The Day that Big Ben Started Keeping Time

Posted on May 31, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Big Ben (May 31, 1859)

On this day in 1859: The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time in London.

I was originally going to post this one as part of my “Yesterday in History” series, but then changed my mind when I realized how significant this event actually is to democracy in the United Kingdom.

I’ve set the clock for midnight on the day. All the lights and planets are below the horizon. Saturn is in the 6th House, conjunct the Descendant. Neptune is in the (very wide) 1st House. This is significant.

Venus and Pluto are (almost) exactly conjunct @ 7° Taurus, with both inconjunct to the Midheaven.

Venus Inconjunct Midheaven

You are very likely to feel that there is a conflict between what you ought to do in a particular situation and what would be acceptable to the people around you. Often your friendships come into conflict with your parents’ intentions for you, which is difficult to resolve. Later in life, you may see your job, career or profession as a part of your life that is quite separate from your personal relationships with loved ones. This may cause you to neglect one area in favor of the other, instead of trying to create a balance between them.

This same pattern of thinking may make you believe that you must sacrifice pleasure and enjoyment in order to achieve anything worthwhile in life.

Pluto Inconjunct Midheaven

You may have trouble with older people who try to teach you how to effectively take control of your life. Even while you are young, you may resent their control over you and resist everything they are trying to teach you. To a great extent, your path in life will be shaped by your early confrontations with authority figures. Your parents and teachers should be very straightforward with you, because if you feel that people are not being honest with you, you will not be honest with them. You are quite capable of acting behind people’s backs if you consider it necessary or if you feel that you never get your own way.

(Now, I’ve written about this, to get to a point that demonstrates my point about democracy…)

The Silent Minute (November 10, 1940)

The Silent Minute was an historic movement begun in the United Kingdom by Major Wellesley Tudor Pole O.B.E. in 1940. It continues today as a London-based charity following its revival by Dorothy Forster. During the Second World War people would unite in meditation, prayer or focus (each according to their own belief) and consciously will for peace to prevail. This dedicated minute received the direct support of King George VI, Sir Winston Churchill and his Parliamentary Cabinet. It was also recognized by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and observed on land and at sea on the battlefields, in air raid shelters and in hospitals. With Churchill’s support, the BBC, on Sunday, November 10, 1940, began to play the bells of Big Ben on the radio as a signal for the Silent Minute to begin.

Wikipedia

I’ve hinted at this before, here. Now, I want to show you how one minute of silent prayer every day can make a difference in your life and in the lives of those around you.

Notice those two planets from the previous chart are active in this one: Pluto is on the cusp of the 2nd House; and Venus is inconjunct to Jupiter and Saturn (these two planets being symbolic of the United Kingdom).

Venus Inconjunct Jupiter

This can be a positive aspect if you learn to control some of its negative possibilities. You are likely to lack energy and to be rather passive. You may wait for opportunities to come to you, rather than go after them. You may not have enough energy to pursue your ambitions, or you may not have enough ambition. Or you may love your comfort so much that you are unwilling to make any effort to put up with any pain that could help you grow and develop. However, if there are any indications of energuy in your chart, you should overcome the passivity.

On the plus side, you need love and affection, and you can usually be very warm and affectionate as well. However, it is very important that you choose your close friends carefully, because you may attract people who are difficult to get along with, who order you around or act as if they are better than you. Avoid such people, for they will do you no good.

Venus Inconjunct Saturn

This aspect means that your family may make you feel that you are unworthy of love. Unless you are given a great deal of love while you are young, you will be attracted to cold and unfeeling people when you are an adult. Such people are an outward expression of your inner feeling of unworthiness.

Even without any pressure, you are likely to be more disciplined than most people your age. You don’t go overboard in anything, and you feel strongly that your worth depends on what you do and how much you accomplish.

This is a powerful way to help heal divisions and protect the world. Take a minute every day to assist, please. You won’t regret it, I promise.

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So, What About the Man “Behind the Staircase”?

Posted on May 31, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Michael Peterson (October 23, 1943)

The Staircase (Netflix)

We are so quick to judge others, especially if they are ‘different’ from us. Michael Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife in 2003, although he maintains his innocence, to this very day.

This chart is randomized. A 6° Capricorn Ascendant might explain why he seems too controlled, too calculating, but he cannot help that. The unexpected Yod (Finger of God) pointing to the Ascendant makes this especially so.

Uranus Inconjunct Ascendant

Your need to be free and do what you want is often in conflict with what others require of you and even with what you feel you ought to do. Sometimes this conflict can cause considerable physical and emotional tension. The task you face is to organize your life in a disciplined way that will enable you to satisfy your need for freedom through your everyday activities.

Your need for freedom may also interfere with your close relationships. When you are with others, even those you like, you feel very restless but you can’t get up and leave because you want to be with them. This is typical of the ambiguity that comes with this transit. Certainly, the more others try to restrict your freedom, the more you try to get away.

(Evidently, he was bisexual.)

Pluto Inconjunct Ascendant

This can be an indication that through experiences with others, you will be forced to undergo many significant changes in life. At times these crises may be quite unpleasant, but for the most part the results will be very positive, although for some people, they may be less constructive. But you must be very careful about the kind of people you get involved with. Choose your friends with great care and try to find people who have a healthy outlook on life and who seem reasonably well balanced. People who are driven to extreme behavior or who act compulsively, as if they could not plan anything in advance, are not very good for you. They will get you into difficult situations that you do not need.

Also watch for compulsiveness or extreme behavior [in] yourself. These qualities could be quite hard for others to handle, and people will probably avoid you if you express them freely.

(Ditto.)

For those who like to see how these things line up, here’s the combined charts of his birth and her death.

Conclusion

To walk in another man’s moccasins, you have to also inhabit his body. Most of us cannot do that.

But don’t judge the man by the book’s cover. Try to look “Beyond the Staircase” instead.

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Did He Kill Her or Was It “Something” Else?

Posted on May 30, 2022 by cdsmiller17

The Staircase (Netflix Documentary)

Never underestimate the power of the main stream media to ‘influence’ a jury before a case is tried in court. That seems to be the lesson here.

I watched the first four episodes of this (now) 13 episode ‘limited series’, and there seemed to be holes in the story on both sides. That’s one of the facts of murder trials: each side wants to ‘win’ so the truth is stretched to fit the purpose of both the prosecution and the defense. The man in the middle is but a pawn in a legal chess match.

So, let’s go back to the moment when Michael calls 911 after finding his wife ‘barely breathing’ at the foot of the stairs.

My astrologer friend, Ellie, would have a field day with this chart. But the curious thing is that Mars (symbolic of accidents and violence) is totally un-aspected and sitting in the 5th House. Hmm.

There is a Yod (Finger of God) pointing at the Midheaven, formed by inconjuncts to Mercury and Uranus. Hmm, again. The other inconjunct involves Jupiter and Pluto. Hmm.

The prosecution made a point of discussing how the blood around Kathleen was dried, which implies that Kathleen had been lying at the foot of the stairs for some considerable time. So, she must have had something happen to her earlier. I have erected a second ‘event’ chart for midnight.

There is still a Grand Trine connecting the Moon, Saturn and Neptune (the essence of this case). But now there is a double T-Square, made up of oppositions between the Sun, Mercury and Pluto to Saturn and the Midheaven, all squared to the Ascendant in Virgo. There is yet another set of oppositions from Venus to Saturn and the Midheaven, but this time not squared to the Ascendant. Hmm.

The Jupiter/Pluto inconjunct is the only one active at this point.

Jupiter Inconjunct Pluto

You have a great deal of creative power, and the major challenge of your life will be learning how to handle it. First of all, you must realize that you will get the most out of life if you direct your energies toward helping the people around you and those you love. You will want to change many conditions in the world, which is fine as long as your reasons are not purely selfish ones.

If you use the energies of this aspect selfishly, you will have serious conflicts with authorities, persons in power and adults in general. You may try to make changes before you have learned how to do so creatively, without provoking such resistance that your efforts are blocked. To be effective, you must have the necessary skills.

You may have a natural talent for dominating others, but don’t fall in love with this talent and be motivated by it. You can be effective at influencing people only if you use your power to help others and yourself achieve desirable goals together. You must be an agent for betterment at all times, and even so you must listen to others’ ideas about betterment to be sure that you aren’t just seeking power in a more roundabout manner.

Even at best you will get a certain amount of resistance from others, because they will feel your energy and be afraid of your motives. Unless you show them that your motives are good and that you can be reasoned with, you will run into opponents who are more powerful than you, who will stop you and make your efforts futile.

(I suppose writing newspaper articles lampooning some of the people running the local government, including the District Attorney, would have been the motive behind Peterson’s prosecution for murder.)

Recent interview

The Owl Theory

So, there you have it. The owl may have represented the Moon, Saturn and Neptune Grand Trine. Isn’t astrology great?

The Petersons in happier times.

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Beautiful!

Posted on May 30, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Dragonfly Sculpture

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Ma, I’m on Top of the World!

Posted on May 29, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Edmund Hillary Scales Mount Everest (May 29, 1953)

Question: Who took this photo?

I know, I know, he couldn’t have done it on his own. Yes, he had help from his Sherpa climbing companion, Tenzing Norgay. But did Norgay get knighted by Queen Elizabeth II? I thought not.

At 11:30 a.m. on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth.

History.com

I was tempted to show you Hillary’s birth chart here, but his time of birth is conflicting or unverified. So, I will concentrate on the event itself which is timed for 11:30 am local time on that fateful day.

Mount Everest is actually in Tibet

That quadruple T-Square featuring oppositions from the Moon to the Sun, Mercury and Mars and Midheaven, all squared to the Ascendant, gives this event chart a visual signature of the difficulty of climbing to the summit. There is but one inconjunct.

Moon Inconjunct Uranus

With this aspect you must learn to control sudden outbursts of emotion that occur at difficult times when you least expect it. Also your present home life may not be a stable situation in which you can grow up emotionally secure and confident. A particular incident when you were very young may have given you the feeling that you can’t count on anything or anyone for support. Later in life, you may try very hard to get away from anything that reminds you of your earliest childhood, even if your childhood has not been difficult. You just feel that you have to get away and go somewhere else.

(Somewhere else, like the highest mountain peak in the world!)

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The Use of Glass Mirrors Her Daughter, Picking Up the…

Posted on May 29, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Pieces of Her (2022)

At several levels this is not an easy film to watch. The idea that a young woman has lived her first 30 years in witness protection without knowing it does seem surprising, but her mother rarely talks about the past. Instead, an incident in a restaurant sparks off a chain reaction that totally shatters Andy’s “normal” life..

I was originally going to focus on Jane’s piano recitals as the musical “pieces of her”, but then I kept seeing images in the 8 episode Netflix show that gave me the visual clue: it’s a looking-glass world. Nothing is as it seems, period.

“Pieces of Her follows the story of Andy, a 30-year-old woman who is caught in a deadly mass shooting at a local diner. Moments later, she witnesses her mother, Laura, violently eliminate the threat with ease. As Andy begins to unravel her mother’s actions on that day, her perspective on their entire familial relationship takes a new turn. Soon, figures from her mother’s past reappear, and she is forced to escape. On the journey, she attempts to find the truth that her mother buried long ago.” (Wikipedia)

*Spoiler Alert*

At one point, I even thought that Grace, the assassin of Jane’s father, was actually Jane’s long-lost mother, but I was wrong. Essentially, it is impossible to know who Andy should trust. And she always felt that her uncle Jasper would be able to give her the answers she was seeking, but due to his own political ambitions, he was reluctant to tell her anything. It was his housekeeper who provided her with a ‘missing’ videotape of Jane’s interactions with Nick, a hint that Nick was her real father.

Watch at your own risk of finding this show mirrored in your dreams afterward.

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It Took More than Three Centuries to Clear Her Name

Posted on May 28, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Elizabeth Johnson Jr (1670 – 1716)

Salem Witch Trials

This has been in the news lately. This young woman was sentenced to be ‘hanged by the neck until dead’ but had her sentence thrown out by the Governor of Massachusetts, at the time. However, her name was never exonerated, until now.

On August 10, 1692, Elizabeth Johnson, according to the court documents, was examined by a judge. She confessed to working with Goody Carrier, saying that she saw George Burroughs on “Mock Sacrament” and Martha Toothaker and Daniel Eames a second time. She also confessed to suffering from Sara Phelps, Mary Wolcott, Ann Putnam and several others.

Google Translate of a report from Iceland

The timing of this chart is randomized, but it does capture an interesting Cosmic Cross, nevertheless. And the two inconjuncts may have recognized the specific energy of Elizabeth’s trial.

Uranus Inconjunct Ascendant

Your need to be free and do what you want is often in conflict with what others require of you and even with what you feel you ought to do. Sometimes this conflict can cause considerable and emotional tension. The task you face is to organized your life in a disciplined way that will enable you to satisfy your need for freedom through your everyday activities…

Neptune Inconjunct Midheaven

With this aspect you may have to build up your self-confidence considerably while you are young and learn that you are as worthy as anyone else. Even though these are your learning years, when you must develop a great deal of discipline, you still deserve as much consideration as anyone else. Your natural tendency is to yield to authority, so that those people who are most influential in your life, including your parents, should be careful about how they exercise their authority over you. If they try to control you too much, or if they make you feel that you just aren’t able to manage your own affairs, it will be difficult to correct the effects of this negative influence later in life.

It was a case of ‘damned if you do, and damned if you don’t’, a double-bind.

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Yesterday in History XV

Posted on May 28, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Golden Gate Bridge Opened (May 27, 1937)

On this day in history: The Golden Gate Bridge opens in San Francisco.

To those of us who have been around for a great number of years, this bridge is iconic. Ask anyone.

I’ve set the timing for 12:00 noon, and that Sun conjunct Midheaven should be no surprise. Their inconjuncts with the Moon might be. The Venus and Mars inconjunct will not. (See below.)

Sun Inconjunct Moon

This aspect suggests that there is a subtle conflict going on inside you that may sometimes create emotional problems. The Sun signifies your conscious personality, the way in which you act and the kinds of activities that you like to get involved in. The moon signifies the emotional and less conscious side of you. It indicates the habits that take over when you are not acting consciously and feelings that come up from deep inside you. The inconjunct aspect between the Sun and Moon means that the Sun part of your personality is quite different from the Moon part, and it may be hard for you to relate them to each other. It is as if you are divided in two, so that whenever you have to make an important decision, especially one that involves your feelings, the different sides of your personality want to go in opposite directions. You sometimes find it difficult to decide if you like something or if you want to take part in some activity.

Moon Inconjunct Midheaven

With this aspect you must learn to make your emotional needs and desires for pleasure fit in with your growth and development in the world. It is possible that these problems could make it difficult for you to choose a profession or a course that would give your life a sense of purpose. Or you may be unable to follow one path consistently. In other words, your emotional needs may be in conflict with your long-range goals. You may know what you have to do, but not feel much like doing it. Or your feelings may actually color your perception so much that you really do not see what has to be done. Try not to form bad habits, because they are especially likely to create difficulties of this sort.

Venus Inconjunct Mars

You must learn to control your emotions to some extent, so that your feelings do not prevent you from getting along with others. It is difficult for you to react to someone without emotions, for you tend to either love or hate people quite intensely. Your feelings are often mixed, even toward your friends. One moment you love your friend, and the next moment you hat him or her. Any little problem can set off your anger against someone, but you usually cool off quickly also. Your close relationships will be a bit stormier than most, but this should not be a serious problem in later life. In fact you will probably prefer stormy relationships, because it means that you are really involved with the other person.

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Some Visitors to the Lot Birdfeeders

Posted on May 27, 2022 by cdsmiller17
American Goldfinch

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Chickadee

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Sparrow

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Woodpecker

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After the Fifteenth Million “Tin Lizzie” was Assembled…

Posted on May 26, 2022 by cdsmiller17

Ford Stopped Production of the Model-T (May 26, 1927)

At the time, it seemed like a nonsense thing to do: sending the factory workers home with no promise of a future, but Henry Ford had a secret plan to start over, which he did in December 1927 with the Model-A.

The logic of the timing is the end of the production day, 5 pm. As a result, the Moon/Uranus, Pluto and Midheaven Grand Trine gains prominence, showing how astute Ford was. There are two connected inconjuncts, involving a Jupiter-Uranus conjunction with the Ascendant in Scorpio. Ford’s signature…

Jupiter Inconjunct Ascendant

With this aspect, you may discover that in order to grow and get ahead in life, you will have to put aside your own needs and do whatever the situation or other people require. At times you will go through tremendous and possibly painful creative changes in your life, in which everything that you are is replaced by a new order. Your environment may change radically, or you may lose all your old friends and find a whole set of new ones. During these times you will arrive at new understandings and realizations that make it impossible for your life to continue as before. You must always be open to new ideas and be willing to change your outlook on life.

Uranus Inconjunct Ascendant

Your need to be free and do what you want is often in conflict with what others require of you and even what you feel you ought to do. Sometimes this conflict can cause considerable physical and emotional tension. The task you face is to organize your life in a disciplined way that will enable you to satisfy your need for freedom through your everyday activities. One way to accomplish this is by figuring out your own methods of doing your work. Or you may choose to do the most interesting and exciting tasks, which are often the most difficult, so that others shy away from them. You need to be challenged by puzzles and problems in all your activities. You are not good at routines and repetitious tasks.

Conclusion

Starting over again with the Model-A may have seemed strange, but innovation requires time to work things out. Looking at the first Model-A to be produced, the changes weren’t that dramatic, but they kick-started the revolution in the car industry.

1929 Ford Model-A sedan

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