Astrology of Java Earthquake 2 Sep 2009

At 2:55 pm on 2nd September 2009, an earthquake of Richter scale 7.3 rocked the Java Island. The earthquake epicentre was 30 km under the sea and 142 km south-west of Tasikmalaya in West Java province. It rocked the island and caused landslide in some areas. More than 10,000 houses were destroyed and another 13000 houses heavily damaged. The death toll rose to 57
yesterday.
A chart cast for the earthquake at its epicentre shows the chart to be heavily afflicted by challenging aspects and two T-squares carrying a Pluto apex in one of them. There is a stellium in Aquarius with Moon, Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune in the 1st house indicating the suddenness of the event. The Nodal Axis is conjunct the Asc-Des axis suggesting the fatefulness of the incident. The Sun is at 0 degrees of Virgo and is unaspected suggesting structural vulnerability of the fateful moment.

A comparison is made between the radical chart of the earthquake and Indonesia's national chart and it shows two features of significance:

(a) Transit Pluto is square the national Mars suggesting violence, power, destruction and devastation hitting the country
(b) Transit Mars is in opposition to the national Sun which signifies the assault on the country's well-being and structural integrity.

Astrology of Greece Fire 21-22 Aug 2009

A large wildfire broke out on Friday 21 August in the village of Grammatico, about 40 km north east of Athens. Fanned by strong winds, it went out of control and Greece declared a state of emergency the next day. Hundreds of houses, a children's hospital and a reitrement home have been evacuated north-east of the capital. Firebreaks in forests on Mount Penteli failed to hold the flames late on Saturday, and the fir crossed into the Athens suburds of Dionysos, Stamata and Rodopoli. Firefighters and wagter bombers stepped up the battle against wind-whipped wildfires tearing towards Athens as terrified residents begged to be rescued. Many residents complained of having to fight the fire alone. The flames thousands of acres of forest land and farming fields. It has so far killed more than fifty people and is threatening the Olympic site.

The national horoscope for Greece is casted for 4:00 am on 24 July 1974, when the current republican, parliamentary regime started, and is compared with the planetary transits on Friday 21 Aug 09 midnight.

(a) Transit Mars, symbolic of fire, is at an exact conjunction with the national Ascendant and is indicative of an assault on the well-being of the country of Greece.
(b) Transit Pluto is square to the national Uranus, suggesting the suddenness and devastating power of the natural disaster.
(c) Transit Saturn is in conjunction with the national Pluto and is consistent with the agricultural havoc the fire has caused on the country.

Astrology of the Italy Quake

A powerful earthquake rocked the central mountainous area of Italy yesterday, 6th April 2009 at 3:30 am in the morning. It knocked down whole blocks of buildings killing at least 200 people. This is perhaps Italy's most deadliest earthquake in the last 3 decades since the Erpinia earthquake in 1980.

1500 people were injured and tens of thousands were left homeless. Many are still trapped in rubble of ruined buildings. The earthquake has taken a toll on the prized architectural heritage of the city of L'Aquila which was built in the Medieval ages. Many churches and castles in and around the city at the epicentre of the earthquake have collapsed. Surrounding towns and villages in the Abruzzo region were virtually wiped out.

The National Chart of the Italian Republic is set at 10 June 1946. When this was compared with the progressed chart for 7th Apr 09, startling observations are made. There is a double whammy: progressed North Node is in exact conjunction with the natal Uranus whereas progressed Uranus is at exact conjunction with natal North Node, indicating the fateness of the event. In addition, progressed Mars is square natal Mercury while progressed Chiron is in conjunction with natal Jupiter suggesting a violent disruption of the community and population. In addition the progressed nodal axis is square transit Mars.

When the natal chart is compared against the event chart, transit Mars/Saturn opposition is seen to square natal Uranus forming a t-square, indicating the suddenness and violent nature of the event. Also the transiting Chiron/Neptune conjunction at the 4th house is opposite natal Mars indicating the mass loss of homes, suffering from the violent quake. Furthermore transit Uranus is in a quincunx to natal Mars, further emphasizing the violent nature of the event.

Astrology of the Kepler Space Telescope Voyage

The United States launched a space telescope Kepler on 7th Mar 09 at 10:49 pm from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The telescope was built at a cost of US$600 million and its mission is to find Earth-like planets in a faraway pathc of the Milky Way galaxy. The historic voyage may be the first mission capable of answer the age-old question: "Are there other worlds like ours out there?" This telescope is capable of observing about a hundred thousand stars which are between 600 and 3000 light years away.

The chart is rich with historical space symbolism. The transit North Node and Moon is conjunct the national South Node showing the significant timing and historic nature of the historical moment. Transit Pluto is opposite national Venus. Pluto rules outer space and space flight. Venus in this aspect denotes the connection with which we want to make with other worlds in the galaxy.

Transit Uranus is opposite natal Neptune and square Mars. Uranus rules science, technology and exploration whereas Neptune is symbolic of space and spaciousness. Mars on the other hand represents the air force. Moon, Uranus and Neptune are all planets that are symbolic of the telescope. Transit Mars and transit Neptune are in a quincunx to Mercury, and Mercury is a planet of flight, representative of the space launch.

Transit Jupiter is trine natal Saturn. Jupiter also symbolises distant voyanges and exploration and Saturn rules boundaries and limits. Hence this aspect is apt symbolism for space exploration.

Lightning strike of Singapore's Merlion - 28 Feb 09

The Singapore Merlion is a national symbol and icon of the country. Its statue at One Fullerton was unfortunately struck by lightning on 28th Feb 09 at 4:30 pm with the resultant loss of its top left mane and part of its right ear. About 20-30 people was nearby when the incident occured by no one was hurt. Nonetheless the event is very symbolic one, with the Lion representing Singapore and the body of the Fish symbolic of the country being surrounded by sea.

A biwheel astrological chart is cast for the moment of the event against Singapore's National Chart. Several significators are immediately obvious:

(a) Transit Uranus is at an exact conjunction with natal Chiron, indicating the suddenness and unpredictability of the event and the injury it has caused to the country's icon. Uranus itself rules lightning. Both planets are in the sign of Pisces, and Pisces is symbolic of the Fishes.

(b) Transit Mercury forms a T-square with natal Sun and natal Neptune. This is indeed striking as the Sun in a National Chart represents the government or the icon of the country. Sun is also the ruler of Leo which signifies the lion whereas Neptune is the planet of the sea and signifies the relationship of the Merlion with the sea. Furthermore as Mercury rules the ears, it is most apt that the Merlion's ear has been damaged.

(c) Transit Mercury is quincunx natal Venus and transit Venus is conjunct the natal IC. Venus is symbolic of statues and the damage done to this particular strikes at the innermost sentiments of the country.

Buffalo Air Disaster of 12th Feb 2009

This is the . first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the United States in two and a half years. A commuter plane carrying 44 passangers, a four-member crew and a pilot slammed into a suburban Buffalo home, sparking a fiery explosion, just five minutes before it is due to land in Buffalo Niagara International Airport. All 49 on board and one person in the house were killed.

Flames silhoutted the shattered home at 10:20 pm on Thursday 12th Feb 09 after the aircraft plummetted into it. It was not clear what caused the crash. The plane was noted to simply drop off the radar screen by the Department of Homeland Security.


The chart is cast as a biwheel with the United States Mundane chart in the centre and the transit for 12th Feb 09. There are several significant astrological findings:

(a) Transit Pluto is opposite Venus in the 7th house showing the loss of loved ones.
(b) A T-square is formed by the transiting Saturn/Uranus opposition in 4th/11th axis with national Mars at the apex. This is consistent with a sudden bereavement at the family level with sadness in the public image of the aviation industry as Mars rules Mercury which symbolises communication.
(c) The two Nodal Axes are in conjunction with the transit North Node in contact with the national South Node, indicating the fateness of the event.
(d) Transit Neptune forms a Yod with national Neptune at 10th house and national Mercury at the 8th house, again highlighting the lack of clarity of the circumstances surrounding the aviation disaster.

Eyes of the Dragon

When I visited the Presidential Palace in Seoul last December, I was at the public square next to it and obtained a good view of the "Green Dragon Hill". We were told by the tour guide that Korea uses a system of Feng Shui that is identical to that of the Chinese.

Years back when the emperor was searching for an appropriate site for the kingdom's capital he was advised by a Fengshui master to the area which has a good view of the Dragon. The picture of the Dragon Hill was taken directly from the square and shows what looks like the two eyes and nose of a dragon. The view was awesome.

"Central Heating" in traditional Korean House

I have always wondered how the people of ancient Korea keep warm during their cold winters. The people have a tradition of sleeping and sitting on the floor, and that apparently includes even their ancient Emperors. In the course of my travel I experienced the central heating in some Korean hotels through hot water pipes buried on their cement floor.

I visited the Korean Cultural Village in Seoul in December 08 to find out more about their culture, and was shown an exhibit of a more primitive version of their innovative "central heating" system. Apparently the traditional wooden Korean houses are built on low stilts with a hold dug in the ground and lined by cement walls to create a "fire place" to generate the heating for the building. The floors are lined with cement slabs to prevent the house from catching fire.

Big Earthquakes Hit Indonesia Jan 09

On 4th Jan 2009 at 4.43 am, the first of a series of earthquakes with a 7.6 magnitude struck about 85 km from Manokwari, a coastal town with a population of 167,000. A 7.5-magnitude aftershock and a series of smaller earthquakes latter rattled the region. The newspapers this morning reported four deaths and 52 people injured.

Volcanic eruptions are generally Uranus-Pluto events with sometimes the addition of Mars symbolism. This is because Uranus signifies the unpredictability of the event, Pluto the excessive power of the eruption, and Mars adds the quality of violence and aggressiveness. I decided to look at Indonesia's National Chart cast at 9:22 am GMT on 27th Dec 1949 in Jakarta and cast the event as for 4:43 am, 4th Jan 09 in Monkwari. The astrological findings are amazing.

(a) Transit Pluto is in a square to Indonesia's Mars - indicating the immense power of the volcanic eruption
(b) Transit Uranus is an exact opposition to Indonesia's Saturn - signifying the sudden fear it has brought. In fact the Indonesian government issued a Tsunami warning, which led to immediate mass fleeing of the inhabitants
(c) Transit Mars is in exact conjunction with Indonesia's Sun - suggesting that the earthquake has indeed caused a major stir in the country.

Bangkok City Fire of 1st Jan 09

As I was watching TV this evening I was suddenly taken aback by news of the New Year Fire in Bangkok. Apparently at about 9:47 am this morning a fire broke out in a night club and by the time of the 11 pm news, 61 people died and more than a hundred were injured as a result of the stampede.

I immediately reached out for Thailand's National Chart cast for Bangkok and compared it with the transits for the day. The results are startling:
(a) Transit Saturn is in an exact conjunction with Bangkok's South Node; in exact sextile with Bangkok's Pluto and rules the 8th house of death. Saturn is noted to have just turned retrograde eight hours earlier at 1:08 am
(b) Transit Uranus is in an exact square with Bangkok's Ascendant
(c) Transit Pluto is in opposition to Bangkok's Sun within less than 1 degree orb.

Saturn signifies fear and morbidity, Uranus suggests suddenness and unpredictability whereas Pluto indicates powerful, hidden forces. All these are clearcut astrological significators of a sudden catastrophic event pointing to the presence of associated death and fear. There are two astrological timers here - the nodal axis and retrogradation of Saturn. Whenever Saturn or any outer planet is seen to be moving backwards in the sky it generally signifies the occurrence of an outer world event, in this case, the fire.