets in his 12th house, including the ruler of his Ascendant (Mars in Pisces) and Jupiter that is dignified in Pisces -- but sinking into the Sun’s beams.  This is a very self-contained unit and one that is complicated and can be difficult if we want to look at it psychologically. 

Yet there are positive features in this configuration: Mars, ruling the Ascendant, is conjunct Venus who is exalted in Pisces – surely there must be some charm but perhaps it is not in front of a crowd or the media.  You may also note that Jupiter and his Ascendant in Aries are symmetrical to 00° Aries and so are strongly configured with each other.  It denotes somebody who can be affable on a personal level, have somewhat of “the vision thing”, but not easily be available to others, due to the cadency of his Pisces planets.

To Brown’s advantage, however, is that Sun is applying to Uranus in a trine.  As dour in temperament and as abrasive as he might be, Brown is not afraid of casting himself as an unusual person, as an outsider.  This may be the key to an election victory if he’s able to pull it off.

Moon in Leo in the fifth might be more personally comfortable, although its proximity with Pluto does give one pause.  It is not the sign of the Moon but its application that is important – and we will take this up shortly.

When we look at Brown’s Midheaven, the place of fame and public appeal, we have Capricorn and its ruler is Saturn.  Saturn is dignified in Libra – and possibly on the formal or austere side.  Saturn has no particular relationship with any of Brown’s planets in Pisces – he is not personally comfortable with crowds or being the subject of the ups and down in popularity of any politician.  Alternatively he may just be one more melancholic Scot.

The planet that redeems his chart is Mercury – oriental, in sect, in the strong 11th house, the application from his Moon, and in sextile to his Ascendant.  It is also governed by an angular planet – Saturn – in its sign of exaltation.  His background was as a social economist who was drawn to public life from affection for liberal social causes.  He is not personally ambitious as much as he thinks of himself the smartest guy in any room he walks into.  And he wants to make an impact.

On many economic and policy matters he’s been impressive as Prime Minister and he especially rose to the occasion when the world economic downturn began in autumn 2008.  Yet when it comes to the softer – more congenial -- side of being a political leader he is not very successful.

His Mercury placement does have one difficulty, however – it is sinking into the Sun’s beams even thought it looks great as an oriental planet.  Here, quite possibly, is the astrological origin of the insecurity and vacillation that has hurt his personal good.

Since he has been Prime Minister until lately, transiting Saturn has been opposing his many Pisces planets in the 12th – over time this contributes to magnifying his many personal liabilities.  Since this autumn he has had his Saturn return and Saturn recently was in a station in square to his Midheaven degree.  Off and on, transiting Pluto in Capricorn has been in square to his Saturn in early Libra; remember that Saturn is in charge of his Midheaven.  If anything could go wrong it will!

As stated above, Pluto will be stationing at his Midheaven degree when his party – which had lost badly in local elections and has abysmal poll numbers – will have to stand in national elections.

Brown has a few advantages, however.  Transiting Jupiter is in Pisces and will be with natal Venus and Mars when elections are projected.  This factor is made more pronounced by his yearly profection falling into Pisces and his 12th. 

There’s another factor worth considering: here’s his solar return for the year.

Brown’s solar return for this year, with Mars in the first, Moon in Taurus at the midheaven in trine to Pluto, rewards a fierce campaigning style.  Brown’s party could be re-elected if – and only if – he campaigns as if he’s going to the gallows if he loses.  If he succeeds it will be because he is perceived as deserving to succeed.  Nothing but that will save the day for him.

Next month is April, “the cruelest month”, and who will emerge for our monthly astrological profiles?