11 degrees 01 minute Gemini —- that’s where the Solar Eclipse
fell on June 1, 2011, the day the twisters hit Springfield,
Massachusetts. There have been some extremely nasty tornadoes
this year in the ‘Tornado Belt’, but Massachusetts rarely gets
them, so the resulting destruction and chaos in Springfield
seems all the more horrible.
The word Chaos comes from the Greek name for the primeval state
of the universe before even their gods were born. The word
today has several meanings but probably the most widely used is
a state of utter confusion resulting from disorder or lack of
organization. Think about news photos of Springfield in the
aftermath of the twisters, and you’ll have no difficulty using
the word chaos to describe the scene.
In 1998 a body was discovered out past Pluto which was
subsequently named after that Greek myth. Chaos moves slowly
taking more than 309 years to orbit the Sun, and its influences
seem to quite aptly fit its name. Where was Chaos at the time
of the eclipse? Right nearby at 13 Gemini 33. But it gets even
more interesting when you look at its most recent station.
Planets appear as seen from Earth to slow down and then move
backwards for awhile. Of course they are not really moving
backwards. Imagine you are driving your car at 65 mph and you
pass a car in the right lane doing only 50 mph. Even though he
is going the same direction as you are, he will appear to be
moving backwards. This is similar to the retrograde motion the
planets appear to exhibit. And just as at the moment when you
are exactly beside the other car and see that it appears to be
standing still, so the planets appear to come to a complete
stop, and this stop is called a Station. Astrologically,
planetary stations are extremely important as they make the
degree of the station carry their energy for months or even
years at a time. When anything transits the point where a
planet made its station, that planet’s energy is activated, or
stirred up, and becomes intimately involved with transiting
body.
The body Chaos made its most recent station on February 22,
2011, at 11 Gemini 53. The eclipse took place less than a
degree away.
And there is more.
The midway point between any two bodies, or midpoint, is an
extremely active point combining the energies of those two
planets. Anything aspecting a midpoint by conjunction, square
or opposition creates a ‘planetary picture’ which speaks volumes
about how the energies manifest. One such midpoint is the one
between Mars and Pluto, and while it can have many positive
expressions, it can show itself in unbridled, unstoppable force
that can be relentless and potentially quite destructive. At
the time of the eclipse, this midpoint was 11 Pisces 26, making
it in very close square to the eclipse/Chaos energy.
If we set up an astrological chart for the eclipse, locating it
in Springfield, we find that it falls in the 8th house, which
among other things is the house of death, transformation and
rebirth. The Mars/Pluto midpoint falls in the (Placidus) 4th
house, which among other things represents the foundations.
Mars and Pluto co-rule the sign Scorpio, which was rising at
that moment, 3 degrees 26 minutes, almost exactly quincunx the
planet known for shaking things up, Uranus at 3 Aries 59 (and
Uranus is still in orb of its square to Pluto.
I might also mention that two Centaurs were also connected to
the Eclipse. Amycus was in opposition from 10 Sag 07, and John
Delaney has suggested keys for this body include ‘showdown’,
‘ingenuity through adversity’, and ‘seclusion and exile from the
state of nature.’ And Thereus was conjunct from 13 Gem 00,
right near Chaos. What I have seen with Thereus is that it will
sometimes come out of nowhere, totally without warning, and
strike where something is most vulnerable, forcing an action to
be taken.
And as a final bit, there is an aspect of 45 degrees called a
semi-square. This is an irritation, sometimes minor, but one
which must be paid attention to, one that cannot be ignored.
The eclipse was semisquare two asteroids in the sign of Cancer,
America, and Pandora. Perhaps the aspect to the former was why
such a major event hit America. And as for Pandora, I’m sure we
are all familiar with the story of how she opened the box and a
whole slew of bad things flew out into the world.
