The Effect of Eclipses in the Natal Chart

There's a solar eclipse coming up Tuesday, November 13, 2012.

Eclipses have powerful and long-lasting effects in our lives if they make an aspect to an important planet or angle in our chart. Here are three examples to whet your appetite.

In this example, the solar eclipse at 0 degrees Gemini fell into this woman's 7th house of marriage and business partnerships. But what turned out to be more important was that it made an exact trine to Jupiter (bigger, better, more, expansion) in her 10th house of career and reputation. A job that was perfect for her opened up and when she applied, she got it. 

Notice that transiting Mars (ruler of her 6th house of jobs) trines Saturn (ambition, responsibility, executive ability), and the North Node conjuncts it. 

Note that transiting Saturn, which astrologers so often claim is near the top of the chart when a person is at the height of their career, is at the very bottom of this one (but on an angle). The woman said it was the best job she ever had. It paid extremely well, and she was elated to work there.

Note also that the Eclipse Part of Fortune and the Eclipse Ascendant conjunct her natal Vertex, and the Eclipse Vertex conjuncts her natal Ascendant. The Vertex represents a point of fate and appointments with destiny. 

Below is a Solar Eclipse at 11 degrees Gemini in a man's 2nd house of money.

Notice that the Eclipse squares his natal Saturn. Unlike the unaspected Saturn in the woman's chart above, this man's Saturn is afflicted by the opposition of his natal Mercury, Uranus and Pluto, which the Eclipse also squares. Saturn still means ambition, responsibility, and executive ability, but negatively, it's loss, sorrow, and suffering.

Notice that the Eclipse Mars opposes his natal Mars, which often indicates a confrontation and conflicts.

And finally, see how the Eclipse Nodes of the Moon square his natal Sun in the 6th house of employment.  What are you thinking, that he lost his job? Hang on...

The Lunar Eclipse later that month at 24 degrees Sagittarius also squared his natal Sun, as the Moon's Nodes continued to do. This was a Full Moon, of course. Just an hour after this eclipse, this man was assaulted and robbed at his place of employment, and spent the night in the emergency room.

So, where does the upcoming eclipse at 21 Scorpio fall into your chart? HERE is what you need to have your chart cast.

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The Six Victims of West Memphis 3

As many Memphians know, the murder of three young boys took place on May 5, 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three young men were tried and found guilty of the crime, and the eldest was sent to Death Row. As it turns out, in 2011, after serving 17 years behind bars, it was proven they weren't guilty. 

I didn't live in Memphis when the crime was committed, and my entire knowledge of it was limited to the news that I happened to see on the day they were released. I never thought much more about it. 

As it turns out, my friend Margaret Fowler, and her friend Michelle Mahon Seery, were discussing it on their Facebook pages the other night, and I became interested. I pulled up the Wiki page and read about the investigation, trial, and subsequent release of the other three victims, the three who gave up 17 years of their lives for crimes that DNA evidence finally proved were innocent.

Since Wiki provided birth dates for the three men who went to jail, I decided to cast solar charts for them (time of birth unknown, so sunrise used), to see what the transits hit in their charts on that day. The results were particularly interesting.

The young man sentenced to die, Damien Nichols, has written a book about his experience. I have not yet read it because I don't want to be unduly influenced by anything it says while I study the charts. Apparently though, he used to be a practicing Satanist. Here's an eyeroll because it's just the kind of reputation that a rebellious teenage boy who wanted to stand out in a crowd would create for himself. It was exactly that reputation that made him a murder suspect in a redneck town on a witch hunt. The other two young men were deemed guilty by association.

 I have heard so much conflicting information about Echols (coincidentally,--not that I believe in coincidence--Echles is a name that happens to fit in with the story of Robin Hood (Hills) where the murders occurred) that I am intrigued. After Satanism, Echols supposedly converted to Catholicism. Then I heard he's into Zen Buddhism. There's nothing wrong with trying on different cloaks until you find one that fits. I know he has a stellium of planets in Sagittarius, the sign of Truth-seeking, so I'm not surprised that he is on a spiritual quest. In Tarot, I would associate him more with The Hermit than with The Devil. 

Ms. Mahon Seery provided the information that Mr. Echols is into astrology, and produced a picture of an "astrological" daily planner that he kept while incarcerated. But it's not like any kind of astrology I've ever practiced. I've seen some of the very esoteric symbols before, but it's as f**ked up as Chinese music to me. A couple other things stand out about his interest: He either doesn't know his birth time, or he knows and is being secretive about it. The first is something with which I may be able to help; the latter is something with which I can empathize. 

The second thing is that after writing the preface of the self-published version of his book, he added the date and time he wrote it. Was it the first thing he wrote in his manuscript, or the last thing? Is it a cryptic clue? I don't know, but it's revealing and I'd like to invite Mr. Nichols here to discuss his charts and the transits on the night of the murders. 

In fact, I would welcome any of the people involved who can produce a birth certificate or other written record with the time of their birth on it, and let's see what new information the planets can reveal. 

The convicted:

Jessie Misskelley 

Jason Baldwin 

The parents of the deceased:
Stevie Branch 

Christopher Byers 

Michael Moore

The Forgotten Suspects:
Chris Morgan 

Brian Holland

The Two Stepfathers:
John Mark Byers 

Terry Hobbs

If you want to see the planets exonerate you, or if the parents of the deceased would like to get a better look at what really happened, please leave contact information here, or email me at astrologymemphis@gmail.com

Astrologers, Lotteries, and Luck

I hear it from skeptics all the time: if astrologers can predict the future, why can't we win the lottery? And here's the truth: if it's not in our destiny, we can't put it there. If it isn't meant to be, it won't be, and no amount of trying will make it happen. Being able to see the future doesn't give us the ability to control it. Bad crap still happens to us, just like everyone else.