Part 1
April 30, 2016: Additional thoughts on the chart then–and now.
Nicholas Campion in his Book of World Horoscopes, pages 230-232, quotes Salman Rushdie from Step Across the Line (London: Vintage 2003, p. 429). “Citing an uncle who was ASDC to Field Marshall Claude Auchinlech, Rushdie wrote:
“‘Midnight 13-14 August 1947: the partition of the Indian subcontinent, and the creation of the new state of Pakistan, took place exactly twenty-four hours before the independence of the rest of the former British colony. India’s moment of freedom was delayed on the advice of astrologers, who told Jawarhalal Nehru [the future Indian prime minister] that the earlier date was star-crossed, and delay would allow the birth to take place under a more auspicious midnight sky. Astrology has its limitations, however, and the creation of the new frontier ensure that the birth of both was hard and bloody.’
“The story, though, appears to be apocryphal. All contemporary accounts place Pakistani independence at the same moment as Indian, 00.01 hrs on 15 August, and, according to Indian astrologers, Nehru, being a moderniser and westerniser, disapproved of astrology.”
Although the story, he says, “appears” to be apocryphal, a Pakistani friend some years ago–born, raised and schooled in Pakistan–pointed me to a YouTube that was subsequently removed sometime after that. I can’t prove it was there, but I heard it and listened carefully several times to the time indicated in a radio broadcast of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan and first governor-general of the new nation, speaking to the people already celebrating at the announced time of 11:30 PM. The date was August 13, 1947. While I have not missed the following sentence, “The independent state of Pakistan that Jinnah had envisioned came to be on August 14, 1947,” and in fact I’m well aware that this is the date in which independence is celebrated there, even with that YouTube no longer within my reach to prove it, I cannot and will not ignore the 11:30 PM time especially when it has worked so accurately for me all these years.
Revisiting the Wee Hours of May 2, 2011, Abbottabad, Pakistan
In light of my work on the Undecaquartisextile (UQSXT) series, I’m doing a quick revisit to tie this together as a type of confirmation of the rest of the story. Details like these are also important.
The natal Mercury-Ascendant conjunction forms an UQSXT to Solar Return Neptune, but the natal Moon semisextile to the 1st house natal Venus-Saturn-Pluto stellium forms a Blooming UQSXT to the natal Midheaven, offering a glimpse into the dynamics of the nation itself. While here, it points to this angular tension, there’s angular tension with these same points in the natal chart.
Because of the length of this article, I’m not going to go back to insert partile notes into the original text in part 1. For students, anything 59 minutes of orb or less in an aspect is considered partile.
According to Astrodatabank, “Bin Laden was killed in the early morning hours of May 2, 2011 (local time) in a targeted military assault by US forces on a compound in which he had been living in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The BBC reported “It happened at some time between 0000 and 0130 local time on Monday morning (Sunday 1900-2030 GMT)” and the New York Times gave an estimated time of death of 4-4:30 PM EDT on May 1, 2011 (1:00 – 1:30 AM on May 2).” As a result, I’ve taken the midpoint for the range of time to see what aspects were in play. Astrodatabank also used 1:15 AM in Abbottabad, Pakistan as the approximate time of the assassination.
I actually wasn’t surprised to note the Undecaquartisextile (165°) between the Sun and the Midheaven, but then things began to get extremely complex.
I sat here for a while, considering what I was seeing in the assassination chart and decided I might actually be looking now at something of a mirror that was causing me to miss a sequence: The Sun and Venus formed a semisextile in this chart with the midpoint falling at 27 Aries 01. Of course the opposition to that is 27 Libra 01, which semisextiles the Midheaven. But 27 Libra 01 doesn’t appear to be present with any significant points in the chart. However, consider the complexity of the military operation that night in which Osama bin Laden was assassinated. Now I’m not saying we can forecast based on this, rather we can certainly see the complexity itself in this act. Take note that Saturn is most likely a singleton in the 8th house, and it also rules the chart in its role as a co-ruler of Aquarius. Certainly, the element of surprise was present that night, and no one had a chance to do a thing: the stealth operation was clear and present and conducted with what appears to have been the utmost efficiency. A strong Eastern 1st quadrant dominance–with 8 planetary bodies including the Sun and the Moon (luminaries) fell below-the-horizon. No one knew they were coming until the attack was fully underway.
When we consider the roles that the antiscia can play in the chart and even the midpoints as they come into sight, the sensitivity points often stand out as worthy of consideration. Such thoughts come to mind now as I look at this chart. On its own, certainly this chart shows a nearly single-minded approach, but Saturn also opposes Venus and Mercury in that massive interplay of planets intercepted in the 2nd house. For me, I see interceptions as highly important. But the question of time remains here, so I didn’t consider that at all. Do I think the interceptions were in action here? Yes, but I won’t stand firmly on that without a precise time.
Nevertheless, take note of the Sun/Venus semisextile and the Sun forming an Undecaquartisextile to the Midheaven. Now keeping in mind that we don’t know whether this is a firm point, I’m going to move on although it seems relevant. On the other hand, what comes strongly into play, regardless of what time between 1:00 am and 1:30 am in Pakistan falls at the Uranus-Neptune semisextile, the midpoint of which is 16 Pisces 43. That midpoint by antiscion falls at 13 Libra 17, forming 1°25 partile conjunction to Saturn in 22-minute partile opposition to VE and 2°24 opposition to Mercury.
Astrology is a matter of geometric patterns. Each can weave a tale that points to any number of stories. But in this one that began when thousands died on September 11, 2001, it captured the world’s attention at least for this chapter in world history. While we can’t be sure of the actual placement of the Midheaven, the Sun forms a Resonant UQSXT to the Venus-Sun midpoint opposition at 27 Libra 01, which just happens to oppose the Moon while also forming a possible semisextile to the Midheaven. Complex? Of course! But then that was the plan from the beginning, wasn’t it? It was all unexpected–from that day in 2001, ironically the anniversary of Jinnah’s death, to the wee hours of the morning that Osama bin Laden took his last breath.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNiD9M59FQE