Neil Armstrong - first man on the Moon

The recent passing of Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, has revived an interest for people in this significant event, regardless of whether they had been born when this took place.

Armstrong was born on 5th August 1930 at 00.31 in Wakaponeta, Ohio USA. This puts his Leo Sun right down at the bottom of the chart, on the IC, and perhaps the furthest place you might expect to find it for someone who was a pioneer in space exploration and had been the first to set foot on the Moon.

His dynamically shaped chart tells of an underlying flexibility and indicates he was able to adapt to changes. The chart has the appearance of a rather careful balancing act with the aspect structure being supported at 3 separate points by the pinning planets down at the bottom of the chart. The chart, by aspects, is very blue, indicating a motivation for consolidation, preservation and the ability to switch off, relax and be laid back. Two blue aspect patterns dominate the chart - a Large and Small talent triangle. The Large triangle indicates an innate, complete talent, one that someone is born with. In Armstrong's chart it has a theme of sensitivity when the pinning planets are considered - Moon, Mercury/Neptune and the Moon's Node in 12th house. Mercury/Neptune indicates a visionary potential, along with sensitivity and the ability to express feelings with Moon in Sagittarius in 7th house. The 12th house Node suggests a quiet spirituality.

The Small triangle suggests something entirely different. This aspect pattern speaks of a still-developing talent, one which has to worked at in order to be perfected. It's pinned by Sun, Mars and Uranus, and has a more robust and outgoing feel. The Sun makes decisions and has leadership qualities; Mars offers skill, bravery, courage and Uranus stretched boundaries as well as bringing a scientific theme.

It's both interesting and significant that Armstrong's Age Point was making aspects to two of these planets on 20th July 1969, when he first stepped on the Moon and said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". He was 39, his Age Point was in 7th house, in Sagittarius and it was opposite Mars and trine Uranus. It is fitting that as his Age Point opposed Mars, he was undertaking what was probably the most challenging thing that he had ever done. The Age Point opposite a planet will demand that the individual will be forced to focus on all matters associated with the drive of this planet, and express them in some way, often learning and gaining new experiences at the same time. Age Point opposite Mars would have called on all of Armstrong's skills and energies as he took this momentous step.

Following his recent death, his family issued this statement:  "For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."

The Moon Node Chart

The Moon Node Chart is unique to the Huber Method, and is one of the three charts used in Astrological Psychology. The other two are the Natal Chart (used by all astrologers) and the House Chart, which I've previously written about. You can find out about the House Chart here.

The Moon Node Chart can be likened to a mirror - we can look into it to discover more about the shadow side of the personality, those things which might be repressed and that we don't like in ourselves, and it can also reveal to us the accumulated knowledge and life experience we bring with us to this lifetime.

Moon Node Chart

 

The Moon Node Chart shown here reflects the aspect patterns and shaping shown in the Natal Chart below.

The orientation of the aspect structure in the chart is different. In the Moon Node Chart it has a more vertical direction, and in the Natal Chart below, it's more focussed on the horizontal. This is significant.

Natal Chart

Also note that the positions of the planets are reversed, giving the mirror image effect, which makes looking at the Moon Node Chart rather like looking into a mirror, where what is seen is not really there.

The Moon Node Chart is always used alongside the Natal Chart and never on its own. The two are designed to be used together, and this particular technique was researched extensively by Bruno Huber. It can offer insights, for those who are on a path of self-growth and awareness, into where they are coming from. It can also highlight some of their more habitual patterns of response to everyday life - the well-used behaviour patterns. The beauty of understanding and working with this chart is that it can help us to see what is going on in ourselves, decide if we want to keep it or make changes, and then actively and consciously choose to leave our familar and habitual patterns of response and behaviour behind us and move on.

Finding out more about the Moon Node Chart

There are several ways of doing this:

•  The Astrological Psychology Association teaches how to use this chart in their home study diploma course
• Moon Node Astrology by Bruno & Louise Huber offers comprehensive coverage of this specific and unique chart. Click on the Books by the Hubers label above
• My book The Living Birth Chart specifically features the use of the Moon Node Chart and gives worked examples using the charts of real people. Click on the Books by Joyce Hopewell label above
• Having a consultation with an astrologer trained in Astrological Psychology. They will really know their stuff and will treat you and your Moon Node Chart with the greatest respect, as use of the Moon Node Chart is not to be taken lightly.  
• Louise Huber says that when we look into the Moon Node Chart, we have to be completely harmless. This should always be borne in mind when working with this chart.
  

Olympics Opening Ceremony

At 21.00 on 27th July 2012, in London, the Olympic Games will officially begin with the opening ceremony. Always spectacular in their own way, and always anticipated with interest, these opening ceremonies have become a big thing, sometimes organised and performed with military-like precision (Beijing) and always timed to perfection both on and off stage. Likewise, the closing ceremonies, where there is the opportunity for the next host nation to offer a taster of their country. Four years ago, in China, Britain gave a taster to the world, with a red London bus and David Beckham kicking footballs into the crowd. So what is in store for the 2012 opening ceremony, and how does this relate to the chart for the event?

The model of the stadium and the proposed scene, "Isles of Wonder", was released in June, and it reflects the green countryside with farms, fields, grazing sheep and cattle and a game of cricket in progress. At one end is a green hill representing Glastonbury Tor and the famous pop festival in the fields below. At the other end is supposedly the floor of the Royal Albert Hall, home to the Promenade Concerts, filled with people standing (promenading) whilst listening to the music. I gather that during the ceremony, the scene will be changed by tech wizardry to show industrial Britain and to represent the Industrial Revolution. Now take a look at the chart for the opening ceremony.

I was struck by the similarities between the layout of the model and the layout of the chart, with its focal point at the top - Pluto close to the MC, this reflecting Glastonbury Tor in the model. Down in the lower hemisphere, around the IC area, are the "promenaders" - Jupiter, Venus and Sun conjunct Mercury. There are many criss-crossing aspects, suggesting the boundaries of the fields and different areas within the scene.

Fantasy aside, what does the chart offer in terms of the event? Like the model, the aspect structure takes up a large area of the chart, filling each of the four quadrants with planets to a greater or lesser degree. This is a very blue/green chart. 4 red: 5 green: 6 blue aspects, suggesting a lot of imagination, which certainly ties in with the amount of creativity that has gone into the planning of this ceremony by film director Danny Boyle. This is reinforced by Sun/Mercury in Leo in 5th  - a great placement for a showbiz-style event. 

Embedded within the aspect structure are several aspect patterns - a Search Figure, a Dominant Learning triangle, and a Model. Yes, an aspect pattern which is called the "Model"! This is because it is concerned with high aspirations and will not be distracted by pessimism. What better figure to feature in the opening ceremony chart? The Hubers say that the presence of a Model in a chart can bring "centred persistence which can give courage and hope to other people". If that had come straight out of an Olypmpic publicity leaflet it couldn't have been more appropriate! 

To find out more about aspect patterns see  Aspect Pattern Astrology by Bruno and Louise Huber, and my book Aspect Patterns in Colour. Both are available from the APA Bookshop, American Federation of Astrologers, Amazon and other distributors. Click on the Books tabs for more details.

A final comment on the chart. Pluto is on the MC in the highest position and it appears to dominate this chart. Pluto looks powerful up there, as if presiding over the entire event. Pluto at a lower level can be about manipulation, power and control. At its highest level, however, it's about achieving perfection and leaving behind the baggage which stops us from reaching this state. Pluto is about aspiring to be the "perfect being" which makes it a fitting planet to be at the top of this chart. In the spirit of the original Olympic Games let's hope that this will be so and that only the higher manifestations of this planet will be present.

The Uranus /Pluto square, tax avoidance, banker's bonuses and the Eighth House

The 8th House in astrology is on the Possessions Axis of the chart, which relates to "my" possessions in the 2nd House, and to "your" (i.e. everybody's and shared) possessions in the 8th House. My short YouTube video, recorded back in September 2009, focuses on the 2/8 House axis and what we might consider to be our possessions alongside our communal, shared possessions in society as a whole. You can view it here.

I wrote about the Uranus/Pluto square earlier this year, and you can read what I said about it here. I've also added a recent update since the news broke about tax avoidance schemes. 

The Uranus/Pluto square reached its first point of exactitude on 24th June, and around this time there was an eruption of news in the UK about the British comedian Jimmy Carr who had publicly let it be known that he partook of a tax avoidance scheme and managed not to pay his full whack. PM David Cameron responded by saying that it was morally wrong to avoid paying tax. This was followed by an outcry from those who said it wasn't morally wrong, because it was legal, and those who agreed that it was morally wrong.

Legal or not, I fall into the morally wrong camp. To earn a lot of money and to not pay taxes whilst being resident in the country and enjoying the benefits of having a police force, a National Health Service, the armed forces, roads, street lighting, refuse collections, public parks and playing fields - to mention just a few of the things that paying tax supports - is simply unfair. And it seems wrong that those who have enough money to hire the accountants to help them circumnavigate paying taxes are getting away with non-payment, whilst the average person who duly pays their tax is supporting them.

The administration on the Channel Island of Jersey has recently said it will seek to become independent if the government makes life hard on tax avoiders/evaders. This stance will probably be taken up by the neighbouring islands of Guernsey, Sark and Alderney, along with the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. All these islands have long been known to be tax havens and good places to keep off-shore bank accounts.

Now banks, banker bonuses and even more scandals are in the news once again, with the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, quoted in the Telegraph as saying that the bosses of Barclays bank must "pay the price" for rigging interest rates in a scandal caused by a culture of systemic greed and irresponsibility.

It is morally wrong and offensive to avoid paying tax. Surely it's time for the government to make it illegal to participate in such schemes, and clamp down on those who spend some time not living in the UK so they don't have to pay UK taxes, but who partake of the facilities that honest tax payers contribute to when they are here.

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth 2nd, Born 21.4.1926 at 02.40 in London

2016. The Queen celebrates her 90th birthday this year, maybe without the full-on events that accompanied her Diamond Jubilee 4 years ago, but it's still a significant milestone in the monarch's life. Her Age Point, as she turns 90, crosses the IC and enters the 4th house of her chart. It stays in the Fixed earthy sign of Taurus for about a year before moving into mutable Gemini which could bring a change of energy and possibly more of a focus on diversity. She has for some time been delegating royal duties to younger family members and this will surely continue. This dedicated to duty lady of 90 years deserves a bit of a rest - but her strong Taurean Sun suggests she will find it hard to give up altogether, and is highly unlikely to abdicate.
 
2012. This was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee year - celebrating 60 years since her accession in 1952 - has been and continues to be a full-on event with things going on all over the UK and throughout the Commonwealth. I first wrote this post in April 2006, when she turned 80, and have updated it because she's now 86, and it's her Jubilee year.

You can listen to me here talking about the Queen's chart on BBC Radio Stoke

Her chart has the appearance of a nose cone or arrow head flying upwards with Saturn at the tip, overseeing the whole chart as the highest planet and right on the MC. Saturn, along with Mars/Jupiter and Neptune, is part of the red Efficiency triangle which dominates the chart and fills the upper hemisphere.

An Efficiency triangle is a mutable, adaptable figure, but it's key function is achievement though work. It finds expression through purposeful work, with the apex of the triangle and the planet that lies there (Saturn) indicating where the achievement is directed, and what planetary principle is involved.

Could there be a more appropriate planet here than Saturn for a ruling monarch? Not only is Saturn at the apex of this aspect pattern, but it also reigns at the top of the chart, strongly placed in a cuspal position right on the MC. The message that comes across loud and clear from those closest to the Queen is that she will not stand aside for Charles. Her strong sense of duty and dedication to her role is well documented, and that very firmly placed Saturn bears this out and reflects her position as head of the family firm.

The other planets involved in the Efficiency triangle hold and store the working energy and drive of this pattern; Mars/Jupiter suggests an abundance of energy and Neptune indicates the possibility of this being directed towards an ideal, all-inclusive goal. These planets are stressed before the 2nd and 8th cusps so there will be an urgency and on-going drive to utilise her energy to secure and stabilise (she wants the monarchy to continue) as well as to reach out to other areas and societies (her unwavering support of the Commonwealth is well-known). However, without the structure, discipline and adherence to rules and traditions that she was brought up with, these may disappear, making Saturn's placement as the outlet planet most significant.

I've written about the Queen's chart in my latest book Aspect Patterns in Colour and you can listen to me here talking about the Queen's chart on BBC Radio Stoke at the close of the Jubilee weekend celebrations.