Can astrology help Christchurch?

Pisces 2011

Each time I finish a post, my mind wanders off looking for ideas for the next one. In my head I had it all sorted out this time – it was to be about how we need to re-evaluate the victims and underdogs in our society. Pisces planet Neptune, will change sign soon, returning to his own sign of Pisces. I was contemplating how this might work. People in need of care fall under the auspices of Pisces, so I was thinking of health care and care for the elderly. In some countries this group needing care includes women and children. Any vulnerable groups. We can already see the challenges facing us in these areas. There is not enough money to cover the growing costs.

I was going to have a rant about how older people aren’t valued.
Particularly older women, who in ancient traditions often had an important role to play, and I do think this is changing. But I was overtaken by events, so my post will be about victims of another sort – from an earthquake. There are enough victims in this Pisces time to choose from (many planets are in Pisces at the moment!), but Christchurch, being the town where I was born and grew up, is close to my heart.

What’s the use of astrology?

A criticism often levelled at astrologers is “if you know so much, why didn’t you predict this and warn people.” This is a fair question and I wish this was possible. But it would mean having to study every minute of every day in every town, obviously an impossible task. And even if it was possible I’m not sure that having a warning would help in cases like this, unless we could say “at a particular time don’t be anywhere near Christchurch”. The huge amount of damage is inevitable – perhaps the earth has a mind of her own. In my view, astrology cannot predict an exact outcome, as the universe is very creative with its messages. It would be great if we could control things with our predictions, but we can’t. Life is never ‘under control’ and we need to deal with that. I suspect that if it was, nothing would change. Pluto, who is often one of the culprits in disasters of this nature, wants transformation.

Predictions

There is someone who did predict the two earthquakes in Christchurch, which he apparently does by using astronomical information. Ken Ring has a good track record and is unfortunately predicting another one on March 20th. I cannot imagine the fear that people are feeling there. Since the first earthquake in September, which also did a lot of damage although no-one was killed, there have been aftershocks all the time which are still going on.

 

As a child, I remember a reasonably big earthquake (NZ is on The Ring of Fire) and every time after it when anything shook you didn’t know what was coming and for how long. It was truly terrifying. But nothing like this. Many of the buildings in the centre of the city are unstable and I have just heard that a third of them might need to be demolished, as well as many houses. I’m hoping that when I travel there on a lecture tour to Australia and New Zealand next year, I will still recognise it. But I do wonder how the people of Canterbury feel about this prediction. Does it help?

Internet is a wonderful thing

New Zealand is a pioneering land and it is heartwarming to see the systems already set up on the ground and on the web. As usual in these situations there are people on the dark side, but the international community is helping out and the overwhelming energy is one of getting on with it, solving problems and helping each other. Within a few days of the tragedy, a mass of funds have been raised and a site set up for matching people offering accommodation with those in need. New Zealand has always been at the forefront of innovation, so maybe lessons learned here will be part of the legacy. A lesson for the rest of the world in Pisces compassion and global possibilities. The world now is truly one interconnected place.

Not so long ago, one of my best friends at age five, contacted me through a ‘find people’ website. I was amazed. Thinking back (and showing my age), one thing I remember about her family is the excitement and wonder when they got a phone – a rarity then in our neighbourhood. How times have changed! In my memory it was cool because it was green. A heavy one with a dial. We had a boring black one. Anyway, we did the usual catching up, as you do when you haven’t seen each other for a zillion years about kids/ no kids, divorce, grandmas, parents and so on. And then we left it, knowing we had each others’ email address.

But this week I received an email from Bev. “Thought I would write and see if you know why this is happening to our city. North Beach (Faye’s note: where we lived) is a mess, expecting power to be out for up to a month maybe, but obviously not as bad as the city. We are all stressed to the max, my family are all safe but some of our friends are gone. My brother-in-law’s nephew gone, our friends’ son gone, my daughter’s friend gone. It’s not stopping. Some say another one is predicted for the 20th March, can you tell us, they say it is something to do with the planets at that time.

Sorry to write this but I thought you could shed some light on it.

80% power is back on but all the eastern side is not.  The sub station by my sister’s at North Beach sunk 2 metres. The eastern suburbs which includes Avonside are having problems with the phones etc. even txt are taking a long time to go through. Some cell phone towers are down. Lots of liquefaction as well. They are perhaps going to put up overhead power lines so maybe the Eastern side may have power in a week or so. I heard that last night. Water not so sure about. Long drops are the new toilets now.“

That really brought it home to me. You probably know about the 6 degree theory, but NZ has a 2 degree theory meaning everyone knows someone affected. I was wondering what I could say that could help, as I am not an expert in earthquakes, astrologically or otherwise.

So … what is the use of astrology?

We astrologers are always being accused of predicting things after the event. But what any astrologer worth her salt is really doing by looking at charts after events like this, is two-fold. One is to try to find some meaning in the universe, and the other is to add to our own knowledge of “how stuff works”. Astrologers will give many reasons for events like this, based on their favourite techniques. For me, I am looking for something exact at that location. There are many heavy things with the planets in the air at present and these energies will be a backdrop. I have written on this before. But there must also be something specific. So I am just going to look at one thing that is really exact and very symbolic and I will try not to get too technical. So here goes.

This earthquake, which caused loss of life, was on the 22nd February at 12:51.

You can see there is a lot of energy in one place – we have three planets in Pisces and three next door in Aquarius. The really interesting one for me at that moment is Ceres. She is in Aquarius right at the top of the chart – this means that at that particular minute she was exactly due north and above Christchurch. This is a very powerful place in a horoscope and is associated with goals, missions and reputations. I have written on her before, my view being that she is the keeper of the environment and she has a lot to do with the earth. She also has a lot to do with women, agriculture, purity and perhaps most interestingly for this chart, she is a woman (in mythology) who takes on and negotiates with her brothers Jupiter (growth, entrepreneurship, international things) and Pluto (power, manipulation, transformation.)

The chart is fascinating in that Ceres is not only at the top of the chart, but exactly between Jupiter and Pluto who are forming what is known as an aspect in astrology – a close one here – they are both at 6 degrees. It’s as if she is the negotiator in a heated discussion between these two. Pluto on the right in the house of birth and death, wanting transformation, Jupiter on the left in the house of community and the clan, wanting authentic expansion. Perhaps he wants the world to be one clan. One symbolic meaning of Jupiter with Pluto is very large destruction, but also positive and entrepreneurial transformation. It is an opportunity of course, but a pretty big challenge.

However Ceres is centre stage, so I do wonder what she wants. How are her issues in Christchurch? Is there too much expansion, too little value for older women, no respect for the environment? Not so long ago a good friend of mine said of Christchurch, “I was so disappointed. It was awful in the centre, we didn’t get a wink of sleep because of all the boy racers charging around making noise in their cars in the city.” It’s a long time since I have been there, but it doesn’t sound like the quiet dignified English ‘Garden City’ that I grew up in. Has it grown too quickly and lost the plot?

There is a chart for Christchurch. The one above is for the moment of the quake and it is interesting to see what that chart triggers in the chart for the city. I don’t have a time for it, and it does need verifying (don’t trust everything on the web!), but I do have two dates. One is for the first naming of the place and the other is when it was declared a city. I like the first one which is 27th March 1848, an interesting year in itself as our planet of the month, Neptune, has since made one complete cycle and is almost in the same place as it was then. There was a lot of upheaval worldwide in that year too but that’s another story. Here’s the naming chart for noon, and again there is a lot in Pisces. The Sun (spotlight) of the earthquake chart is actually highlighting (i.e. at nearly the exact same place in the sky) Neptune, our theme of the month – remember victims and compassion, amongst other themes.

But the most interesting link here for me (yes astrologers, I know nodes and Chiron are also interesting but too much to discuss here) is that the Sun in this chart is also at 6 degrees in Aries. This means that the Jupiter and Pluto mentioned above are triggering the Sun, in fact Jupiter is sitting right on it. The Sun represents leaders, men, people in authority, elders of the city, fathers. Aries gives Christchurch a pioneering bunch of leaders, a management culture if you will, of action, just getting on and initiating things, which is obviously helpful at the moment. But maybe there have been too many rash decisions, too much impatience from the city leaders and bosses. Pluto will uncover any secrets or lies, any manipulative behaviour. And when Jupiter gets too big for his boots he plays God and becomes arrogant. I would love to hear your feedback on this you SI kiwis! What have been the issues before the quakes in Christchurch? It’s as if something very big needs to be uncovered and made transparent.

Dear Bev

So Bev, I can’t tell you about the March date, as Ken is looking at factors that astrologers don’t usually look at. I do believe there will be some meaning in it though, and Ceres might be the key. She still has to cross a few more planets in the Christchurch chart so I hope she behaves. I think if consciousness has been raised, she may have done her work. I hope so. I was pleased when you said “It is strange, just reading your email makes me feel better”. Maybe that’s the real help – to be able to talk about it.

Anyway, my heart goes out to all of you there. A huge challenge and a lot of grief and sadness. I hope that one day in the distant future you can look back and see the positive transformation. And take heart in the fact that the world is with you and can learn something from your way of dealing with this tragedy.

Faye Blake-Cossar

Interesting Websites of the Month

A tribute to Christchurch.

Typical kiwi humour show us your longdrop was a toilet competition.

 

Quote of the Month

This because humour is one of the few things that can help in these situations…

“I’m always amazed to hear of air crash victims so badly mutilated that they have to be identified by their dental records. What I can’t understand is, if they don’t know who you are, how do they know who your dentist is?”

Paul Merton, British comedian. Photo telegraph.co.uk