Monday, December 26, 2011

Candidates for the FIRST EVER Astrology Chart

by Milky Way Maid

My reading has uncovered a couple of candidates for the first-ever, first recorded anyway, astrological chart. How long ago would you guess that we have a chart, with or without interpretation?

Perhaps you guess the source might be Babylon or one of the Mesopotamian civilizations. Not a bad guess. Or perhaps one from ancient Egypt, where we know that the knowledge of astronomy was also rather advanced.

In fact we do have a chart which astrologer Joan Quigley claimed was the earliest known horoscope. It was cast in 2767 BC, and the astrologer was supposedly the great Imhotep himself. Imhotep has won lasting fame as the architect of the great pyramid of Saqqara. (SOURCE: Astrology for Adults, Joan Quigley, 1969, in which she cites an article by Cyril Fagan included in the Jan. 1954 issue of American Astrology.)

Annoyingly, no details are included in this mention, not even of what the subject of the chart was. Perhaps it was a horary to answer the question, “Where did I put my copy of This Old Pyramid?”

But luckily enough, inside the book “The Origin of the Zodiac” is an illustration titled, “The Original 'Horoscope of Eternity' 2767 BC.” No attribution, no story about the astrologer. But hey, how many charts do you think survived from 2767 BC?

This illustration still doesn't tell us what Imhotep wanted to know from this chart. But maybe a description of the image will give us some clues at least.

The image shows a map of the sky, with the constellations fanned out across the middle. The original is translated into English. From left to right appear Leo, Cancer, Gemini and Taurus. Major stars are indicated around the sky: Regulus, Praeseppe, Procyon, Sirius, Aldebaran, Rigel, Betelgeuse, Castor, El Nath, and the Pleiades. Along the right-hand edge are marked the latitudes, from 20 degrees north at the top and marked at 10 degree intervals down to 30 degrees south at the bottom right. The horizon is clearly marked along with the “Equator of 2767 BC”; the intersection is marked “Vernal Equinox, 2767 BC.”

Puzzlingly, two horizons are indicated; one is for 2767 BC (28 degrees Cancer), and the other is for 1300 BC (27 degrees Cancer). It seems extremely unlikely that anyone would draw up a chart for a present year (2767 BC) with another year about 1400 years in the future --- yet a comment on page 207 of the “Origin” book would seem to explain how that is. “The Egyptians had a traditional celestial diagram which they copied from century to century, and although it was more traditional than contemporary it did represent a particular moment from which time was counted.” The Egyptians were interested in knowing when the first day of the Wandering Calendar returned to its ideal position in the Sothic Calendar. In other words, the return of the Vernal Equinox to its IDEAL position marked the end or start of another cycle.

In other words, Egyptians were more interested in astrology or astronomy as indicators of omens for the prosperity of the people in general, and as indicators of cycles. They were not, surprisingly enough, interested in making observations on which to base predictions. The Babylonians aka Chaldeans were the opposite; they could not have imagined making a chart and NOT making some predictions about it.

The same “Origins” book states that the earliest personal horoscope was cast in 410 BC, with no details offered whatever. However I managed to dig up further details: it was a birth chart set for April 29, 410 BC in Babylon (HoroscopesWithin.com). A translation of the cuneiform horoscope says: “Nisannu, night of the 14th(?), ... son of Shumu-usur, Shumu-iddina, descendant [---], was born. At that time the moon was below the Pincer of the Scorpion, Jupiter in Pisces, Venus in Taurus, Saturn in Cancer, Mars in Gemini. Mercury, which had set was not vis[ible]. [-] (Things?) will be propitious for you.” (Rochberg 1998: 56)

Other “oldest” documents include a record dated around 668-626 BC of astronomical observations with calculations of solar and lunar eclipses (and predictions for same). This is the Cerberus Slab of Hatra dated to the reign of Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria. It shows the seven known planets with highly accurate calculations of planetary conjunctions and oppositions.

Older astrological records date to around 1645 BC in Babylon (Astrology.com). This probably refers to the Venus tables of Ammiza-duga, discovered in 1850 in Ninevah. This is a cuneiform tablet of observations of the rising and setting Venus that covered a span of 21 years – actually fragments of several tablets that science has had to reconstruct. You can browse a PDF about this discovery and how they dated the tablets on Caeno.org. Why only those 21 were recorded furnishes us with another mystery to solve.

The Chinese may have drawn up charts around 7500 years ago, but they can definitely point to a owning the longest lunar calendar in existence, dating back to 2637 BC. The first named Chinese astrologer was Sima Qian, who wrote a book titled, “Records of the Grand Historian” (OnlineChineseAstrology.com) about the second century BC. To quote, “His history included detailed information on various methods of fortune telling and related astronomy topics to include a catalog of star names.” http://www.onlinechineseastrology.com/doc/Chinese-Astrology-101.pdf In ancient China, only emperors and other members of the royal family had access to personal horoscopes. The lives of ordinary people were not important enough to analyze with a birth chart.

Ancient Indians created records that show a highly developed knowledge of astrology as far back as 6500 BC, actual manuscripts can be dated only to 3700 BC. (The older ones are copies of originals.) These records show continuous observations from 6500 BC. We even have what is possibly the name of the oldest known astrologer: Pita Maha Siddhanta, who lived about 3000 BC. Pita was the author of books on Vedic astrology (SurfIndia.com).

But there are other candidates, too. We may not recognize them as charts, per se, but the ancient ones placed stones and other markers as a kind of observatory and calendar. This includes the most famous of stone placements at Stonehenge. There are even older stone structures. Consider the one called Adam's Calendar in southern Africa, which dates to possibly 75 THOUSAND years ago. That date is selected because that is when three now-recumbent stones would have aligned with the Orion constellation --- an alignment that Andrew Collins disputes (AndrewCollins.com).

Adam's Calendar, in South Africa, has engendered a great deal of publicity and discussion. The original walls are over a yard wide in many places, and have eroded to knee-high or even to the ground. It is interesting that they lie amid nearly 2,000 ancient gold mines.
The famous El Caracol observatory in Chichen Itza, Mexico (Yucatan region) dates to about 500 AD.

You May Also Wish To Read or Watch:
You may wish to watch a clip about Adam's Calendar on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH1wgwe6udo

Several pictures of different ruins at the Adam's Calendar sites are offered at http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sumer_anunnaki/esp_sumer_annunaki35.htm

Pictures and more theory are posted at http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/txsa_4_adams.htm

A two-hour documentary about Adam's Calendar is embedded on this web page: http://projectcamelotproductions.com/interviews/adams_calendar_documentary/adamscalendardocumentary.html

“Echoes of the Ancient Skies” by E.C. Krupp (Dover Publications) has lots of information about ancient astronomy including El Caracol and other sites in Mexico, China, Chaldea, Egypt, Cahokia, Scotland, Ireland, Britain and more.

“Astrology in the Middle Ages” by Theodore Otto Wedel (Dover reprint) talks about medieval English, French and Arabian astrology.

“The Origin of the Zodiac” by Rupert Gleadow (Dover reprint) is too small a book for all the territory that the author tries to cover: China, Persia and Babylon, Egypt, Plato and the Greeks, Mexico, Tibet, India, and Medieval astrology.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

A Look at the Occupy Wall Street Movement and Chart

by Milky Way Maid

(Dave Roell's analysis of the OWS protest, with chart, is in the Dec. 6 issue of his newsletter at http://www.astroamerica.com/astroamericanewsletter.pdf - (it will have the new issue, click on Archives and select Dec. 6) (Also Dave wrote a bit of a follwup in the Dec. 13 issue)

Perhaps I am overdue in writing about a chart for the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Actually the website came before the protest in the New York financial district, but the registration of that website is variously given as June 9 or July 14 (see Wikipedia). I think that the July 14 date would be rather apropos since that is also Bastille Day, a historical event in which the oppressed 99-percent masses rose up to crush the aristocratic 1 percent.

So I have drawn up a chart for the beginning of the actual protest at Bowling Green Park in the financial district. The chart is located in Manhattan, noon (or actually 12:01 pm) of Sept. 17, 2011. The ascendant is 27 degrees Scorpio and the Midheaven at 11 degrees Virgo.

But the first thing that leaps out at the astrologer is the T-square of Pluto, Uranus and Venus. Now Dave cautions one to look at the chart basics first before jumping at the angles so OK, let us back off a bit and come to it again later.

The ascendant as we said is 27 degrees Scorpio. Rulers Mars at 29 Cancer in the eighth house of other people's money, and Pluto at almost five degrees Capricorn in the other money house, the second. Either would validate the chart because they confirm the topic of the protest which is directly related to money and how it handled.

THE T-SQUARE: It is pretty tight with Pluto at almost 5 degrees Capricorn (4 degrees 53') in the sign of Big Business and in the house of money; Venus (representing both values and money) is at 3 degrees 11', strong in her home of Libra, elevated in the tenth house; and Uranus the rebel at 2 degrees, 55' retrograde in Aries in the fourth house. Pluto signifies the powers that be, the oligarchy that seems to pull the strings behind too much of our lives and against which the protests are focused.

The basic complaint is that the guilty parties behind the mortgage credit fraud and collapse have still not been brought to justice.

So we see from this T-square that the degrees from 3 to 5 are highly charged. Transits or progressions to these degrees mark events related to the occupation or clearing of the park. Mars (police) at almost 3 degrees Virgo trines Jupiter (law) at almost 3 degrees Taurus on Nov. 16, the day before the rather infamous overnight forced evacuation of the park.

Looking ahead to coming transits to the sensitive degree, we have: the Sun at 3 degrees Sag on Shop Local day- Nov. 26, and at 3 Capricorn on Christmas; Mercury making a direct station on Dec. 13 in first house Sag; Venus at 3 Sag on Nov. 5, at 3 Capricorn on Nov. 29, and at 3 Aquarius on Dec. 23-24; Vesta at 3 Aquarius on Dec. 28-29. Jupiter will eventually reach 3 Taurus again during the first full week of February. Interestingly, Mars will retrograde back through Virgo and make a direct station at 3 degrees Virgo (ninth house) about April 14, 2012. So these will all be key dates in the ongoing movement especially on the stations of Dec. 13, 2011 and April 14, 2012. I do not think this movement is collapsing just because of the forced evacuations in New York and elsewhere, not at all.


Also it is auspicious that the lights are closely trine to each other, the sun at 24 degrees Virgo in the tenth house, trine the Moon, exalted in Taurus at 22 degrees in the sixth house of workers. Jupiter is also in Taurus (at 9 degrees) and in the sixth house, trine the Midheaven and Mercury. The leadership of the movement (Sun in the tenth), therefore, finds a receptive audience (Moon, the public, the audience) among the working classes (sixth house).

A grand trine is formed if you include Pallas Athena at 27 degrees Capricorn in the second house. Earth signs build. What are they building here? Possibly a new way of looking at money, possibly a new way of using money as a tool of protest (other than simply donating to a cause). Moving one's money to small, locally owned and operated banks and credit unions was one of the protest tactics in December. A few words about Pallas in the second house: Pallas here is a strong saver, enjoys making money as long as it does not violate their strong code of personal ethics – and they would NEVER do anything they consider wrong just to make some money. They expect anyone who handles their money to not only be honest, but to keep their best interests at heart. (This is called fiduciary interest.) Sucking people in to buy your bundled shaky loans is not something they accept from any financial officer.

Let me make a note here of the other asteroids and Part of Fortune: Part of Fortune is at 24 degrees Cancer, near Mars at 29 degrees and both in the eighth house. Chiron is at almost 2 degrees of Pisces now, in the third house of communications. Ceres is at 23 degrees Pisces, in the fourth house. Juno is at almost 17 degrees Libra, almost exactly conjunct Saturn in the eleventh house of friends. Vesta is at 6 degrees Aquarius in the third house.

The third house being occupied by two asteroids, Chiron and Vesta, makes me wonder about a connection to the so-called “people's library” of 3,000 books that was collected and available to lend to the protesters. This collection was seized and trashed when the park was cleared of protesters in the November crackdown. Some of the books were rather valuable and some were signed by the authors, so it was a loss for the world of book-lovers everywhere.

Anyway,
Dave's comments (from his Facebook page) on chart:

Chart ruler Mars in the 8th house, this is a protest (Mars) against Wall Street (other people's money = 8th house). This establishes the chart as valid. Ascendant at 27 Scorpio, Mars at 29 Cancer - the ends of the signs - say the protesters are at the end of their rope.
(and from a later comment)
So far as the government is concerned (10th house), the Occupy crowd has, to date, not one single friend or ally. So far as the media is concerned (3rd house) the proper media is universally hostile, as Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, which is in the sign of Venus, which is Wall Street itself. The "New Age" ruler of Aquarius
is Uranus. We find it exactly opposed to Wall Street and everything it stands for: Uranus dead opposite Venus. In the 5th house, Uranus is typically creative and in Aries, energetic (the internet is
solidly behind Occupy), but that's not a lot to pin your hopes on. Oh my Gawd, they're sexual degenerates!!! Well, yes. Uranus in Aries in 5 can be kinky, especially when contrasted with Venus in suave Libra just opposite. All of this is straightforward chart analysis. I wish I could find a ray of hope in this.

Dave"


Kinky sex?? We're accused of being degenerates now?? Wow. The only thing kinky about us is our attitude about Money (Venus) which we believe ought to serve society, not be its master. That's what is revolutionary (Uranus), sir. (Dave is often curmudgeonly, but here he sounds like he needs therapy or something. Maybe some nice Christmas eggnog.)

As for planets being “at the end of their rope” or “out of steam,” as Dave puts it, because they are in late degrees, I beg to differ. Let me link you to my article that states that late degrees can be very powerful in a natal chart, at least. Example: Writers who have planets in late degrees of Gemini. http://milkywayastrology.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/planets-in-late-degrees-what-do-they-mean/
And let me quote from this article:
“If you see a Sun, Midheaven, Part of Fortune, or chart ruler in those degrees, then the career should have a measure of fame. But any planet in a late degree is going to throw more weight than you might otherwise expect from the placement or aspects.”

The OWS chart has Mars in late degrees of Cancer; late degrees of Cancer have been linked to those who inherit a family business, those who become real-estate moguls, and so forth. So this Mars addresses the debt and interest rates (Mars) related to mortgages, and to loans in general, possibly also credit card debt. There is also the matter of where these protesters are to live, also reflected in the fact that one leg of the T-square is Uranus in the fourth house. The single item that most riles Occupiers' opponents is that they do not stay in their own homes (if they have one) but camp out on the (privatized) public space.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that eventually some campground or other public space (football or soccer field? Abandoned apartment building?) will be co-opted by the Occupiers, from where they can continue to badger public officials.

This Mars is angry, sure, but because it is in a late degree, he is not rash. He does not go off half-cocked, turning over the money-changers' tables nor does he open fire with an Uzi. He is controlled, deliberate, and planned. In the sign of the Moon, exalted in Taurus, which is in the twelfth house of the opposition (Wall Street and Big Banking), he gets the public on his side.

It almost does not matter if the opposition is not going to kneel down in defeat. The goal was primarily to get this subject onto the news pages, which it did. It got the public on its side. It woke up the millions who have been wandering around in a daze because they are in so much debt they cannot dig themselves out.

Since this Mars is in the ninth house (ruling colleges), there is a related protest regarding the interest rates on student-loan debts. A recent article by one graduate said that she had been paying since 2006 on a student loan and had only made a dent of a whopping $1200 in the total.

The other late-degree planet is Neptune in Aquarius. Late Aquarius sometimes gives rise to “mental detectives” and perhaps some members of the movement will be able to figure out who the guilty parties are in the financial scandals that have gone unpunished. Late Aquarius is a good researcher, especially with online sources. Neptune holds up ideals in front of our eyes --, impossible ideals perhaps -- but they give us something to aim at.

The Ascendant is late Scorpio, a highly spiritual sign, and a sign that likes to see true justice done. And when you get a Scorpio mad, oh boy, ol' Scorp can stay made for years. So just because the militarized police have done the bidding of the monied class and broken up the camps, does not mean that the Occupy movement is kaput. In fact, the movement seems to have taken on nine lives in interrelated issues.

The latest phase is OWS has morphed into a protest against manipulating food, and food supplies, for monetary gain. See this article with pictures of “Occupy Food brings American Farmers & Food Lovers to OccupyWallStreet” at http://pameladrew.newsvine.com/_news/2011/12/05/9233400-occupyfood-brings-american-farmers-food-lovers-to-occupywallstreet?threadId=3288882&commentId=60489160#c60489160

On December 7, I received an email from Michael Moore with an article called The Winter of our Occupation. (this is posted online at his website http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/winter-our-occupation )

In this article, Michael calls on occupiers to continue the movement indoors with a five-pronged attack on corporate complacency. Re-occupy houses that you have been foreclosed on, occupy the for-profit colleges' student loan offices and regents meetings, move your money to a local credit union, reorganize unions, and also occupy for-profit health insurance companies like Cigna, Humana, etc.

Dave wrote on his Facebook page,  “A protest is not a success when it is smashed by the police. A protest is a success when it CHANGES THINGS." Well, I am not accepting your definition of success.

The Occupy movement has succeeded in getting the issue of justice for financial crimes onto the news pages and blogs, it has succeeded in getting people to move their accounts out of Big Banking into local institutions, it has succeeded in getting the Republicans' top strategist to alter their buzzwords (capitalism is now a dirty word, folks). "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism," said Frank Luntz, in a article you can read on Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/republicans-being-taught-talk-occupy-wall-street-133707949.html

Hard figures are hard to come by when measuring success of the Great Money Migration, however Yes Magazine reported on Nov. 7 that “over the past month credit unions have added 650,000 new members (as opposed to 80,000 in a regular month), resulting in more than $4.5 billion in new deposits.” Like they say, four billion here, four billion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money. And this was BEFORE the actual Move Your Money day action.

So I think that Occupy is a success on several fronts and is not done yet. It seems that Occupy has only begun to fight.


SOURCE:
Date and time as given on the official Orientation Guide at http://occupywallst.org/media/OccupyWallSt-Orientation-Guide.pdf

Also, Wikipedia states that the date the website was registered was variously given as June 9 and July 14. July 14 would be cute because that is Bastille Day.