A s t r o l o g y - Mandala

My interest in occultation started with the birth of my daughter, Kim. I had entered the delivery room with the Raphael Ephemeris (1) in my pocket, plus a list of the calculated AS for each hour coming… but I was also aware that an occultation of Saturn was passing by… a bit scary since Kim was being born 2 months premature. She was delivered less than 1h30 after the exact (partil) aspect, but in local space, it still was under the tight orb. In fact, she was so strong, she only spent one week in the incubator and, at 21 days, was allowed home.

This event opened my eyes to occultations. They are rare phenomena, only a few occur each year : they happen when the Moon conjuncts another planet, but only when the distance apart in declination between the 2 bodies is +/- inferior to 1°, in other words, when the Moon eclipses the planet. An ordinary year averages of 4 to 8 occultations.

As I specialize in representing planetary motions graphically, I noticed that this year 2001 was unusual: 19 occultation ! But don't panic, looking closer, this was due to a series of them on Saturn and Jupiter, each lunar month from May 2001. Wanting to check the bigger picture, I investigated page 38 of all my collection of Raphael Ephemeris. For the past 20 years, I found similar sort of condensed series of occultations in 1982 (Neptune), 1983-84 (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune), 1990-91 (Jupiter and Saturn), 1991-92 (Uranus and Neptune), 1997-98 (Jupiter and Saturn) and again now in 2001-02 (Saturn and Jupiter). Also then, I noticed that both my husband and I were born in such a period (1956-57). In other words, we had Saturn occultations in our progressed charts… (quite strong in mine, adding to the fact I was also born between a Sun and Moon eclipse).

Trying to interpret this findings, I concluded that occultations increase the effect of the occulted planet in positive or negative like usual astrological interpretation. Then I thought, but if we measure occultations by the Moon, we should also measure the tight conjunctions made by the Sun to the other planets, because they should also occur occasionally (recalling André Barbault's comments of the importance of the annual conjunctions of the Sun to the slow planets). Searching for the tightest ones (called "cazimi"), I found an average of 4 or 5 per year. Because the Moon takes 2 hours to pass one degree, 2h corresponds to the average maximal duration of the aspect. But when the Sun hides another planet by cazimi, it can last up to 24 hours (when the distance apart in declination is close to zero) !

On the 26th January 2001, I noticed the Sun was conjunct Neptune at 3h55' GMT (distance apart 0°10'), so already in orb DURING the earthquake in India : Jan 26, 8h46' (3h16GMT), Bhuj (23N15-69E49), Magnitude 7.9 causing 25,000 deaths. Simultaneously a parallel was involving the Moon, Mars and Uranus, all in contra-parallel to Saturn. Then, not long after the Sun-Uranus tight cazimi (Feb. 9th, 12h19 GMT, distance apart 0°38'), on February 13th, earthquakes occurred in San Salvador, Japan and Sumatra.

To my delight, on 23rd April, when the Sun conjunct Mercury (0°25' apart), a member of the mailing list I follow won the lottery in a big manner ! He then wondered if this was linked to his natal Mercury in the 5th… The aspect of cazimi was still ON when the New Moon occurred the same day, that is to say with Mercury hyper-conjunct (behind) to the Sun. I said nothing but kept on noting.

Having partially based my 2001 forecasts on planetary movements in longitude and declination, I had also noted the series of coming occultation, and as the spring passed, I noticed that shortly after the 1st series of Saturn and Jupiter occultation (May 23rd), we witnessed the 1st suicide attack of the recent series of them to hit Israel (June 1st, 23h30, Tel Aviv, in front of a discotheque), and the following day was when the Nepalese prince happened to murder all his family, then eventually kill himself.

Looking at the collective transits, I realize how we are more touched by them than we tend to think. Because when an aspect is there in horary time, it's there for all. The difference is how each of us will react to it and to the strong events they may provoke. On June 14th, it was Jupiter to be cazimi by the Sun (distance apart 0°19').

Being optimistic by nature, I started to draw the charts (and cartography) of the coming occultations as reference. Until June 20th, when the Mars-Jupiter opposition burst my hard disk and monitor with lightening… intensifying the standstill of the June 21st Sun solstice eclipse… Without computer, I had plenty of time to analyse the charts. The previous Saturn occultation that occurred on June 19th was at 7° Gemini.

The only member of my close family with a planet on that degree is Kim, with her 7° Gemini Mars conjunct her MC (sextile to Jupiter Leo and trine to Aquarius Moon-Saturn and Mercury). I recalled that, on the evening of the occultation, we had been speaking about looking for tennis classes for her summer holidays. She took the idea with great enthusiasm and the next day, I'd found a club nearby and enrolled her for even earlier than expected, as a new series of classes was starting on the following Sunday morning, on June 24th. She also went in August for more during her holidays and now, as she loves it, she continues the Sunday classes. This is to conclude that in this case, the occultation helped to concentrate and make things move on a level that matches her chart so well if we think about it : Mars (muscles for sport) in Gemini (arms) => tennis. Another anecdote, Kim was born with one arm up (Gemini Mars on MC) like the statue of liberty (Aquarius Sun). The occultation helps to focus, to concentrate, on whatever it touches.

Then, later, a series of 4 occultations (Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury) occurred on July 17th and July 19th, a rave party turned on July 15th into a party grill burning 110 cars and injuring 69 police near Paris (Aulnais-sous-Bois). Also, the Etna started to erupt around the 17th, while at the same period, India and Korea experienced big floods (after a drought in Seoul). And on the 20th, the G8 conference in Genoa was witnessing a sad death among the anti-globalisation group.

The following month, the Jupiter occultation coincided exactly with a huge storm in Chateauroux (August 15th, 19h, France), causing the fall of a big tree on a music concert playing under a marquee.

The New-York Attack's Occultations

When an event is hugely mundane, it should be found within the frame of planetary cycles : the rapid cycles trigger the slow ones. The actual slow ones in aspect early September are the cold Saturn-Pluto opposition and the Jupiter-Pluto 210°. Then comes the common rapid cycle, the lunation : the September 2nd Full Moon squaring the Saturn-Pluto opposition shows a time for expression of the Saturn-Pluto unsolved problems.

The other rapid cycles like the Moon-Saturn and the Moon-Jupiter conjunctions also add up, but even more when they become occultations. Because the aspect of occultation is tighter than an ordinary conjunction, it is stronger to trigger the other slower cycles involved with the occulted planet (here Saturn and Jupiter occulted, both in aspect to Pluto). The concentration of bodies in the sky (like during eclipse or cazimi by the Sun) causes some sort of concentration for events.

The 2 towns, 2 towers and double attacks by 2 planes were squeezed between 2 occultations :

• SATURN occulted at 14GEM44 : 10th SEPTEMBER, 8h50, NY Time (12h50 GMT). The degree occupied by Saturn triggers the US chart (DS 13 GEM), aspect already noticed by many. And the AS in NY at the time of occultation is 14LIB 22, the same as the following day's attack AS at 8h46.
• JUPITER occulted at 11CAN44 : 12th SEPTEMBER, 8h32, Washington (12h32 GMT). The astro cartography of the occultation shows even Jupiter culminating on Washington while the fires are still burning in the Pentagon. Pluto transiting on the US chart's Ascendant at 13° Sag. (2) contributes to the psychological crisis the country may experience with the global shock. But also Pluto carries a message of rebirth following the deep transformation it suggests. Because this Saturn occultation was transiting my 8th house in opposition to natal Saturn in the 2nd, I had forecasted to myself the risk of a tax control. In the end, I almost provoked it by sending my taxform back just before deadline. Aware of the occultation, I was able to take it seriously and react just on time before the fine. More exciting was my search for buying old Raphael Ephemeris to complete my collection and help the research : I was then amazingly offered the whole pile for free by a positive soul ! This event is also clearly related to the 2nd/8th houses axis.

Occultations or Eclipses in Progressed charts

As we can interpret them in transits, they are also to watch in birth charts and their progressions. By showing the emphasis on the occulted planet, they give you more keys on the particularities of the chart. Exactly as what Out of Bound planets show with high declination : the strong and particular functions of the planet concerned.

As we find Saturn occultations 13 lunar month in a row between Dec 2nd 1956 and Oct 26 1957, they also occur in Ossama bin Laden's progressions whatever his 1957 date of birth (March 10 1957, 5h55 (2h55'GMT), Jeddah ? source from a Russian list). And we know he was touched by the 1990-91 occultations (Gulf War) and the 1997-98 (his fatwa dates from Feb. 1998).

This notion of dedication or vocation, we also witness it with charts involved in strong progressed eclipses like for devoted Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (3). Being on a trail, I wrote to a friend who strikes me by her dedication and involvement (for the cause of astrology), and asked her "Would you by any chance have been born in a period of Saturn occultations ?" "No" she replied with her birth data. Quick calculation and yes, 10 days after her birth, Saturn (squaring natal and progressed Sun) was occulted by the Moon. I then replied "Something that made you strong happened at the age of 10". Indeed it was a that time that her father had left her mother. Also then she hurt her ankle. "The doctor did noting for my painful ankle but my uncle recognized that the bone was out of place and jerked it back into place". An experience loaded with strong meanings on what limitation can mean.

Not far from "vocation" and "dedication" can be added "sacrifice" for an idea, a cause, a person... These can be linked in a way. But remember : this can be POSITIVE ! Being positive when you interpret your clients occultations will help them to do the best with their specific talents.

This article shows how strong occultation can be to trigger the other slower planetary cycles. The problem this year was linked to the ambivalent Sagittarius-Gemini oppositions involving OOB Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. The news mainly tells us about bad ones, but other good thinks happen to. The good job done by the International Aid to countries in need, by the International Tribunal of The Hague smashing the freedom of some war criminals... Ford's prototype of hydrogen fuelled car came out and the high speed TGV travels the distance Paris-Marseille in 3 hours without polluting or even consuming much energy. Lots more needs to be done for local or international aid and to combat terrorism or pollution, that is partially what the crisis is telling us, as to make the planet understand it's limits and make the appropriate changes. But let's keep in mind all the goodwill of the majority (on both sides) !

A.F., Sheffield, September 30th 2001.

• 1) Planet occultation are listed in all Raphael's Astronomical Ephemeris on page 38 (black doted sign looking like the Sun eclipse ones) with the distance apart in declination between the Moon's centre and the planet (so you can check how tight they are). This annual publication is still available for the past years and can be ordered from most astrology bookshops. Published by Foulsham & Co, Bennets Close, Slough, SL1 5AP, England.
• 2) 4th July 1776, 17h11 LMT, Philadelphia.
• 3) 8th July 1926, 22h45' (21h45' GMT), Zurich (47N23-8E32). Source: Marion March, The only way to learn astrology, Vol. 3, p 67. Letter from her seen by Rodden.

© Astrid Fallon, 2001.
My thanks for her permission to publish it here.