Starcats, January 12, 2011

Edited January 13, 2011

Razing Arizona – the Second Amendment - Bearing Arms

“It's just as the Cheshire Cat said; ‘We're all mad here.’" – from friend, Nancy Miller

Lots of top astrologers have already blogged their analyses of the Arizona shooting. They were ahead of the curve. I, alas, am behind my contemporaries, so my commentary on the shooting event is but another contribution. One I hope isn't now redundant.

Jeff Jawer’s January 11, 20011 StarIQ column: The Danger of Absolute Truth

Michael Wolfstar’s commentary on Gabrielle Giffords’ Mars

Mary Plumb’s TMA blog Shootings in Arizona.

The City of Tucson is 11 months older than the U.S. Declaration of Independence and is a scant six weeks younger than the USA’s Declaration of War against England made on July 6, 1775. Yale University Avalon Project

C.G. Jung would call the morphing of one entity into the very entity he or she professes to hate ENANTIODROMIA.

On the shadow side of the collective psyche, Tucson, Arizona and the United States at large display similar characteristics. They can be violent, angry, extreme, irrational, self-righteous, self-serving, hold staunchly to a belief in absolutes, are missionary in their zeal, hold a “crusade” mentality, and defend a legendary belief in self-supremacy and manifest destiny. Before I discuss the city of Tucson and the USA’s charts, I want to say a few words about my preference for the 12 Sagittarius Ascendant for the United States.

A Jupiter Ruled USA -- The Merging of Church and Hate:

That the USA holds dear a myth of itself as divinely led and chosen. This is Jupiterian, not Martial or Plutonian. The Martial and Plutonian attributes have been employed as “means whereby” but justified by a mainstream or establishment co-opting of philosophical, professorial, sea faring (the Mayflower) and juridical Jupiter.

The fundamentalist (1620) underpinnings of the American nation are rooted in a vision of a:

1. “New Jerusalem,” of biblical allusions to the New World (and later the nation);

2. As a city on a hill, (Ronald Reagan liked invoking this as code speak to the Christian Right*);

3. As a nation claimed from a divine inheritance and grounded in an ancient system of Judeo-Christian law (rule by divine revelation);

4. In identification with Moses and his flock (Pilgrims) who wandered in the desert for 40 years in search of the promised land; and

5. Upon a vision of unlimited personal freedom, mobility, self-expansion, self-betterment, American exceptionalism, unshakable allegiance to God (in God we Trust is on our currency) and unbreachable, unalienable rights. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

City upon a hill is a phrase from the parable of Salt and Light in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:14, he tells his listeners, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden". Wikipedia

The First Mundane House:

The first house of a nation’s chart relates specifically to those philosophies, legends and myths a nation uses to fortify its psyche and justify its existence. Belief supports purpose, gives psychic energy to the creation of “a more perfect union.” These romantic ideals help the collective maintain social cohesion, allows groups to excuse (but not forgive?) their trespasses, forge a unique identity; creates a conduit from psyche-to-allowing individuals and groups to access “their better angels”; and motivates the many to commit to ideals and goals that are higher than one’s self.

The first house of a nation's chart (in the USA's case, the chart for the Declaration of Independence¹) is the most important. The collective is stronger than the individual and is therefore considered to be fated. National myths, a nation's self-image, characteristics of the populace, and the evolution of a nation combine to form the archetypes of the national collective unconscious. From this point of view, groups are swept along cyclic tides often foreshadowed by eclipses, lunations and ingresses. The group, bonded to the whole, lacks the self-criticism of the individual. When a nation undergoes psychic infection, then war, dictatorships, and dissolution of the "state" in favor of a new identity may occur. Map boundaries shift and change. History is most often written by the conqueror. Not the conquered. Starcats' Astrolaw

E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one.

The Popular Scorpio Rising Chart - Simply My Opinion:

The use of the Scorpio rising chart is most often justified out of reality based evaluations of the USA’s conduct both at home and abroad rather than through a recognition of the fictions the USA or any other country uses to formulate a collective identity. Plutocracy, predatory capitalism, self-preservation, Wall Street, banking, capital expansion, acquiring the spoils of war, coveting resources, and raw power for power’s sake are valid assessments of the USA’s behavior. However rational the observations are of the USA’s conduct and character, these valuations don’t take into account that myth, stories, legends and the romanticizing of the country’s dark beginnings relate to the first house need for a fairy tale vision of itself.

The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and why we are often the only shreds of sanity a collective has during grave trials. So the first house is about a raison d’être (reason for existence) predicated on stories, legends and archetypes that maintenance of the integrity of the psyche. These expressions are not rational. They are oftentimes numinous. A way to sustain the ineffable. A point of interest: The USA’s Ascendant/Midheaven midpoint is 6 Scorpio, a critical point of manifestation.

This astrologer believes it is this midpoint that makes the Scorpio rising chart favored by many work for them. The Ascendant/Midheaven midpoint, whether of a nation or an individual is where the person (Ascendant) and all he/she tries to achieve meet in the 11th house of hopes, dreams and common ventures with others of like mind. This midpoint is a conduit from psyche and deed to manifestation in the world of people and things. This midpoint relates directly to one’s sphere of influence. My preference for the Sagittarius rising chart and reasons for it should not be taken as criticism of those who prefer the Scorpio rising chart or any other. Debates over the authenticity or correctness of a USA time of birth are old and tired. Let’s get on with the business of astrology and enjoy our brilliance and diversity.

"I like esp what you say re: asc/mc midpoint and how sc manifest there and not on asc. i always thought - instinctively - that sc asc was a rush to judgment. as a sc myself i know how people and astrologers in part. love to blame everything dark and evil on sc! but that's just too simple esp with the USA chart. as an expat in europe i also learned how so many regard us as the big child, the french use this exact expression, which describes sag asc to a T. asc is how one is viewed not so much what one is in essence, and esp how one is viewed _on first encounter_. america got away with so much for so long because it was able to mask its bad intentions behind this kind of humanistic naivete. i think you could boost the essay but just adding a sentence or two about this basic asc thing of first impressions vs thing in essence. but the sc midpoint is very important and you define it nicely. you might also say something about how the 11th is like a meeting of the board - one with one's associates on the world stage. and there USA plays the ultimate godfather-scorpio role - of PLian (sic) [Palin] ruler." - Rob Couteau, The Role of the Least Aspected Planet in Astrocartography.

From Starcats' Mundane Astrology & Astrolaw:

The Eleventh House:

Governmental Institutions: the House and Senate. Also, local governments and those who directly assist elected officials. This is the house of long-terms dreams and ideals. It represents ambassadors sent to other nations and the hopes carried to foreign shores. (The 5th house is ambassadors received from other nations). Aquarian in nature, the 11th house is inclusive, universal and idealistic.

Also see Deborah Houlding's The Houses, Temples of the Sky The Eleventh House. This site is excellent for all matters pertaining to classical and mundane astrology. and Mundane Astrology, an introduction to the astrology of nations and groups by Baigent, Campion and Harvey, 1984. See chapter outlines and commentary at Astrology Critics.com The book is available for sale on AMAZON.com

Tucson, Arizona – Crucible for a Broken Nation

CHARTS ARE HERE

Tucson, Arizona, now a crucible for a broken nation, burns white hot. Jared Lee Loughner is the American family’s identified mental patient. Whether certifiable or family scapegoat, all of us know something of pain and dysfunction whether we were raised in a setting rife with domestic discord or the boy or girl we knew down the block was.

Loughner is a symptom; a suffering psyche who is the product of American soil who is responsible for his actions. He also serves as a scapegoat.

Public figures such as Sarah Palin, Sharron Angle, Michele Bachmann, Ann Coulter, New Gingrich, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Fox News, et al. are skilled manipulators. They know exactly what to say and when and how to say it to get maximum attention and sway opinion. The art of politics is as much theatre as it is anything else.

Mrs. Palin, from the time she first crossed a stage in a beauty pagaent to her reality TV show about Alaska, knows how to play for the cameras. On January 12, 2011, the day set for the memorial of those lost in the Tucson shooting massacre, Mrs. Palin tried stealing some of the president's thunder by releasing a Facebook video where she makes herself the victim, uses (out of ignorance?) the anti-semitic "blood libel" slur and misquotes Ronald Reagan regarding personal versus public guilt and responsibility.

By responsibility, I don’t mean that any particular public figure put the 9mm Glock in Loughner’s hand and said “Go to Safeway and shoot Gabby Giffords!” Loughner is not a Manchurian Candidate.

I mean to point out that media pundits and politicians, more than most people (except for poets, writers, actors and astrologers!) are keenly aware of how language can stimulate the lower parts of the reactive human brain. The limbic system. The amygdale. “Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system. . . “ . I’m talking about the parts of the human brain that are susceptible to mind and behavior control. Manipulation of the masses. Dick Armey and the Koch Brothers are masters of this kind of manipulation. Just look at their Frankenstein – The Tea Party.

The aforementioned players can’t deny the use of inflammatory rhetoric nor the fact that words – like elections – have consequences. At this point, the dodges don't fly and only those Eric Hoffer identified as "The True Believer" will continue to be fooled.

Tucson, rival sibling to the USA Declaration of Independence chart, is the perfect city to act as stage for a violent spree killing that so many talking heads and politicians are desperate to disavow any responsibility for. It may also be the perfect crucible from which the nation can burn off it's rage and transform the contents into healing gold.

Astro-Commentary

Tucson was born on August 20, 1775 at 8:56 am with 10 Libra rising. [Arizona, the last of the 48 contiguous states to be admitted to the union, was granted statehood on February 14, 1912 – two months before the Titanic sank!]

Tucson, like the USA, is in its 8th Saturn Return year.

It’s Sun and North Node are opposite the USA Moon. This opposition is a full moon relationship. With the lunar nodes also involved, what we call a kind of destined meeting or merging of life energy is always taking place. What happens to one is received and reflected back to the other in perpetuity.

Tucson’s Mars at 24 Libra is in the degree of it’s lunar nodes making a quincunx (150 degree aspect) to USA’s Mercury (24 Cancer retrograde). The message is “skewed.” The message, the conversation, the communication is disruptive, disjunctive and out of phase.

Tucson’s Mars is square Pluto at 24 Capricorn. Both are in the degree of its Lunar Nodes! It’s Pluto is in the zone of a conjunction to the USA’s Pluto (27 Capricorn) and is exactly opposite USA’s Mercury.

The USA’s natal Mercury-Pluto opposition tends to find and create conspiracy everywhere. Mercury-Pluto in opposition tends towards the obsessed and the paranoid.

The Tucson of today and the Tucson of 1775 (at the time the Colonies made their Declaration of War against Britain), saw and sees itself today as the enemy of its own creation – a government by the people for the people where no one is trusted, everyone is a conspiratorial enemy, and the lauded institutions of state and national government are deemed to be filled with vipers.

Tucson’s Mars squares USA Mercury and that is plain on its face. Vituperative discourse. Vitriol. Rage. Putting aspects together we’re looking at Tucson Mars square it’s own Pluto in square to USA Mercury – a T-square, where the release valve of the configuration is combative, impulsive, Mars in detriment (in the sign of Libra). This first house rising Mars never shrinks from feeling itself attacked, undermined and plotted against (the square to Pluto), feeling that it has a special destiny (Mars, Pluto and USA Mercury in Tucson’s lunar nodal degree) and at having to fight aggressively for it’s right to exist, have a core identity and sustain its own autonomy.

It is uplifting to mention here that Tucson’s Jupiter at 17 Gemini is in exact conjunction to Gabby Giffords’ natal Sun. Tucson’s Jupiter is accidentally dignified in its 9th house (Jupiter is in the house it rules, but not in the sign it rules), so the city brings its native daughter’s sun to it’s 9th house, the domicile ancient astrologers called the house of God. Giffords’ Sun raised here to Jupiter is the kiss of luck that saved her life after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head (Mars). There may likely be speech, vision and some cognitive impairment for Rep. Giffords as a long life issue. Mercury, the ruler of her Sun and of Tucson’s Jupiter rule the functions of the brain just mentioned.

UPDATE: January 11, 2011, MSNBC reports “Doctor: Giffords has '101 percent chance' of surviving - Ariz. Congresswoman is moving both arms, breathing on her own

[Rep. Giffords has the staying power to fight her way back to a high functioning level with her own Mercury posited in fixed, methodical, diligent Taurus.]

Twenty-four is a critical number for Tucson, Giffords and the USA:

NOTES:

“A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking Up Arms.” Yale Avalon Project

A few of the many rulerships and associations assigned to Mars and Pluto - Mars: guns, gunshot wounds, the head, ammunition, anger, anger management problems, headaches, with Uranus (Giffords has a natal Mars square Uranus and John McCain has a Mars opposition Uranus) one can either draw to oneself unconconsciously disruptions or anarchistic persons or without anger management and redirection of tendencies one can be volatile oneself. From all accounts I've read, Giffords seems like a grownup. McCain, on the other hand has had more trouble containing himself in recent years. Pluto is associated with obsession, gunmen, annihilation (one of Loughner's friends describes him as being a nihilist), defilement, demolition, crime, conspiracy and anarchical tendencies.

The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements is a 1951 social psychology book by Eric Hoffer which discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism. See Wikipedia for more on this seminal work.

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. Wikipedia

Jared Lee Loughner, one example of our well-regulated Militia, opened fire on an unarmed crowd of Tucson citizens using his newly purchased 9 mm. Glock (with extended magazine) on January 8, 2011, at 10:10 am.

Jared Lee Loughner, September 10. 1988. No time known and it isn't verified whether he was born in Tucson, Arizona. Use date and location with caution.

Online source for 9/10/88 birthdate: International Business Times, States September 10, 1988 By Jijo Jacob January 10, 2011 6:24 AM EST; also (thanks to Karen McCauley) "On Sept. 9, 2007, the day before his 19th birthday, he was arrested in Pima County for possession of drug paraphernalia," write Jack Gillum and Peter Eisler at USA Today. "He was sentenced to attend classes in a diversion program that led to the charge being dismissed. Just over a year later, on Oct. 17, 2008 . . .

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.” — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856–1941), Whitney v. California, 274 U. S. 357 (1927). -- So, when does this freedom from irrational fears part kick in? -- Starcats

Extras To Explore:

Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution,
George Washington's Inauguration USA Charts

Planet Motions for 2011

Astrologer's Tools & References

My Bio & How to Book a Reading With Me