Mumbai, India
Somewhere in the Sunday night blur of news on the October 1 Las Vegas attack, I heard a reporter make a one-time reference to the 2008 nights of terror in Mumbai. Perhaps the reference didn’t connect with others. For me, it stood out above all the rest even though I don’t even remember which reporter saw the link between the Mumbai tragedy that began on November 26, 2008 and the Las Vegas massacre. The reference to Mumbai seemed almost like a comma in the mindboggling string of commentary running end to end, nonstop, in a drone of buzzing voices trying to make sense of the chaos in Las Vegas. That one sentence–the link between Mumbai and Las Vegas–made sense to me.
Yet the situations, the perpetrators and the numbers of dead and dying were starkly unalike: Mumbai had 10 foreign terrorists, 161 deaths, and no numbers in various states of wounding; Las Vegas had one domestic terrorist at one hotel, 59 deaths (some reports have indicated 58 after their earlier reports said 59), and between 500 and 527 wounded (again, this number changed as well since some were apparently counted twice: It was at least 500.). Two hotels were involved in Mumbai. I had only remembered the Taj Hotel because that was the one taking the spotlight from its vantage point overlooking the waterway that leads to the Gateway of India, standing perpendicular to the stunning and romantic edifice offered by the Taj. It wasn’t hard for me to fall in love with the view as I stood before these two creations–and as I looked ahead from the boat on which my friend Madhuri and I were nearing the harbor in November 2013.
It seems almost surrealistic to speak of Mumbai nine years after; but the more I’ve looked back at the charts from then and compared them to now, the more I’ve considered the eclipses as well as the planetary movements from then to now, the more intrigued I’ve become.
I guess I look at life in patterns. Some years back, I played word games online where you find as many words as you can in a longer one while you race against the clock. People said my lists differed from others’ lists because others found rhyming words. I never did. I thought in terms of prefixes and suffixes–and -ing or -ed words. I thought in terms of root words and built. I do similar things with telephone numbers and, yes, with astrology. I believe these patterned thought processes have also helped me to see the links in what otherwise might seem unlinkable. This is where Las Vegas and Mumbai come in.
Solar Returns
Still early in my developing habit of looking at the Solar Returns for India and Pakistan (and yes, I’m overdue this year; it’s still coming), I drew up the new Solar Return for India in August 2008. The 9th house was rising, and I prepared to consider how the components of the chart came together as it began to tell me the story of the year to come. Neither an Eastern nor Western hemispheric dominance, but the 3rd quadrant above-the-horizon stood out quite strongly.
India’s SR 2008 inside, 9th house rising; natal outside
The natal Moon moved to the SR 7th house cusp, just barely out of partile aspect and coming in with an orb of 1°10′ while forming a 9-minute partile conjunction to the SR Ceres, a point that can be highly significant. I like how Rob Tillett explains about Ceres. Since I sense she’s that important, I’ll reference a bit of what he says. I tend to see Ceres as the nurturing mother, which reflects the relationship I sensed between India and Ceres when I was there four years ago. Rob writes, “Astrologically, Ceres describes the ways in which we face the issues of self-worth and self-esteem, relationships to our parents and children, attachment, dependency, loss, separation, rejection, grief, sharing, work and productivity,” and its 6th and 7th house presence (I tend to see it as the 7th but it could also relate to Ceres’ presence in the 6th house in this chart since it relates to health,habits, coworkers, and service. In a hotel, all of these factors will develop increased importance. But Ceres is on that 7th house cusp, so the relationships themselves take on nuances that might not ordinarily be there. We also think of the 7th house as the house of open enemies. Surely where a siege such as this takes place, it will have the publicity and enough tension to keep focus on the event itself. Events like these would generally have a cause that might suffice as the need and motivation.)
I’m going to point this out in a step by step fashion since the tri- and quad-wheels fail to show some of the components I wanted to show in this view. SR Ceres doesn’t show in the tri- and quad-wheels, for instance, and yet Ceres holds an important role as you see it forming the 9-minute partile conjunction to the natal Moon and the 1°01 conjunction to the 7th house cusp . But that’s not all! Take note that the natal Moon at 27 Cancer 06 forms a single Undecaquartisextile (165°) to the SR Moon while it forms a second single Undecaquartisextile (UQSXT) to the Jupiter side of the SR Moon-Jupiter conjunction. But the SR Moon-Jupiter 12th house conjunction forms a semisextile (30°) to the natal Midheaven in the biwheel, forming a Blooming Undecaquartisextile at 28 Cancer 25’30”, a 9’30” partile conjunction to the 7th house cusp, the 1°10’30” orb of conjunction to Ceres and the 1°19’30” orb to the natal Moon!
Thirty degrees is standard for the semisextile and is usually considered within an orb of 1°; but when we’re considering the 165° undecaquartisextile (UQSXT) series, we need to find the midpoint, which offers additional flexibility. At the same time intercepted SR Chiron and Uranus form a wide semisextile (3°24′ orb), the midpoint resolves to 5 Virgo 07, concluding in a Blooming Undecaquartisextile with a 22-minute partile conjunction to SR Mercury at the 8th house cusp. Mercury additionally represents the first planet in a three-planet stellium of Mercury, Venus and Saturn, the latter two of which are tightly knit in a 14-minute partile conjunction. For me, this stellium heightens the impact of this UQSXT pattern at that placement of Mercury. This particular attack on Mumbai back then wasn’t just about taking the money and running from India’s financial district.. After all, out of the ten attackers, only one survived the siege itself, and he was executed when all was said and done. They gained nothing if it was about money.
I’d be more inclined to say the attack was an effort to make a statement about India’s vulnerabilities or what they saw as a lack of power–not to mention the obvious, of course, in their beliefs as well that they could actually hurt India perhaps even more than they did back then. They had no intention of letting anyone out alive. Pay especial close attention to the Resonant Blooming Undecaquartisextile falling in a 59-minute partile conjunction to the IC. I suppose one might call this a Blooming Undecaquartisextile, but I’ve opted for the Resonant side since that’s totally dependent on the calculation of that IC. Here is where we see the effort to wound through the nation’s vulnerabilities. The Vertex offers the “fated, destined” perspective as it forms the semisextile to the South Node and resolves at 13 Taurus 38.
That the attack on Mumbai could have become catastrophic might as well go without saying: Not only was the Sun still involved in a SR opposition from the interception of Chiron (and its 9-minute partile conjunction to the North Node in Aquarius), Neptune was also involved in the interception and opposed to the Sun, and all of these bodies were forming an approaching square to the nation’s North Node at 28 Taurus. From the perspective of the interceptions, it almost seems a bit too far. But the Sun carries that wider orb, easily encompassing the nation’s North Node as it lies positioned in the 4th (terminal) house in close conjunction to the natal Ascendant. Returns and the natal charts work together to determine if there’s enough oomph to create the energy for an event. The emphasis from the interception, the natal Sun in its return and the natal Nodes lent that dynamic to create the deadly nights and days that followed.
As if these factors weren’t yet enough, there was still more to see in the charts. Take note of the SR 2nd house placement of Uranus in its 4°26′ orb of opposition to SR Mars still in the 8th house, and still more, pay close attention to the placement of Pluto within orb of the 12th house and still retrograde at the time of the Solar Return in opposition by a 1°54′ orb to natal Mars and within orb of the 6th house! Now I’ll add here that I’ve never been known as one of the Doomsday astrologers–those who like to point fingers and potentially cry out like Chicken Little, “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!” And it’s especially not been my nature to do so even with a hard aspect of Mars and Pluto in the chart. But this chart in particular carried the kinds of foreboding that demanded the concern I still remember after all these years when I reached out to a friend in Delhi weeks before and expressed my worry for Mumbai in particular. As a result, I wrote the strong urging for friends in Mumbai to be especially alert during those three days because I was extremely nervous about it.
Of course it didn’t matter that I warned. While those I knew were safe, many many others weren’t, and the tale was being told in these charts.
A quick look now at the tri-wheel so you can see as I did. But again, the tri-wheel does not show exactly how the biwheel shows, and you’ll probably have to refer to the biwheel throughout this next part.
India – SR 2008, 9th house rising inside, natal middle, national NM outside
The tri-wheel has one additional wheel on the outside as it includes the New Moon for India with its base in New Delhi. Because I was working with the national chart, I needed to be consistent. I had no charts for Mumbai in particular and am not sure I would have seen more clearly than I did here. Take note of the New Moon as it fell on the nation on the night of the 27th of November, roughly 24 hours after the start of the siege. See the tight 32-minute partile orb that developed between the Sun and Neptune opposition on the night of the 27th and the fixed T-square as it formed with the natal placement of Jupiter, enclosing these three placements within less than 3° total. Meanwhile, the New Moon also revealed the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Mars stellium in the 10th house, all in square to Solar Return Mercury which sat still within a 20-minute partile to the Sun and the Moon. Making matters focused even more on the Sun-Moon opposition between the nation’s Sun and the New Moon’s placement of Neptune now a Blooming Undecaquartisextile had formed in the 1°19′ semisextile between natal Mercury and that SR Mercury at the 8th house cusp which resolved in a stunning 21 Aquarius 08’30” conjunction to Neptune with a mere 1 minute, 30 second orb in opposition the Sun!
I honestly don’t remember what made me suspect the city in danger was going to be Mumbai at that time, but as I look at the New Moon (NM) now and see the NM Ascendant at 14 Leo 39 (for New Delhi at 10:24:35 PM), forming a perfected conjunction to the Part of Fortune, I suppose that could have been enough to trigger my suspicions. See how Pluto in the New Moon on the 27th had made ingress to Capricorn earlier in the day (6:32:59 AM), forming a 34-minute partile opposition to the natal Mars. At the same time, see how the NM brought in the additional dynamic of Saturn now in opposition to Uranus which had moved to stationary direct at 9:38:34 PM on the 27th.
Lunar Returns
And finally, a quick look at the Lunar Return (LR) for India, timed for 9:45:42 PM on the 17th of November 2008, showing an Ascendant of 27 Cancer 58, forming a 52-minute partile conjunction to the natal Moon before I move on to placing this in the quad-wheel. Notice how the Western dominance comes into play now with eight basic planetary placements move forward, six of which fall in the 2nd quadrant, offering a clear below-the-horizon emphasis. Putting it mildly, for me, this resembled something along the lines of a sitting duck status.
India – LR Nov 17, 2008 – 3rd house rising inside, natal outside
At last, the quad-wheel:
Inner wheel – SR 2008, inner middle – India natal, outer middle – New Moon Nov 27, 2008, outside wheel – LR Nov 17, 2008
Of course what makes the LR so significant here is the nearly identical placement by opposition to the SR Ascendant with a mere orb of 17 minutes in opposition! India’s natal Ascendant isn’t shown in the inner middle wheel. That’s at 00 Gemini 53, a mere 4 minutes in opposition to the Lunar Return placement of Mars on the natal chart! The LR also shows Mercury now conjunct the nation’s Jupiter (2°03′) and in a 4-minute partile square to the nation’s Sun, again emphasizing that fixed T-square.
Please understand, dear reader, I’m not proposing that we could always stop such nightmares from taking place–and that’s true whether we’re speaking of Mumbai or Las Vegas or any other city somewhere in the world. The pieces don’t always come together like this. But the more we work to achieve such detail, the more we see these pieces coming together like this and might consider whether we have options
As I said in the beginning of this article, I wanted to see whether there might have been an astrological link between the November 26-28, 2008 attack on Mumbai’s Taj Hotel (main location) and the October 1, 2017 attack on Las Vegas. I have long held the belief that the extraterrestrial (outer) planets increase energy on events we can observe coming to pass. Now don’t take my word for this. Do your homework and find out for yourself. Aside from my simply having learned that way in the beginning of my astrological studies, our questioning and doing the legwork to dig further on whether something is indeed a fact at the time we learn it ultimately makes us better researchers, better scholars, better astrologers. The more I watch the timings of these events, the more I am convinced the Moon is the trigger. However, I will stop myself just shy of making that a flat declaration since there might always be a “but…” or a “whoops” moment where one could have neglected to notice one more point in these basics.
Approaching the Solar and Lunar Returns
Does that mean I’d opt for the more “nuanced” approach to astrology? I suppose much of my work can be said to be “nuanced” but I still generally focus more on the basics because I truly don’t believe we have discovered everything we can and should be able to see in the basics. It’s why I work so hard with dominances and the undecaquartisextile patterns. This field we call astrology is simultaneously bold and subtle, in your face and just hidden from the naked eye. And while I wouldn’t presume to liken my work or knowledge to that of a doctor or an astrophysicist with however long that strand of Ph.D’s and other credentials might be, I feel we owe it to ourselves and those who question what we do, to demand that rigor in our work. For me, the focus is or should be on the next moment–no, not like the crystal ball but yes like the examination of the moment we might call precognitively spotted. I will fall short in calling that predictive. One still must use the place where the event will occur or one believes will occur, or it’s not predicted at all and then becomes another missed effort to do so. But then I’m really not the one to call things “predicted.” Prediction, as I’ve repeatedly said through the years, is “fated” in my opinion. I prefer to see this as forecasting, therefore allowing the natural sequence of events including that elusive but ever present H.E., the Human Element, to appear as the unseen variable factor.
At first, I had thought I’d bring up the charts sequentially, from the state to the city. But I discovered the attacks on Mumbai first with India’s Solar Return, so I’ll start with the Powell chart for the USA, the chart I’ve preferred to use in recent months because it seems to work well with events when I’ve been using it. (Of course the greatest challenge for me with this particular chart will come around December 3 through the 7th, a period for which I’ve made a forecast.)
USA – Powell chart
The terminal fourth house rises in the Powell chart’s Solar Return. While that can indicate an air of finality, it’s also an angular house and needs to be understood as a time of challenge, change, perhaps one or more momentous, or dramatic, events. Whether these will occur to or because of the native (or nation), that can’t be determined until we place the Solar Return chart on the inside of the biwheel so it’s actually rising after we see into which natal house the SR Ascendant falls. The importance of this single act becomes even more critical when we see the differences in action. First, let me show you the Powell SR biwheel with the natal on the inside and the 2017 SR outside.
Note the tight aspects in this chart with Uranus forming a 1°33′ conjunction to the IC from the 3rd house side to the SR Ascendant falling in the fourth, still a mere 2°06′ from the IC and a 15-minute partile conjunction to Pallas Athene. Of course there’s also no mistaking this chart with natal and transiting Pluto in the first house as well as our being aware that the natal Moon is still within 3°03′ orb of the Pluto Rx transit. It’s not hard to miss the massively emotional power tripping that’s gone on throughout the country already this year. This alone makes the chart well worth considering. The Moon, of course, also points to this having been the day when the Full Moon–the next step to the Colonies having made the decision to come together in a more formal setting. It was just a matter of taking the vote. The die, so to speak, had already been cast.
SR 2017 inside with 4th house rising, Powell chart outside
Before I actually work on the Solar Return in terms of the attack, I’ll remind you to be aware of the 28th of September when Pluto moved to stationary direct at 16 Capricorn 51, within 1°35′ orb of the Powell natal Moon. The relationship becomes even clearer when Powell is placed in the outer ring of the biwheel. Here, you see the natal Moon forming a 2°31′ conjunction to the MC from inside the 9th house, the SR Part of Fortune forming an 18-minute partile conjunction to the MC which is then followed closely behind by transiting Pluto Rx with a 32-minute partile conjunction to the MC. It’s important now to remember this is the Powell chart representing the nation and therefore would and should be considered in the national context and not strictly in relation to Las Vegas. There are, however, points of which we can and should be aware.
Clarifying about the Powell chart
At this point in my examining the Powell chart as it related to the Solar Return, I asked Gary Lorentzen, who majored in history and initially had presented the Powell chart, for a little clarification. I wanted to know whether there was any possibility of the chart being off by as much as an hour. “The time is documented in the record of the proceedings as 7 pm when they started the vote,” he said. Realizing it takes a few minutes for everyone to vote and then to confirm the result officially, I assume the time is sometime within 10 minutes after 7.”
This led to my following up with asking whether he recalled anything going on in early October that would have indicated a distinct thrust away from Hillary (Clinton) toward the GOP candidate. I felt like we might be missing something around then and said I could toy with the date but I was seeing signs from converse progressions with the Solar Return that made me suspect this and noted that I could test this to see the trigger point and be able to refine it to within 24 hours of anything related to the elections. (Remember, this is related to national issues and not to Las Vegas issues.)
Timings, with help from the Anthony Weiner headlines
The missing link appears to have been when an article had appeared in the British newspaper, The Daily Mail on September 21, 2016. The New York Times reported a month later with key moments in what would be called Weiner’s downfall. Federal authorities in New York followed up with a subpoena for records related to allergations of Weiner’s having exchanged sexually explicit messages with a minor. This turn of events, weeks after his wife and he had separated and months of intense investigation proved to be the key point in sending the Democratic presidential contender’s campaign down that path to the end of her campaign.
I won’t bother adding one or two more charts here for a one-sentence explanation of each. It seems a bit like overkill to do at this point when I still have more important charts to bring up, and the reference ot the Anthony Weiner scandal bringing the Clinton campaign to its knees was simply as a matter of confirming the natal with the SR chart for 2017. In a nutshell, the Lunar Return for the Powell chart on September 11, 2016 with the 12th house rising. (Secrets revealed?) One week into that LR, September 18, the MC (had advanced to 1 Scorpio 31, conjunct the Powell chart’s MC at 29 Libra 40). By the 21st of September, the LR Midheaven–still in Mars- and Pluto-ruled Scorpio–had moved to tight orb in square to the Powell chart’s natal Vertex. British newspapers had dropped the bombshell on the reading public in the UK and in the USA.
Anthony Weiner headlines and the Powell chart’s Lunar Returns
Powell LR 12th house rising inside, natal outside
The Eastern first quadrant dominance in the chart with an even balance between the above- and below-the-horizon regions gives me a feeling of the United States having become fair game, in part because of that “me first, isolationist” focus in parts of the campaign trail. But at the heart of this, Anthony Weiner–as the husband of Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s chief aide–had been the catalyst in what might have been two ways: Not only was he being investigated for this scandal with repeated sexting and the potential links to Hillary Clinton’s emails, his own scandal may have taken some of the edge off the future occupant of the Oval Office, putting more focus on Hillary (whether or not the facts were fully vetted by then) than on the GOP candidate.
The timing was unmistakeable. In the Powell chart (the outer wheel), you’ll note the natal Sun (7th house) and Mars (52-minute partile conjunction to the 7th house cusp) have established a mutual conjunction by antiscia. Now, in the Lunar Return chart, we were looking at Mars conjunct the Ascendant in square to the Sun-Mercury conjunction with the emphasis on the 46-minute partile square moving into place between the Sun and Mars. An angular Mutable T-square between the natal chart and the Lunar Return has also formed. While the opposition from the Sun to Neptune is wide in the Lunar Return, however, I’d call it a Grand Cross since the LR Sun-Mercury 9th house conjunction is also conjunct the Powell chart’s natal Neptune. Some will prefer to acknowledge Chiron’s presence in that fourth position in opposition to natal Neptune, and I won’t reject that thought either. It’s just that LR Neptune at its conjunction to the South Node offers more for some to consider as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6I8okjd6ug
What would you do
If it all came back to you?
Each crest of each wave
Bright as lightning
What would you say
If you had to leave today?
Leave everything behind
Even though for once, you’re shining
Standing on higher ground
When you hear the sounds
You realize its just the wind
And you notice it matters who and what you let under your skin
If put to the test
Would you step back from the line of fire?
Hold everything back
All emotion set aside it
Convince yourself
Someone else
Hide from the world
Your lack of confidence
What you choose to believe in
Takes you as you fall
Takes you as you fall
No one else around you
No one to understand you
No one to hear your calls
Look through all your dark corners
You’re backed up against the wall
Step back from the line of fire
What would you do
If it all came back to you?
Each crest of each wave
Bright as lightning
Do the same as you
What you choose to believe in
Takes you as you fall
No one else around you
No one to understand you
No one to hear your calls
Look through all your dark corners
You’re backed up against the wall
Step back from the line of fire
©Songs Music Publishing
Meanwhile, the Lunar Return’s Peeling of Life’s Onion with the 5-minute partile square between 12th house Saturn and 3rd house Neptune can now be seen. Additionally, Saturn forms an opposition to natal Uranus, which establishes not only a Mutable T-square (if you choose to see this as two individual T-squares) but also forms a square to the transiting Nodes and Neptune, warning perhaps of events sure to follow.
The Cardinal Grand Cross can also be seen between the Powell chart’s natal Full Moon conjunction to SR Pluto (a 17-minute partile conjunction between Pluto and the Powell Moon in the 1st house) in square to LR Venus (partile to the Moon and LR Pluto) and natal Saturn also still forming partile aspects from its conjunction to the LR Venus.
Even in 2016, Uranus Rx (23 Aries 46) and Chiron Rx (23 Pisces 05) appeared to be holding a fairly consistent semisextile, and this Lunar Return made this a stunning point to consider with the resolution point in a Blooming Undecaquartisextile forming a 36-minute partile conjunction to the Midheaven. Simply put, there was no way this impact wouldn’t have been felt at many levels internationally as well as nationally. This might have been another shot heard “’round the world”, only this time the news had come from the British news instead of Paul Revere’s voice as he rode through the streets on his horse. crying “The British are coming! The British are coming!” Some might find the parallel a bit of a stretch, but consider this: When Paul Revere rode, the United States were in the midst of battles in Lexington, and it marked the rebellion of the colonies. There was no president in office yet since the nation hadn’t yet formed. In contrast, the 2016 election did represent another kind of rebellion of sorts–that of people wanting a shift away from the status quo.
Timings: The Powell Solar and Lunar Returns Related to the Weiner News
Please remember, dear reader, the focus I’ve made on the Powell chart for 2016 was strictly related to the 2017 Solar Return chart as I retraced steps back to 2016 to be sure the timing was true to form. It may seem like a bit of wasted energy but it validates the usage of the chart based on these timings. Even though it’s not directly connected to the Las Vegas shootings since the Powell chart and the Solar or Lunar Return charts we use may reveal any number of these events, the timing points to the dramatic shift at that period leading into the last months of the election. I seem to recall events in August of 2016 appearing to look like the future president’s campaign was about to implode. Unfortunately, this is where any one of us might fall prey to our own emotional investment in these charts. Perhaps that campaign would have imploded; but the Anthony Weiner scandal had the equivalent of total upheaval in ways nobody would have expected–at least not until one saw the Solar Return’s Moon-Uranus opposition at the Prime Meridian in square to the Powell chart’s Full Moon sitting on the horizon. (I’m repeating the chart here for your convenience.)
Powell inside, SR 2017 outside
Nevada and the Solar Return
Moving on, here’s the Nevada chart with the natal inside and SR outside, pointing to Jupiter’s 35-minute partile conjuncting rise to the natal MC prior to the new SR which would take place a month after the assault on Las Vegas. Note natal Mercury which will form a 6-minute partile conjunction to the SR MC on the 31st. I wonder whether we’ll be seeing an update in the shootings investigation at that time.
Nevada inside, SR 2017 outside
Nevada and the Lunar Return
Nevada natal inside, LR Sept 24, 2017 outside
Next, take note of the state’s September 24, 2017 Lunar Return with the LR Ascendant falling in the natal 7th house, while the natal MC falls in 21-minute partile opposition to natal Pluto. To be sure, the state of Nevada is one where transformations of all kinds take place, and 2017 and most likely 2018 as well, would appear to be the year(s) in which many more transformations may well be the focus for some time to come.
LR Sept 24, 2017 inside, Nevada outside
The 7th house rises in the last Lunar Return before the attack with five bodies placed in the 1st quadrant and 8 below-the horizon. Although the emphasis between the Eastern and the Western hemispheres is split, I’m inclined to say the Eastern hemisphere has a bit more weight than the West since the emphasis is completely on that first quadrant. From where I’m sitting, however, this seems to imply the recognition at the state level that Nevada generally appeared to have a goal of working closely together, cooperating on a completely interdependent level which certainly could have been likely with the amount of activity that followed. On any given day, of course, the state of Nevada–whether we’re speaking about Las Vegas and the amounts of cash changing hands, Reno from what might be considered a conflict-oriented “quickie divorce” spot, or the daily lives of the average citizen just trying to survive in his/her world from the (Las Vegas) Strip to the slopes at Lake Tahoe–appears to be actively involved in its affairs at all levels. But then, I have to add I’ve never been there, and perhaps looks can be deceiving. I don’t think I’m seeing it wrong. While many of us might not understand all of the dynamics of the state, natal Neptune in the 2nd house points us to the biggest illusions–the money, what it can buy and what it won’t, who has the money and even the values some may find less appealing than they’d like.
It’s not my intention to give a positive or negative assessment of Nevada, merely to set the stage based on that first quadrant below-the-horizon dominance. As I write, a saying comes to mind: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” A little mental nudge suddenly hit me, and I decided to search. Apparently it’s a marketing buzzword. Who would have guessed?
Nevada Solar and Lunar Returns
The 4th house Moon-5th house Saturn semisextile resolves at 10th house 26 Taurus 24 in a Resonant Blooming Undecaquartisextile. But the resolution point then forms a semisextile (1°07′ orb) to Uranus, establishing a 44-minute partile Blooming Undecaquartisextile to the natal MC (4th house in the SR) in 23-minute partile opposition to natal Pluto! Meanwhile, the SR Chiron-Uranus semisextile resolves at 11 LI 55, which establishes a subsequent undecaquartisextile pattern formed from the two resolution points (11 Scorpio 58 and the 11 Libra 55), pointing to the placement of Uranus in opposition to Jupiter as a particularly hot spot. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised however, since the 26 Taurus 24 Resonant Blooming Undecaquartisextile resolution point forms a 5-minute partile sextile to Chiron, and the these two sensitive points then direct us to what should or would be the pointer we consider in the yod. In this case, the Jupiter-Uranus opposition creates a Boomerang Yod. No wonder, really: We’ve already seen the complexities that are here!
On its own, a yod is challenging. We need to learn to work with the individual quincunxes within the yod rather than taking the easy way out through the sextile. When presented with a transiting opposition that imposes itself on the natal yod, for example, we could end up with quite a mess as we find ourselves caught up in the boomerang and overwhelmed with what comes next. In the case of events in Nevada, this kind of yod had restablished the bonds to the natal Pluto 21-minute opposition to the natal MC, followed by the square to the horizon. As if that weren’t enough, note that the state’s natal Moon at 20 Scorpio 55, squares the Lunar Return North Node in the 1st house, another warning sign that trouble appeared like it would be happening in the coming month.
Conversations
At this point, I need to weave in two conversations I had with John Davenport, only one of which we had while I was writing this article. I was about to move into the City of Las Vegas charts and had one piece of the puzzle I was still missing with the Nevada chart and its Lunar Return before the attack. I saw the pieces, but this was a bit like one gets when one is cramming for a tough exam in school and realizes the hours have passed so long, the eyes have become bleary.
“Did I give you the LR for Nevada, John?”No, he didn’t believe I had. I shared the last chart I had here along with the last two paragraphs (the yod paragraph and the one before) and added, the following quick notes which I knew he’d understand:
“6 TAU 54 —> 1 Oct +22°30 = 28 TAU 84 = 29 TAU 24
ASC-MA ssx resolves at 28 AQ 54″
“I must be talking about that LR ASC and LR Mars resolving at 28 AQ 54, which would be falling in square to the progressed MC on the 1st of October,” I said.
True to form, that triggered something for John that immediately cleared up my bleary eyes:
“OMG! And the Ju/Sa midpoint is around 28 Scorpio right now, and the antiscion of the node has been passing over that Taurus degree area. I would have to set the solar eclipse that Nevada came into being.” John was speaking, of course, about the last Solar Eclipse before Nevada achieved statehood. I mentioned natal Pluto’s 21-minute partile conjunction to the state’s IC, which I found a bit interesting, given the legendary history of the mob in Las Vegas. John agreed and said he wanted to see the angles of the Solar Eclipse chart.
I went in search of the date and time and couldn’t believe my eyes: The last Solar Eclipse prior to Nevada’s being granted statehood fell the day before, October 30, 1864! I could just imagine the amusement on his face at this point as he asked me to cast the chart. For now, I won’t share more of the discussion yet, but I’ll share the triple wheel with you:
Lunar Return Sept 24, 2017 inside, Nevada statehood chart middle, Oct. 30, 1864 Solar Eclipse outside
Here was the tie-in moment I was seeking! By now, John was as amazed as I was. “OMG! The sensitivity of last year’s eclipses across Jupiter/Chiron, and we still have the eclipse in February,” he said.
“I was just thinking we might not have seen it if I hadn’t done that ASC-MA to 28 AQ Resonant Blooming UQSXT [students, 165°, undecaquartisextile] and then the progression of the September 24 state chart’s LR.”
“Nodes are at the antiscion of this eclipse as well. Brings it all together,” John said. I made the triwheel above at this point. “That is just phenomenal! The way that the Moon of Nevada picks up the eclipse ascendant, and the Nodes of the LR grab the Vx [Vertex] of Nevada at the antiscion of the eclipse.” I laughed and told hiim to try to say now with a straight face how there are no coincidences.
It bears saying here that sometimes we can ferret out these tidbits when we’re cooperatively working with a colleague we trust. I definitely felt the need to get pulled back into the structure because there were so many related charts to this sole event, I felt overwhelmed. John bid me a good night. After quickly checking Facebook memories for a quick post, I was about to plunge back into this article when I spotted the following post in response to my analysis of the attack on the police academy in Quetta, Pakistan. It fit all of the reasons why we were collaborating on this article tonight, but the date? October 25, 2016:
John had posted the following in the comments below the analysis: “Michelle, I remember only too well our conversations before you wrote this. Three days is nothing compared to the research and complexity of your conclusions. I also know from experience that sometimes we will come up with the ‘final arrangements’ in such circumstances. Well done, and I wish that sometimes our conversations could be used to show some of the processes that are involved in the conclusions that working astrologers come to; GREAT work indeed.” John, I’d say tonight was the night for your wish to have come true!
Las Vegas, Solar and Lunar Returns, the Shooter and the Attack
By October 1, 2017, the September 24, 2017 Lunar Return MC had progressed to 29 Taurus 24, in a 30-minute partile square to the Ascendant-Mars semisextile which resolved in the Resonant Blooming Undecaquartisextile at 28 Aquarius 54–in the 7th house–and in a 1-minute partile square to the 1864 Solar Eclipse of October 30 Midheaven (29 Leo 23)! At the same time, please remember, dear reader, the last Solar Eclipse before October 1 this year fell on August 21 at 28 Leo 53!
I’ll add the Las Vegas chart to the outside of the state chart here because of the additional correlations that may pique the interest of some as well.
Nevada inside, Las Vegas outside
There really is little need to linger on the synastry of these two charts. You can fill in additional pieces from the state Lunar Return. For me, the most important reason I wanted to share this duo with you lies in your ability to see the 19 Capricorn 35 Ascendant for the state chart while Las Vegas offers the Venus-Neptune conjunction in Cancer in the outer wheel (it falls in the 11th house–hopes and dreams–in the city chart) with Neptune forming a 12-minute partile conjunction to the 7th house of the state chart. I also found the reversed Nodes a point of interest. We see this in the charts of parents and children.
Since I just mentioned the state’s 19 Capricorn 35 rising, I would imagine it’s pretty easy for you to see Pluto at 19 Capricorn 01 in the 9th house. I progressed the SR chart to approximately October 1 and the progressed MC was now at 28 Capricorn 54, conjunct Uranus in Las Vegas’ natal chart. Surely there was no doubt that the attack on Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Festival was a complete surprise to everyone.
Let’s have a quick look now at the September 16, 2017 LR for Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Sept 16, 2017 LR inside, Las Vegas outside
We already know what took place and are retracing these charts to see the patterns as they were forming. This Lunar Return shows the 6th house rising. But take an additional look since natal Uranus Rx (29 Capricorn 02) falls in a 52-minute partile semisextile to the LR Ascendant (29 Aquarius 54) and the two resolve at 14 Leo 28, forming a Blooming Undecaquartisextile in the 6th house, conjunct the Las Vegas Moon. Here, we see the Western third quadrant above-the-horizon dominance, which became so evident two weeks later when people were running for cover in the midst of the mayhem that followed the gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel.
‘When the sins of my father
Weigh down in my soul
And the pain of my mother
Will not let me go
Well, I know there can come fire from the sky
To refine the purest of kings
Even though
I know this fire brings me pain
Even so
And, Lord, just the same
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
And the seed needs the water
Before it grows out of the ground
But it just keeps on getting hotter
And the hunger more profound
Well, I know there can come tears from their eyes
But they may as well be in vain
Even though
I know these tears will bring me pain
Even so
And, Lord, just the same
Oh, make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
The seas fill with water
Stops by the shore
Just like the riches of grandeur
Never reach the port
Let the clouds fill with thunderous applause
Oh, let lightning be the veins
Fill the sky
With all that they can drop
When it’s time
To make a change
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Oh, make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain down, Lord
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain
Make it rain down
Make it rain
Make it rain’
But the Ascendant forms a second (41-minute) partile semisextile, this one to the SR interception of natal Mars (29 Pisces 13), resolving at a Resonant Blooming Undecaquartisextile at 14 Virgo 34. The points for the semisextile formed by the 14 Leo 28 Blooming Undecaquartisextile and the Resonant Blooming Undecaquartisextile resolve at 29 Aquarius 31, in a 23-minute partile conjunction to the Las Vegas Lunar Return’s Ascendant.
By progressing the Lunar Return MC to October 1, we find the MC has progressed to 29 Capricorn (I didn’t try to calculate the minutes on this one because it’s already so finely tuned.), forming a clear conjunction to the Las Vegas chart’s natal Uranus. Enough? Perhaps, but it also bears noting that at the time the MC has progressed to this degree (27 Capricorn on the 30th of September), Uranus in the Lunar Return chart would have squared the LR Midheaven while Jupiter had square the MC from the opposition to LR Uranus. The Returns are triggered by the hard aspects forming additional hard aspects to the progressed LR MC.
natal Las Vegas inside, Rte 91 Harvest shootings middle, Stephen Clark Paddock outside
When we move the shootings chart to the middle wheel and Stephen Clark Paddock’s natal chart in the outer wheel of the tri-wheel to the Las Vegas natal chart, we can see the synastric triggers quite clearly from this angle as well: While the shootings chart shows the Venus-Mars conjunction on the Las Vegas chart’s Ascendant, take close look to Venus’ 24-minute partile square to the MC while Mars forms an 11-minute partile conjunction to the Las Vegas Ascendant. Meanwhile, Paddock’s Moon–in opposition to his Pluto–forms a 1°09′ orb of a conjunction to the shooting chart’s South Node (SN); his Pluto (conjunct the North Node) forms a 3-minute partile opposition to the Las Vegas chart’s Vertex. (Students, the Vertex is considered a “fate point.” Could it be that Las Vegas was his intended spot all along? It seems so!)
I can’t help but notice how the Venus-Neptune conjunction in the Las Vegas chart forms a conjunction to Paddock’s Ascendant, with Venus at a 18-minute partile conjunction to that placement. If Paddock had been a sailor, I’d have seen such a placement as the sirens beckoning irresistibly to him from afar. Take note that his Moon formed a 20-minute partile quincunx to his Ascendant. His Neptune, however, formed a 1-minute partile square to the Ascendant from inside the 4th house, bringing to mind the confusion that surrounded his upbringing–from the many moves from house to house, his father’s here today-gone tomorrow kind of presence in the home. All of this could have lent to his feeling much like the vagabond from his earliest childhood on. In fact, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination to say he could have been a wanderer whether he was at home or anywhere else because he most likely never felt like he had a home. Although his family knew of no political or religious ties, the 4th house placement of Neptune can imply an idealistic sense of home and religion. On the other hand, his Neptune Rx implies the possibility that his religious beliefs might not have been consistent with any kind of theological norms.
None of us will ever know for certain why Stephen Clark Paddock chose to kill so many on the night of October 1, 2017 before he took his own life. His new Lunar Return had taken place just hours before he began shooting from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. I looked at the Lunar Return to see whether I’d have a better indication of what made him choose that night, especially the night of a festival in which country music–said to have been his favorite music–was the event’s theme. The 9th house was rising in that last Lunar Return. In the one prior, it was his fourth house rising with a 13-minute partile conjunction to the IC. Frankly, it seemed more likely with the September 4 LR.
LR Sept 4, 2017 inside, Paddock outside
The Eastern 4th quadrant dominance with the Northern and Southern hemispheres evenly split points to the month as one in which he felt he was the commanding force, completely in control of events to follow. What seems particularly challenging for me to grasp is the LR Jupiter forming a 4-minute partile conjunction to the natal Neptune portion of the Neptune-Saturn conjunction from the 4th house. Clearly he did struggle with his childhood, but whether he was claiming to be focused on his potential belief that he was proclaiming himself a god, I fall shy of making such a statement. Jupiter’s next conjunction within days would have been to natal Saturn, when his actions might have been more conservative or somehow more responsible if only in his mind.
The Shooter
I suppose the most important thing here is for all of us to remember that these events were about his perceptions, his mind and he might have been less concerned about anyone else’s thoughts and perceptions. The Lunar Return, however, began with the transiting Sun-Neptune 36-minute partile opposition and, in his LR, this fell in the respective 12th and 6th houses. Were this a conjunction falling in the 12th, perhaps we would be able to see more clearly this idea of his thinking he was a god, but the 6th house involvement as well made me wonder whether something was going on with his health whether or not he was having a breakdown of any kind. He was taking an anti-anxiety drug called diazepam (brand name, Valium), but the New York Daily News reported, “Diazepam, a benzodiazepine, is normally used to sedate people, though studies have shown that it can also be associated with aggressive behavior.
“Columbia University researcher Dr. Michael First told the Review-Journal that it would more likely be associated with impulsive acts of violence than the intricate planning that went into Paddock’s killing.” But I’m wondering about the possibility that there had been a physical issue that hadn’t been explored by authorities if it were possible since the examination of such records would have been post mortem. On the 18th of September, the Midheaven would have fallen at 19 Leo 16, forming an tight but not yet partile approaching conjunction to Paddock’s natal Pluto in opposition to his Moon. (This is, however, a natal T-square with the arm coming in from natal Jupiter at 23 Taurus 14.) With the Moon in Leo on the morning of the 17th, however, it’s likely he had decided this period was to be the lead in to the events that followed on the night of the 1st of October. For me, the convincing evidence comes in with LR Jupiter conjunct the natal Neptune-Saturn conjunction that falls in the 4th house. In the Lunar Return, however, Pluto falls in the 4th, pointing to a likelihood of a rebellious, perhaps even hostile nature during that month.
Of course we can speculate about the various causes at this point, but it won’t bring the victims back to life. The only thing this part of the examination does do relates to aspects that might come into play in other major events like this. There’s certainly plenty to think about from this plethora of charts that have brought us to this point. If only it were so easy that we could just see the same aspects at the same degrees in the same signs arising for such events! But there are correlations:
Pluto made ingress to Capricorn when Mumbai was attacked while Uranus moved to Direct motion during that period. Pluto moved to Direct motion a few days before the Las Vegas attack. I will take some liberties, however, in saying the attack on Mumbai showed the Moon at 23 Scorpio in square to the Nodes in the Route 91 Harvest shootings at 23 Leo 26–and the Moon at 26 Aquarius 01. Enough? Not at all, but certainly enough to be able to excite the grey matter of some to go on a hunt like I have for the last several weeks.
I’ll let you ponder the rest for now. You may have some additional thoughts because no matter how much we examine, something else is sure to be found!
Until next time…
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.