Battle of Actium (September 2, 31 BC)

This final chapter of the Civil War between Mark Antony and Octavian, which was undertaken to rid the Roman world of the son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, took place off the coast of Western Greece. It looks like a fair fight, until you realize that most of Antony’s fleet comes directly from Cleopatra.

When she broke away to return to Egypt, thinking that Antony had been killed in battle, he followed her, deserting his soldiers. (The things we do for love.)

I let the timing of this chart be randomized. And yet there are two (connected) inconjuncts…

Moon Inconjunct Mercury

It may be hard for you to put your feelings into words, because your emotions are so different from your intellect. Of course, there is nothing really strange about your feelings, but that part of your mind is quite different from the reasoning part. In fact it would be very unfortunate if you decided to listen only to your reason, because your intuition and imagination, both of which are more related to the Moon, can be of great assistance to you. They can tell you much about the world that your reasoning mind cannot.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t allow your feelings to overrun your reason. The best thing to do whenever there seems to be a conflict between these two areas is to not make a decision immediately. Reflect and wait for further information that might help you make up your mind. As you get older, this problem should lessen considerably and you should be able to make decisions more and more rapidly.

Moon Inconjunct Neptune

This aspect indicates that you are very sensitive and that you pick up feelings from the people around you very easily. The danger is that many of these feelings will be difficult to cope with; they may make you afraid of the world and reluctant to go out into it, as you must do when you are older. As a result, you prefer to be alone with your thoughts and let your fancies wander wherever they want to go. When you are older, this may help you use your imagination very creatively, but it won’t help you work out your everyday problems. You must learn to sand on your own and no depend on others. You also have to learn that you are worth as much as anyone else, for you may tend to withdraw when someone acts aggressive. Above all, you must not be made to feel incompetent or inadequate, or you will think of yourself as a loser all your life.

Cosmic Cross

Jupiter is the base of the cosmic cross formed by the planetary positions of this chart. As Jupiter is @ 9° Pisces, I suspect this represents Antony. The Sun/Mercury/Neptune conjunction at the apex is most certainly Cleopatra, because she has the most to lose if the battle goes against her. The opposition between the Ascendant and Saturn would therefore be connected to Octavian. At approximately this time, his forces were starting to turn the tide, as it were.

So, this battle was fated to be won by Octavian. Why didn’t Cleopatra see that coming?