Mount St. Helens Erupts (May 18, 1980 @ 7:32 am PDT)
There are some memories that you never forget. This one happened 40 years ago.
We were living in Vancouver, BC at the time. At about 7:30 that Sunday morning we all were awakened by a series of booms. No one knew what had happened. Until we saw the news later in the day. An earthquake under Mount St. Helens had precipitated a volcano.
Before we knew it, everything was covered with a layer of ash.
I had always intended to look at the ‘event’ chart for this volcano. Why? To see what may have astrologically caused it. These days I use inconjuncts as pointers to any hidden ‘hands’. And there is one involving Neptune and the Moon, which we have seen before.
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 some 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 that you are worth as much as anyone else, for you may tend to withdraw when someone acts aggressive[ly]. But the adults who help you learn these lessons must be gentle and understanding. Otherwise you will shrink back into yourself. Above all, you must not be made to feel incompetent or inadequate, or you will think of yourself as a loser all your life.
You may be asking yourself: what has this got to do with a volcano? Well, my first answer would be “Nothing…” The important point is what it may have done to humanity, especially young children, such as my youngest daughter, who would have been 10 weeks old when this event happened. The secondary thing is: could this be proof that the ancient gods are related to the planets?
Neptune pertains to feeling, desire, emotion, imagination, aesthetics, intuition, the psychic faculties or extra-sensory perceptions. When thwarted it becomes psycho-neurotic, theatric, and susceptible to flattery, the power of suggestion, and appearances. On the merest whim it will break a bargain or go back on its word. It exhibits a high regard for uniformity yet often succeeds in enterprises that require more than the average measure of mental effort. Neptune is deemed a higher octave of Venus.
Neptune is also considered the modern ruler of Pisces.
The chart, shown above, seems to hinge on the Neptune energy.
If one could choose which course to take, the way would be so much easier to see. But life isn’t like that: most of the time one wanders around in a fog as if his eyes were blind, he had no mind, and everything he wanted, he could not find… So what? You may ask. I’ll tell you what! I hate feeling like a fool, and not only that but I dislike fooling my feelings. If you could stand in my shoes, you’d see a world which expects perfection from some of its creatures while excusing the others. Now, is that fair? Of course it isn’t, but that’s the way it is.
I am not perfect and have never been, but I have a very high standard which even I find hard to live up to. However, others expect only the best out of me, so I must seem like quite a disappointment to them. Love used to mean never having to say you’re sorry, but now Erick Segal’s words reside in the home for disused concepts. It wouldn’t matter how much sorrow I feel for my past ‘indiscretions’ because it doesn’t matter anymore: I live my life to a pattern which others cannot comprehend, mainly because I refuse to give them the key to the decoding device; I exist in the body, but my heart resides elsewhere and my mind has taken off for distant realms.
Once upon a time (just like in a fairy tale), there lived a young man who decided to marry for the second time (the first attempt having been an unmitigated disaster), and the woman, with whom he chose to share the remainder of his life, seemed to be the right one. What he hadn’t realised was that she was actually left (abandoned), by another, and that he (the young man) was the ultimate revenge. Even now, that fact doesn’t bother him too much, but it did add an element of confusion and doubt into the relationship right from the start which carried an aura of mistrust about it for many years to come.
You’re probably thinking, ‘What difference can the past make? After all, it was such a long time ago, and so much has happened since then.’ This fact may be true, but it doesn’t alter the feelings of the young man: he’s thought he was IT! Sadly, he discovered the truth; she was still in love with the previous suitor. She wouldn’t admit it to him, ‘though, so he had to live with a ghost from the past which would never be exorcised for the remainder of their marriage.
Then, one day, he came face-to-face with his match: she was electric, forthright, and his wife’s relative! What kind of God allows such a cruel twist of fate? Obviously, his did, because he fell in love with her and the feeling was instantly mutual. They should have waited, that much is known now, but impatience is a persistent master and would not allow them peace, until they were one in body and spirit. She hadn’t wanted to get involved with a married man, let alone her cousin’s husband, but he was like a gift from heaven to her, one that she couldn’t refuse, and wouldn’t.
For a time, their budding relationship went seemingly unnoticed by their respective spouses, until one day his wife voiced a suspicion about them. He confirmed it, wishing to be clear of any deceit on his part. The world caved in! His lover tried to accept what had transpired, but found the pressure too great and the ostracism of her cousin too painful to bear. The wife decided that she couldn’t take it anymore, either, and she chose to move to a new location, 200 miles away. But the young man, who was getting older by the minute, decided to stay. In his heart he knew the ‘affair’ wasn’t over. And it wasn’t…
Within six months, the matched pair became one in body, mind and spirit: small wonder that she became pregnant; the child growing in her womb was the physical symbol of their love. But then came the doubts… Didn’t they say from the very start that they hadn’t wanted to hurt either spouse by seeking a divorce? What a dilemma! To protect the others they discussed abortion. Now, abortion was something that neither of them saw as a proper solution, especially since each thought murder was a horrible sin, but faced with the prospect of breaking up two families and hurting four children, they chose to sacrifice their love-child. The actual process of the decision-making still amazes them, since lack of communication was the way it happened. He was pleased she was carrying his child, and she thought that he wanted her to get rid of it. She’s even asked him, “What would you say if I decided not to have the abortion?” His response was characteristically cryptic, “That’s a good question…” You see, he didn’t know if she actually wanted the child, and she didn’t get any hints from him about his feelings, so she went ahead the abortion, which he saw as a rejection of him. (As she so aptly put it, afterwards, “By denying our child, we denied our love.”) Within two days of the abortion, she’d realised that a big mistake had been made on both their parts. She begged to see him for a talk, but he was feeling so hurt and vulnerable that he refused to give her access, thereby doing to her what she had so often threatened: to end the relationship.
It’s been a long time since these events occurred: a lot of pain and fear has been purged from the matched pair. They each made a valiant attempt to right any wrongs that they’d caused their spouses, mainly in vain. His wife mistrusts his every move, but tries to hide it behind an acceptance of what is. Her husband is obsessed with her infidelity. The most poignant thing of this whole story is that they still love each other very much, almost to the point of distraction. After all, they had touched perfection in each other, and that perfection was what they’d come into this world to experience. So, what’s to become of them? I wish I could say, “They got married and lived happily ever after,” but that would not be realistic. Instead, I must tell that they are still waiting for the day when they can finally be free of their obligations. So much for fairy tales!
I’m much wiser now, having experienced the situation I’ve just described, and if I were given the chance to do it all again, I would, but I’d alter a few details. Which ones? That’s not for me to reveal at present, but, to repeat a famous quote, “Watch this space!” The future belongs to those who are brave enough to risk security and reputation. Am I included in that statement? Perhaps…
If one could choose which course to take, the way would be so much easier to see…
This movie has an eerie prescience. (And the tag line makes the point clearly.)
I cannot remember any other movie I’ve seen where images similar to it are being played out in televised segments on the nightly news. That makes me wonder if the news is being ‘framed’ to trigger the greatest fear in its audience.
By now everyone should have seen Contagion so I shouldn’t need to worry about giving away the ending. But, to make sure we’re all on the same page, in scientific terms, we are talking about a disease with a R-nought of 2.5:
(Note that this was a WHO estimate in January.)
The infection rate seems low, but the death rate is even lower. Still, who wants to die?
The run on toilet paper at Costco also gives pause to why this should be and then I am reminded that this is a base chakra response (and some of you may know what that means).
I’m not mocking the disease, just our ‘knee-jerk’ responses to it. Toilet paper manufacturers were probably the earliest beneficiaries of the pandemic.
There was also an interesting meme doing the rounds on social media which pointed out a ‘strange’ correlation between epidemics and American election years.
Any time you see the word FACT (singular or plural), be suspicious. Not all facts are true.
One last point before I close the door on this discussion: the lottery in the movie for those who would get the vaccinations first was based on the same premise as the draft for soldiers in the Vietnam War, their birth dates. How astrological is that?
There’s a lot of it about: no, not scandals; ‘gate’ used as a shorthand for political scandal. The most recent example is “Obamagate”, touted by Trump in this election year as the greatest scandal of all time. Really?
I looked up the list of “-gate” scandals and found this disturbing article on Wikipedia. Only two of these ‘gates’ are related to conspiracy theories (at the bottom of the list) and one of these is related to Trump’s theory that the FBI inserted a spy into his 2016 presidential campaign. The other is supposedly debunked, Pizzagate.
Scandal syndrome: [A] self-reproducing and self-reinforcing process, driven on by competitive and combative struggles in the media and political fields and giving rise to more and more scandals which increasingly become the focus of mediated forms of public debate, marginalizing or displacing other issues and producing on occasion a climate of political crisis which can debilitate or even paralyse a government. (John Thompson)
The National Nightmare
If someone had consulted an astrologer before committing the break-in of their “enemy’s” offices, they would have been alerted to the very stress-filled events of the operation. A T-square featuring Pluto (underhanded dealings) and Jupiter (justice) and the Sun/Mercury conjunction (single-mindedness) should have been enough of a warning. But the Saturn/Midheaven inconjunct shows how this was going to play out.
Saturn Inconjunct Midheaven
This aspect indicates that you very much need a positive relationship with your parents, especially your father. You should not be disciplined sternly unless you are given lots of love at the same time Otherwise, giving and receiving love from others will be a real problem for the rest of your life. Unless you are truly supported by your family and friends, you will begin to feel lonely and isolated from others and inferior to them. Also you are likely to have very serious difficulties with authority figures, because you are afraid of how they will treat you, not expecting that anyone will ever give you the loving guidance you need. You will see all authorities only as potential threats to your freedom and as sources of pain and trouble.
This has Richard Nixon’s fingerprints all over it. And what was his parting shot?
He said: “I leave you gentlemen now. And you will now write it. You will interpret it. That’s your right. But as I leave you, I want you to know: just think how much you’re going to be missing. You don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore. Because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”
No wait, he said that in 1962!
Funny how it finally came true a dozen years later.
And here I thought I was done with Jesus’ astrological portrait. Ha! The Holy Spirit had me working through progressed charts in my dreams until I finally resolved to look at one for Jesus’ baptism. The timing of that event, in my estimation would have been when he was 33 years and 4 months old. Then I woke up and the time on my bedside clock was
3:33
I kid you not…
What I was hoping to see was something significant, something that would prove to me that his birth chart is accurate. Something that would make me go “Wow!”
And Lo! and Behold! Neptune conjunct Scorpio Rising.
For those who have the mind of an astrologer, the date I chose for the Baptism was May 5, 27 AD. That would have been thirty-three-and-a-third years exactly from his birth.
And there is only one inconjunct: it involves Mars, which in this progressed chart is opposite Pluto. The form of Jesus’ mission will be one of speaking Truth to Power.
Mars Inconjunct Midheaven
This aspect can mean that you have mixed feelings about all authority figures, including your parents. You may feel that you have to violate the rules laid down by your parents in order to get your way. This is a significant problem, because if it continues into adulthood, you will have great difficulties with employers. Therefore it is very important that your parents teach you how to express your self-assertive drives without going against their teachings. Unfortunately it is impossible to state how that should be done, because the conflict between self-will, on one hand, and self-denial and work, on the other, is different for each person.
Clearly you should spend a lot of time releasing your great energy in vigorous play. The more energy you use up in this way, the less you will need to assert yourself destructively. You must learn what society demands, such as going to school and doing schoolwork, learning to obey instructions for your own good and so forth.
Another way to solve this kind of conflict is to learn that you can say what needs to be said and not be forced to remain quiet. You can’t expect your elders to always go along with your ideas, but you should be able to feel confident of your right to say it. The exception to this, of course, is that you do not have any right to say something just to hurt others.
