Cultural Epochs and Astronomy

I.
One must distinguish between 4 things a- sidereal constellations of the zodiac b- sidereal signs of the zodiac c- tropical signs of the zodiac d- Steiner cultural epochs They can be described as 4 different concentric zodiacs or circles, all of them seemingly rotating with respect to the other along the sun's path or ecliptic, and differing among themselves by: a- the way it is divided (i.e. equal or unequal divisions) b- the starting zero point c- the speed of rotation Steiner's cultural epochs ("d") is the least astronomical of the 4. It is based on a cycle of exactly 25920 years, traditionally (but wrongly) wrongly called "platonic year", divided in 12 equal 30 degree sections rotating at a speed of exactly 30 degrees per 2160 years. This is only roughly based on astronomy, and is grounded more on tradition and numerology. Steiner never had this clear, and --by giving exact dates-- made a great confusion out of it.. Its starting zero point is given by Steiner as 747 BC, the traditional year of the foundation of Rome, corresponding to the start of the 4th post-Atlantean epoch and the development of the rational soul, and identified more or less correctly --as we shall see-- with the constellation of Aries. The zodiac of the constellations ("a") is rigorously astronomic and experiential, and is the only one that has a direct, unambiguous relationship to the stars. It is not made of 12 constellations but 13 (Ophiucus) and all are of unequal length. (Aries 24 degrees, Virgo 43, Scorpio 6, Ophiucus 22, Cancer 20, Pisces 36, Aquarius 24, etc.). These lengths are of course mere international conventions, but they were the product of a consensus among all classical and modern authorities on the subject. Since it is sidereal, it doesn't rotate and is fixed in quasi-inertial space. Its starting zero point is the line that divides Aries with Pisces, and was drawn more or less arbitrarily by the International Astronomical Union with great precision in 1928. The sidereal signs of the zodiac ("b") is also fixed in space, but is divided in 12 equal signs that roughly correspond to the constellation asterisms behind them. How rough the correspondence is can be seen by comparing the sidereal sign of Virgo (30 degrees of the sun's path) with the corresponding constellation (43 degrees), or the sidereal sign of Cancer (30 degrees) with its corresponding constellation (20 degrees). Its starting zero point is an object of controversy and of historical research, and varies within a range of few degrees depending on the historical tradition followed, be it mainly Indian, Baylonian, Egyptian, etc. The most widely accepted zero point in the West --adopted for example by Robert Powell-- coincides very closely with a position of the

star Spica in 29 Virgo, Aldebaran in 15 Taurus, and Antares in 15 Scorpio, and belongs to the Babylonian astronomical and astrological tradition. The last one is the tropical zodiac ("c"), tied to the solstices and equinoxes and completely independent of the stars or constellations. Its starting point is the vernal equinox, which rotates backwards along the fixed sidereal reference frame at a speed equal to the general precession in longitude (50.28" per year at present). The complete cycle is constant and takes 25700 years. This cycle of the vernal equinox retrograding along the sidereal signs and constellations is the measuring stick or clock handle used to establish the so-called cosmical rhythm of cultural evolution. But we must differentiate between this cycle and the cycle of cultural epochs used by Steiner.

International Astronomical Union: Zodiacal Constellations

Date of Sun's entry in 1979 Duration of Sun's stay in days Total area in square degrees

constellation

border in 1979

length

Capricornus Aquarius Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpius Ophiuchus Sagittarius

29,21:46 Capricorn 27,11:43 Aquarius 21,39:25 Pisces 28,23:50 Aries 23,07:41 Taurus 29,51:07 Gemini 27,42:03 Cancer 17,45:07 Leo 23,33:57 Virgo 07,31:37 Scorpio 00,26:01 Sagittarius 07,21:20 Sagittarius 25,57:21 Sagittarius

27,49'57" 24,27'42" 36,44'25" 24,43'51" 36,43'26" 27,50'56" 20,03'04" 35,48'50" 43,57'40" 22,54'24" 06,55'19" 18,36'01" 33,24'25'

Jan 20 Feb 16 Mar 12 Apl 19 May 14 Jun 21 Jul 21 Aug 11 Sept 17 Oct 31 Nov 23 Nov 30 Dec 18

27.44 24.06 37.51 25.48 38.31 29.20 20.96 37.05 44.51 23.10 6.52 18.31 32.55

414 980 889 441 797 514 506 947 1294 538 497 948 867

NOTE: The Sun passes 8'57" inside the North-East border of the Constellation Cetus (The Whale) the 28th of March, at zodiacal longitude 6:50:13 of Aries (in 1979). This table was made by the author with data provided by Pierre Bachus in "L'Astronomie" June 1979, pp.297-99.

II.

Having overviewed the 4 different cycles or zodiacs that enter the picture, what is left is to determine the relationships they have among themselves, as we saw, in terms of starting point (normally the Aries 0 point), manner of division (equal signs or unequal constellations), and speed of rotation. From the astronomical perspective, the basic relationship is that between the tropical and the sidereal zodiac, usually assumed to mean the passing of the vernal point backwards through the zodiacal constellations, giving origin to the so-called astrological eras. Traditionally, the eras are assumed to be of equal length, but this is more based on tradition than astronomy, since in terms of what is seen in the sky, the constellations are all of unequal length. The speed of rotation of the moving tropical zodiac with respect to the fixed sidereal zodiac is 30 degrees per 2148 years. This value is only at present, since strictly the velocity accelerates and decelerates with a period of 41,000 years, in consonance with the period of oscillation of the obliquity of the ecliptic, and this produces a variation between 2054 and 2226 years. The equinoctial and solstitial points of the tropical zodiac can be readily ascertained mathematically, but where do we put the measuring stick of the sidereal zodiac? This is a historical problem, consisting in determining where was the zero point of the sidereal zodiac used in antiquity, since the ancients, based on a direct relationship with the nocturnal sky, never bothered to work with tropical positions. It has been demonstrated (or is a matter of controversy) that the Babylonians before the Greeks were aware of the precession of the equinoxes, but they never abandoned their sidereal reference frame. One important fact is that the Babylonian zodiac, as far as historical research can tell, was always of equal 30-degree divisions. In India today, astrologers use sidereal signs (not constellations), because their practice derives from Babylonia via the Persians and the Greeks. But there are different traditions or "schools" based on different ancient authorities or "canons", each with a different starting point. The difference between the equinoctial zero point (0 Aries in the tropical zodiac) and the zero point of the sidereal zodiac varies slowly with time at a rate of 1 degree per 71.6 years, and is called the "Ayanamsa", a term adopted today by western sidereal astrologers. But there are different "ayanamsas" in use, according to school or tradition, varying from 21 to 26 degrees at present. Western astrologers, by means of historical research on Babylonian practices and empirical statistics, use an ayanamsa of about 24 degrees based on a starting zero point called the FaganBradley "synetic vernal point", which determines where the Spring equinox falls in the traditional sidereal zodiac of the ancients. This reference point, adopted for example by Robert Powell, is today in 5d16' 25.6" of the sidereal sign of Pisces, which means that, for the astrological "Era of Pisces" to end, there are still 377.6 years to go, or, in other words, the "Era of Aquarius" will be starting in the year 2377. But let's not forget that the above date refers to the traditional signs used by the ancient Babylonians, and not the modern division line established by the IAU in 1928. Using this international conventional line, the "Era of Aquarius" will start in the year 2597, corresponding to the vernal point reaching the modern Pisces/Aquarius border.

This, presumably, is why 2626 AD has been mentioned mistakenly as the beginning of Steiner's 6th cultural epoch, but Steiner's cultural epochs have little to do with this. How they are related to the astronomical facts outlined here will be the subject of another message, which I hope will be the last, so you won't have to endure these technical questions much longer.

III.
We have seen that, according to the approximate starting point of the ancient Babylonian zodiac, the shift from the sidereal sign of Pisces to the sidereal sign of Aquarius will happen in 2377 AD (the exact date in the Fagan/Bradley zodiac is June 16 2376). According to the modern definition of constellation boundaries, the date is May 22, 2597. Going backwards, one finds that, in the ancient Babylonian zodiac approximation of Fagan/Bradley, the shift from Aries to Pisces happened in 9 September AD 221, making 2155 years the time it takes the vernal point to travel 30 degrees of the zodiac. The difference of 2155 years seems to be closer to the traditional number mentioned, 2160, used by Steiner, but the correspondence disappears when one calculates how much it took to travel 30 degrees before that, when the shift was between Taurus and Aries: this happened in the year 1954 BC, so the duration was 2175 years: If we call the Fagan/Bradley "Synetic Vernal Point" the "Zero Point" of the Babylonian Zodiac, the duration of the exact 30-degree Eras would be: Taurus = 4145 BC to 1954 BC duration = 2191 yrs Aries = 1954 BC to 221 AD duration = 2175 yrs Pisces = 221 AD to 2376 AD duration = 2155 yrs Aquarius = 2376 AD to 4510 AD duration = 2134 yrs We also have to understand that these are sign boundaries, not constellation boundaries. The modern boundary between the unequal constellations of Aries (24,44 degrees) and Pisces (36,44 degrees) was reached by the vernal equinox around the year 68 BC, while the boundary between the constellations of Taurus (36,43 degrees) and Aries was reached by the vernal point around 1864 BC. However, actual unequal constellation boundaries are never used in the tradition of the astrological eras, which is based on sections of 30 degrees each, therefore only roughly based on what is really seen in the sky. Steiner mentions the year 747 BC as the start of the 4th cultural epoch, which he relates to the constellation of Aries, and 1413 to the start of the 5th cultural epoch, which he relates to the constellation of Pisces. He also mentions 333 AD as the midpoint of the 4th epoch.

Several conclusions can be drawn from this: a- He is using a period of 2160 years for each epoch, 25920 years for the whole cycle. Therefore he is following tradition, and only roughly astronomy. b- He confuses the unequal zodiacal constellations observed in the heavens with the equal sidereal zodiacal signs of astrological tradition. c- The dates he mentions, do not correspond, by any means, to the start of a constellation, or of a sign, but correspond roughly to the middle of a sidereal sign. The three conclusions above are, of course, from a physical, and maybe etherical, point of view. There could be "occult", "astral", "clairvoyant" reasons or explanations why Steiner defined the cultural epochs as related to the "constellations" the way he did, but astronomically --or physically-- one must not get confused. The ancient Babylonian zodiac , as we saw, places the start of the Era of Pisces around 221 AD, while the Indian tradition places it around 400-650 AD; Steiner mentions the year 333 AD as the middle of the 4th, rational soul epoch. The relationship is evident, and it means that: a- the start of a cultural epoch is the midpoint of the astrological era. b- he is using a zodiac with a starting point which is 1,33 degrees away from the traditional zodiac of antiquity c- 333 + 2160 = 2493 is the summit, the acme of the 5th cultural epoch, which corresponds very clearly, albeit roughly, to the time of entrance of the venal point in the sign (2377 AD) as well as the constellation (2597 AD) of Aquarius. NOTE: This difference of more than 1000 years for the start of a Steiner cultural epoch, when compared with the traditional doctrine of astrological eras, could also be explained if one assumes that the reference point is taken to be not a hypothetical mathematical "line" where the constellation starts (or at the middle of it), but --roughly-- the time when the constellation can be observed SETTING HELIACALLY at the Spring Equinox. A good reference for this line of inquiry (not directly related to Steiner) is Terry MacKinnell's forum, where I first found this idea.

Juan Antonio Revilla San Jos, Costa Rica, September 4, 1999. (revised March 2004 )

Varuna will provide the key note of his presidential race. This could mean many things, and points to the religious/fundamentalist overtones of his war campaigns, where he presents himself as the harbinger of freedom appointed by God, and exploits the mythical portrayal of United States of America 's "divine mission" of representing and defending the highest human values throughout the Universe, of America being the spiritual model, the "big daddy" for the rest of the world, in particularly the under-developed world, which has always been the prey of U.S. economic expansionism. Bush's religious fundamentalism and thirst for world power can rightly be compared with Islamic fundamentalism, which is its mirror (counter-)image. They both form an axis of death around the world. The current situation in Iraq (and to a lesser extent, in Afghanistan), where the U.S. Army is stuck with no possibility of getting out soon, and where Americans must show their face to the rest of the world in order to prove that the invasion was something good, corresponds well to the "varunization" of Mr. Bush, dramatized yesterday by his surprise landing and swift visit to Iraq. This visit is a good testimony or "clue" to the meaning of this transit Recall that Islam was born under a Varuna/Sun conjunction: Sun Islam = 19,53 Cancer Varuna Islam = 18,36 Cancer This conjunction looked more exact some time ago, but further orbital refinements left Varuna a little behind from the 1-degree orb. When was transiting Varuna at the same distance (19,53-18,36 = 1,17') from the U.S. President's Sun? Bush Sun - 1,17' = 18,30 Gemini (sidereal) Varuna tr. = 22 September 2002 to 31 May 2004

Regarding this "varunization", I was looking at my old notes on Varuna to see if I could obtain any clue (I have not dealt with Varuna after I wrote my last notes in 2001). I found 2 separate commentaries that I think are related to this, and I would like to bring them out here for future reflections. Before I continue: my intuitive "feeling" for the moment --subject to change or evolve-- is that the varunization of Bush in 2004 refers to his direct involvement in the "building" of a "new" Iraq, or maybe to his utter failure in achieving that? The first is from my "Testing the Chart of Islam":

<<This type of higher, pre-established legal principles is Varunian (recall the Supreme Court deciding the US presidency at the time Varuna was discovered). Bin Laden is appealing to it, and his "Varunian" vision of America as the seat of evil is and has been shared by many other Muslims in many different countries. This "judgement" upon the US, or the US actions that have originated it, are perhaps related to the following: Moon of Islam = 21,33 Leo US Varuna (Boyd chart) = 20,38 Leo US Varuna (July 4th 1776) = 21,39 Leo <<This works both sides. There is a strong sense of moral superiority (Varuna) in the way Americans judge the Arab world (the Moon of Islam). In fact, both attacks on Irak and on Afghanistan are justified in the name of "Justice", and of course Americans are the judges. I think this is eloquently described in the above aspect.>> Let's recall the key-words on Varuna that I gathered from my preliminar work: religious sanction, the sanction from above supreme sense of non-questionable authority divine law the figure of a supreme judge dogmatism, extreme conservatism fundamentalism the cosmic order a cathedral, the Vatican symbolical ordering to whom individuals are invisible On 24 March 2001, I wrote [ref. above]: <<The "remoteness" of Varuna could also be seen as the large architectonic structures of a cathedral, or like the Vatican, or like the U.S. Supreme Court, where "The Law" is mythically put "in the heavens" as if bestowed by a higher power. I say mythically, because, like you say, in the end it is just a question of the persons who are given that power. It is a sort of symbolic power, something that is not exerted on the individual but is exerted as if "by itself", as if it were not a person speaking but the higher power. <<It is an interesting angle of the power of Pluto, and it fits very well the orbit of Varuna. It also fits very well its discovery during the last US electoral decision and circus-battle between the Federal and the Florida Supreme Courts.>> The discovery of Varuna was officially announced December 1, 2000. This happened at the time of the presidential elections. The ruling of the Federal Supreme Court that gave the victory to Bush after the battle for the ballots in Florida and a confrontation with the Florida Supreme Court, was issued December 10th.

If you consider that president Bush was appointed by the Supreme Court precisely at the time Varuna was discovered, it is clear that Varuna overshadows or controls his presidency in many important ways, a fact that strengthens the association of Varuna with moral and religious fundamentalism. The second comment is in reference to the birth data of HAMAS given by Harald: <<Thanks for this reference. Very interesting. Using 12h UT I get: Sun = 22Sa58 Saturn = 23Sa31 Varuna = 23Ge34 <<Knowing that Islam was born under an exact Sun/Varuna conjunction, th the exact Sun/Varuna opposition mediated by Saturn found here may be the sign of a movement with deeper or more fundamental roots than the simplistic "terrorists" image or label with which Hamas is presented by the Western, non-Islamic press. <<The word "resistance" may be the clue here, since the movement is an attempt to resist Varuna (the opposition), which can be seen as the harsh sense of moral superiority and "justice" claimed by the leaders of the occupying army (Israel and its ally the US). The Sun/Varuna strives for something higher, for a higher sense of spiritual authority or divine justice which is found in Islam. However, the ambiguity of the opposition results in an unsolved moral situation that shakes the wish of Saturn to reivindicate the "right to be" of the Palestinian nation. <<Consider Israel's justification for their illegal occupation and settlement of Palestinian land as given to themselves by God. This is another aspect of Varuna, which also shows how Hamas' militants see themselves as representatives or voices of a "higher authority" than this, their "divine right" to kill their enemies, those who invade their country and robe them of their most cherished values: their land and their integrity.>> <<It is interesting to compare this with the chart of Islam: sidereal Mars Hamas = 19,27 Libra sidereal Islam Sun = 19,53 Cancer sidereal Islam Varuna = 18,58 Cancer>>

Note that Varuna refers to Judeo-Christian as well as to Islamic fundamentalism, so that Israel is an important part of the geo-political picture of Varuna.

Juan

____________________________________ _____________________________________

Date: Wed Dec 31, 2003 1:29 pm Subject: the varunization of America, 3.

I suggested that, among other things, this "varunization" was related to the efforts to rebuild Iraq (hopefully, with MacDonalds, "democracy", and everything), the "Americanization" of Iraq. I also suggested that it might mean that Bush will win the 2004 elections.

NOTE: recent research on the original documents related to the Boyd "War" chart has come out with a more accurate --historically speaking-- time for the chart which would place the Sun in 22,55 Gemini. You can visit Kennet Irving' "Planetline Crossings" site for the details.:

I had forgotten to mention the natal Moon of G.W. Bush, which makes the above constellation really tight:

Bush Moon = 22,43 Virgo (same timing as the Boyd and Boyd-Noel Sun)

In order to have a more clear picture of this "varunization", one needs to examine the times in the past when Varuna has been technically central in U.S. history. Their situation at birth is as follows:

Sibley Sun = 21,42 Gemini Sibley Varuna = 21,35 Leo

B-N (Boyd-Noel) Sun = 22,55 Gemini

B-N Varuna = 20,25 Leo

These positions means that one should look for 1-) the progressed Sun (solar arc) conjunction with Varuna, and 2-) the transiting Varuna opposition to the Sun:

1.a-) progressed Sun conjunct B-N Varuna = 26 July 1835 1.b-) solar arc Varuna conjunct B-N Sun = 4 Oct 1835 1.c-) progressed Sun conjunct Sibley Varuna = 17 Jan 1839 1.d-) solar arc Varuna conjunct Sibley Sun = 21 Mar 1839

This period corresponds to the "Indian Wars", particularly the "Second Seminole War" (1835-42), and the "Trail of Tears" (1838-39). The Sibley chart describes the time when more than 15,000 Cherokees were forced to walk away from their homeland, from Georgia to Oklahoma, guarded by 7000 soldiers. 4000 Cherokees died of starvation and exposure along the way. The corrected Boyd chart describes the Treaty of New Echota in late 1835, which was used by the Government to justify the action.

2.a-) tr. Varuna opposition Sibley Sun = March 1874 through November 1875 2.b-) tr. Varuna opposition B-N Sun = March 1875 through November 1876

This period marks the federal Government's "seizure" in 1874 of the Black Hills Indian territory in Western South Dakota, and the Indian rebellion that led to the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 and the subsequent brutal and final destruction of the Indian resistance in the great plains.

One could also look for 3-) the moment when Varuna opposes itself, as a reference or vantage point from which to understand or illuminate the natal position:

3.a-) tr. Varuna opposition B-N Varuna = May 1917 through January 1919 3.b-) tr. Varuna opposition Sibley Varuna = April 1918 through December 1919

This describes American involvement in WWI and the inauguration of the League of Nations under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson.

QUESTION: What do all these have in common? What do they have in common with the present events in Iraq, and the Bush presidency?

ANSWER: Varuna.

Juan

____________________________________ _____________________________________

Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 07:14:07 -0600 Subject: Re: [Centaurs] the varunization of America, 3.

[...] Varuna is when people, or those in power, think that "God is with them", "God gave them the right". It is when people evoke a higher power to justify their actions, which are seen as a form of "justice", even if it implies murder, pillage, terrorism, theft, etc. People do this "in the name of God", in the name of Justice, democracy, :freedom, "the United Nations", etc.

[...] Collectively the "evil" characteristics are the rule. It would be interesting to see how the bad and the good characteristics are combined, as in, for example, Franz Liszt (Sun conjunct Varuna) -- to mention someone completely apart from today's mainstream political and ideological concerns.

Juan

_____________________________________ _____________________________________

Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 07:33:43 -0600 Subject: [Centaurs] Tim Lyon's letter: Varuna

Concerning the discussion on Varuna, I would like to reproduce something I sent to another list on 10 Dec 2000. Coincidentally, this was the time of the Supreme Court ruling about the Florida counting of votes that put Bush in the presidency, and the time when Varuna was discovered. The letter, written by American Astrology columnist Tim Lyons, in my view expresses "the Varuna principle" quite well, and the points it makes are even more poignant today than in 1991.

For the record: Tim Lyons, Ph.D., is a practicing Budddhist, professional Astrologer, and Professor of Literature at CU Boulder. He has written a book called "Astrology Beyond Ego" (Quest / Theosophical Publishing House, 1986), was an American Astrology columnist in the late 80's and early 90's ("Astrology of the New Age"), and recently published in The Mountain Astrologer: "Pluto, Projections, and Projectiles", Aug-Sep 2003.

[BEGIN QUOTE]

THE U.S. CHART CONTROVERSY

a letter from columnist Tim Lyons in "Many Things", "American Astrology" Vol. 59, No.9 (November 1991), pages 17-19.

"I found Michael O'Reilly's July article of the U.S. Scorpio-rising birth chart quite interesting. Some of his evidence was quite persuasive. However, I think the evidence for the 7+ Sagittarius-rising chart is even more persuasive. I've been working with this chart for some time now, and find that it not only depicts the national character in a particular accurate way, but it also responds very nicely to transits --including transits through the houses, the time of which depends on the birth time.

"Whether we feel a horoscope depicts the national character accurately depends on what we feel that character to be. Michael O'Reilly writes that the Moon in Aquarius in the 4th house <<accurately depicts a country founded on the principle of equality.>> It might, but this country was hardly founded on principles of equality. It was founded, rather, upon violence, violation, bad ethics and racism; upon the ability of Europeans to steal Indian land, and later to import black slaves. In the south, the economy survived and flourished largely because of the slave trade which supported the Cotton Kingdom. The land for that Kingdom was opened by Andrew Jackson's conspicuously barbaric, dishonest and altogether reprehensible Indian policy. The Declaration of Independence, for all its well-stated principles, makes no decent provision for Indian or Black rights. It is, in many ways, a deceptive national vision, one of high-flown principles covering a somewhat less salutary practice.

"The 7+ Sagittarius ("Lynes") chart has Neptune at the Midheaven, an apt symbol for a deceptive national vision. Bob Hand connects this position with idealized father figures; certainly the government's policy toward the Indians and slaves was paternalistic in the extreme. (See Michael Paul Rogin's 'Father and Children'). Neptune's position in Virgo suggests the inequalities discussed above; because it rules the nadir, these inequalities appear at the root of the national origins.

"The chart also has Uranus and Mars in the 7th house, an apt placement for a nation which has habitually (and paradoxically, considering the Declaration) felt threatened by nations declaring their freedom (or more precisely, their freedom from our economic domination). We fear revolutionary ideas, and see in those ideas the threat of violence (Mars). It's a case of projection, pure and simple, wellillustrated by those two planets' placements... Mars, of course, squares Neptune, so we base our violence (Mars) against these purportedly dangerous revolutionary groups (Uranus) on the high-flown but deceptive principles which we feel form the root of our nation.

"The Lynes chart has the Sun and Mercury in the 8th, with Jupiter, the chart ruler, on the cusp. Can we deny that we derive our national identity from the money or values of others? No nation on the planet takes more than we do. Our stealing is supported by the efforts of the National Security Administration, suggested by Saturn's square to that Cancer Sun from the 11th house.

"Pluto in the 2nd house of the Lynes chart suggests concentrated wealth. Michael O'Reilly's statistics demonstrate how concentrated wealth is in this country. Isn't this suggestive of Pluto in the 2nd, not 3rd? (One might argue that Pluto in the 3rd suggests the influence of wealth on the press. However, I think this relationship is more strongly stated by the Mercury-Pluto opposition in the financial houses). The relationship between wealth and government is depicted by the trine between that Pluto and the

Midheaven. The trine from Pluto to Neptune suggests the rather facile connection between wealth and national delusion.

"I cannot accept a 9th house Sun for a nation which so often ignores international law. We are perhaps the most lawless nation on earth. A 9th house Sun would also suggest that we draw our life-energy from education and broad-mindedness. Nor can I accept Saturn on the cusp of the 12th. The ordering system in this country is neither tentative nor transcendent. Saturn in the 12th would suggest difficulty maintaining order, and that the principle of order would often be rejected. This is hardly the case with the United States. Witness our historical obsession with law and order (of which there are many examples in Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States'), and our ongoing role as the world's policeman supporting various police-states.

"Finally, the Scorpio-rising chart has nothing afflicting the nadir. As the nadir symbolizes national origins, it makes more sense to have Mars square to that point, symbolizing our violence against those origins -or the native people who embody them.

"One might object that we can't implicate the Declaration of Independence in the violence done to Indians and Blacks; but the declaration declared this nation and independent entity, and as such embodies the nation's spirit. It is the mercantile spirit (so precisely depicted in the Lynes chart) of the nation which has been the prime motivating factor in the decimation of Indian culture and the barbaric treatment of Blacks.

"I also question the notion that the Declaration is the 'legal basis' of this country. As draft resisters found out, the declaration is unfortunately of little value in legal proceedings. As for Scorpio-rising, while it does suggest the importance of hidden money and secret violence, it does not place Pluto (the active agent of this money and violence) in aspect with the Midheaven. The CIA is a branch of the government, the right arm of the executive. Lynes trine to the Midheaven from Pluito seems much more accurate. And I would argue that expansion (Sagittarius) based on the money of others (Jupiter in the 8th) much better characterizes this nations's persona than does determination (Scorpio) based on domestic communication or the nation's literary character (Pluto in the third). The evidence for the financial basis of our expansion is, I hope, evident enough.

"I won't go into all the transits to the Lynes chart. The reader may wish to examine my ongoing series in 'Welcome to Planet Earth' and a 3-part series (beginning August 1991) in 'The Mountain Astrologer'. Let me just suggest a few details.

"First, Neptune in the 2nd house suggests a financial structure built on deception or overidealism. That's where it is now and has been lately. In the early 1830's, when Neptune reached the final few degrees of Capricorn, the banks (2nd) fell apart (Neptune, Pluto). Why? The influence of Andrew Jackson (natal Neptune at the Midheaven).

"Second, and perhaps more persuasively, the hard aspects from transiting Pluto to the Moon have all produced severe repression of free speech in this country. In the 1790's the conjunction was in the 3rd house: Our own press was repressed. In the 1870's the issue was workers, as a national railway strike was put down harshly: Pluto was in the 6th house, suggesting the working man. Pluto's opposition was in the McCarthy era: Pluto was in the 9th, suggesting the supposed 'foreign influence' that produced such panic. Now Pluto is approaching its waning square from the 12th house of secret enemies. We already see the signs of this aspect in the reporting (or non-reporting) of the Persian Gulf War."

Tim Lyons, CO.

[END QUOTE]

Juan _____________________________________ _____________________________________

Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 18:34:16 -0600 Subject: [Centaurs] the varunization of America, 4.

Tim Lyons' letter about the American character gives us an opportunity to understand a key aspect of Varuna, which Diana expressed by saying: <<Whether the manifestation of a prominent Varuna is deemed positive depends upon who ends up writing history>>. His reference to Andrew Jackson connects directly with my earlier post, where we saw that " the Sun/Varuna conjunction by progression coincided with The Trail of Tears" and the Second Seminole War.

The "Varuna principle" is expressed by Lyons in the following words: <<Whether we feel a horoscope depicts the national character accurately depends on what we feel that character to be.>>. Never in my lifetime (I was born in 1957), I think, what this "national character" is has become more dramatic than in the presidency of Mr. Bush, whose actions, despite all the criticism, have all been backed and massively financed by the U.S. Congress.

I am not implying that Varuna defines the national character of the U.S., what I am saying is that Varuna refers to a sense of "superior justice" or "supreme/divine order", that sense (or cynical arrogance) through which the U.S. Congress, the U.N. Security Council, and Bin Laden as well as Zionism (their mirror-image), and many others, feel they have the right to "play God" with thousands and millions of people, hiding behind that <<unflinching allegiance to an abstract principle>> (Diana) that makes them think "we are right", "this is what good is", "this is justice", "if you are not with us, you are with the terrorists", or "you are a Jewish pig".

To Andrew Jackson, it meant: "we, the descendants of European settlers, represent the U.S., while you, the Indians, are savages that hinder our mission given by God to conquer this land, and you, the Niger, are given to us as slaves through an also God-given superiority. What matters is that all this "comes from above", it is "THE LAW". It cannot be questioned. The same with the Catholic Church and Luther as well as Galileo, the Israelis and Palestinians, Blavatsky and Theosophy, and of course, the Shari'a, the divine, absolutist law of Islam.

The position of Varuna in Andrew Jackson's chart is very interesting (more on him later). He was born March 15, 1767:

Varuna = 11,09 Leo (sidereal) Black Moon = 10,57 Leo TL66 = 10,20 Scorpio Neptune = 11,46 Leo

These, though not lived consciously by Jackson, define the beliefs of his "era", "the spirit of his time."

Years ago, before Varuna had been named, I shared in this forum the following intuitive hunch on 2000WR106 (=Varuna):

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 20:15:47 -0600 From: jar@expreso.co.cr Subject: Re: WR106 & "beyond it all" <<I definitely feel that the "roundness" of the orbit WR106 makes a great deal of difference with respect to the "hurricanes" or wild flights of the scattered disk objects, but its characteristics are on hold in my mind for the moment. I identify much better with the sdo's and the eccentrics... Nevertheless, consider this just a crazy fantasy without foundation: WR106 gives the feeling or the "atmosphere" of a medieval torture chamber.>>

Then, the next day, Jonathan Dunn wrote:

Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2001 00:44:15 -0800 From: Jonathan Dunn <jondunn@speakeasy.org> Subject: Reign of TerrorSubject: Reign of Terror <<I did an astrological web search on the reign of terror and the first page that came up was this one: <<http://www.alignmentsonline.com/AOcharts/Euro/France.html <<He shows the chart of "the fifth republic" (1958) and then '... Compare this sky with that of the First Republic, proclaimed before the Revolution of 1789 degenerated into the Reign of Terror ...'. In his wheel, one sees <<Sun 3:55 Libra <<Vesta 4:38 Libra <<It turns out also <<2000 WR106 4:06 Libra <<Jonathan Dunn.

NOTE: the above link no longer works, so I cannot confirm or re-calculate myself today.

The French Revolution can be seen as a dethronization of Varuna, so we see in the Reign of Terror the other face of Varuna, the same that, perhaps, is shown in present-day Iraq after the fall of Hussein, or, under totally different circumstances, after Sep 11 in the U.S. I have had no time to explore this line of inquiry yet.

Juan

_____________________________________ _____________________________________

Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:51:35 -0600 Subject: Re: [Centaurs] the varunization of America, 4.

... in reference to a mention by Jonathan Dunn in a message of 28 Feb 2001, of a Varuna/Sun conjunction signaling the Reign of Terror, but the link in his message from 2001 is now dead.

Today I found the following, apparently taken from Nick Campion's book:

107 FRANCE-1ST-REP-2,1792,9,26,9,0,0,0,3,LMT,-0.161184883,PARIS, FR,-2.3333,48.866667,-1,0,

Sun = 3,55 Libra Varuna = 4,04 Libra Vesta = 4,39 Libra

also interesting is the Moon exactly at perigee:

Black Moon = 10,44 Leo Moon = 11,11 Aquarius

Juan

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