Yin Yang XII

All planets within bounds, Mercury declination +19°19′

With Venus in Leo in the second house, his biggest resource is his individuality. He took it with him from Tibet to India.

Venus is in a wide trine to Uranus in Taurus in the eleventh house, and there can be play when Venus and Uranus touch. He came from a farming family, and had he stayed in the farming community, he may have added his personal touch to the farming methods of the region.

But he was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama, and was brought up in a community of monks, raised to carry the heritage of Tibetan Buddhism.

There is a grand trine in water in the chart. Cancer and a lake of memories, Scorpio and the mysteries, Pisces and the voices of the past.

Exile

put him in contact with other lakes, other traditions. He engaged in conversation with scientists in the fields of psychology and neurobiology, and he combined the teachings of the sacred texts with what he found out about the brain.

He does not believe in blind faith, but in a faith based on reason. If a text one is analyzing does not make sense, why follow it. We have a brain, we should use our intelligence.

He has created a Buddhism that is uniquely his. The Sun joins Cancer with Leo, and Venus in Leo touches Uranus in Taurus, a sign she rules.

Exile

is in the twelfth house, and Mercury in Gemini is in the twelfth.

There is a grand trine in water in the chart. The Sun in Cancer, Jupiter in Scorpio, and Saturn in Pisces. Like Marx, he is an institution. But his focus is not on societal change. His focus is in Libra in the fourth house.

Homeland.

Dreams and thoughts, what goes on in the brain, what is most private.

Mars is in Libra, a Mars tempered by Buddhist philosophy.

Mercury touches Venus and Mars, and in his exile, he has written books to help individuals calm mental unease when facing difficulty.

He is the spiritual leader of Tibet, bound to a set of morals. If people come to him with questions about the treatment of women in Afghanistan or the war in Ukraine, he tells them there are techniques that can help with self confidence, inner strength and resilience. They are techniques based on the practice of non violence, compassion and altruism.

He renounced the Dalai Lama’s political leadership, and took the necessary steps to democratize the Tibetan administration. Tibetans living in India and in 33 other countries now vote to elect those who represent them.

Like Marx, he is serif.

Jupiter in Capricorn is Marx’ serif, lawmaker.

Mercury in Gemini is the Dalai Lama’s serif, and he has been keeper of the sacred texts.

He tells us the names of the Tibetan scholars who went to study Buddhism in India in the 7th and 8th centuries. They created the script of the Tibetan language to translate Buddha’s teachings and the commentaries on his teachings from Sanskrit into Tibetan.

Later, Buddhism declined in India and the original Sanskrit texts were lost.

His exile brought the sacred texts back to India. His exile has contributed to restoring India’s Buddhist heritage. Now the 63 manuscripts in Tibet’s possession are being translated back into Sanskrit,

with gratitude.

He says it’s always good to look at a problem from a wider perspective.

His monastic curriculum included astrology, and he has continued to delve into its mysteries, and says he knows the day that he will die.
Unafraid to cross boundaries.

With the Sun in Cancer conjunct the Ascendant, he tells us that the biggest gift we can give each other is a genuine smile,

warm hearted.

They have both been influential, Marx and the Dalai Lama.

Mercury in Marx’s chart is an evening star, rising after the Sun, a Sun that brings out the essence of Taurus, ensuring survival.

Kt would ask if his philosophy broke the norm.

Mercury in the Dalai Lama’s chart is a morning star, rising before the Sun in Cancer, where there is home and homeland. He was taken from his home to be raised in a monastery, and then had to leave his homeland. India gave him a floater.

He went from living in a place that was closed off to the world, to living in a place that opened up the world.

We should ask if the 14th Dalai Lama broke the norm.

Mercury opens doors for discussion.

Face with caduceus. The staff suggests the Greek god Hermes, Loulan tapestry, Loulan on the Silk Road, 3rd century CE

Uranus, god of the sky, and Gaia, goddess of the earth. He tried pushing their children back into her womb. In the ancient stories, he preferred the perfection of ideas than their material form.

When it was Saturn’s turn to rule, he would not let him rule, and Saturn castrated him.

From the blood that spilled on the earth came the Furies, the Giants and the Meliae.

From the genitals that Saturn threw into the ocean

Venus was born,

youtube.com/watch?v=SeIJmciN8mo

Inanna Ereshkigal Aphrodite Venus, as old as 3000 BC.

In Mesopotamia, she was goddess of war and peace. She was the queen of heaven, identified with the planet Venus. And she was a powerful goddess of carnal love and fertility. Early cuneiform texts that describe her sexuality and promiscuity are explicit and vulgar. She had many lovers. When Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, rejected her marriage proposal, he asked her, Which of your lovers did you love forever. What shepherd of yours has pleased you for all time.

Best to bury this side of her.

youtube.com/watch?v=4oYp3AQqG1U

If it shows up one way or another,

Hephaestus catches Venus and Mars in the act by Luca Giordano, 1660

we could blame it on Venus out of bounds. But she isn’t out of bounds in all the polarities. The zodiac isn’t a perfect circle.

To say that Nicki Minaj is who she is because of Venus and Mercury out of bounds, is to deny her the symphony of her whole chart.

Chart for Nicki Minaj, born December 8, 1982, Port of Spain

The Moon in Virgo can limit her audience. In a trine to Mars in Capricorn and in a sextile to Jupiter in Scorpio, she can attract the disapproval of institutions that protect the chastity of youth. She can attract filters.

But in this same triangle, there is approval to find a structure where she can run wild and cast spells.

Pluto in Libra is conjunct Saturn walking into Scorpio. Rearranging structures that can have something to do with sexuality. Libra rules arrangement and Scorpio rules sexuality.

Mars   Same sex marriage, sex change, breast augmentation-

Mercury   Derivatives that breaks boundaries.

Venus   She should rearrange my birth.

Uranus   That’s what I’m here for, to come up with new arrangements. This one’s gotten old.

Sun   It was bold back in the fifteenth century. Not anymore. It needs more colour.

Uranus   Let’s have her come in a spaceship.

Neptune   Bring out the centaur’s instincts-

Venus   My carnal nature-

Chiron   But not too much. You want to be in safe search.

Sun   Free but civilized, the paradox in Sag.

She has a grand stellium in Sag, with Uranus at the lowest degree, 5 degrees, Venus’ number. There is play when they are together, and the Sun joins them in play, and Neptune, and Mercury,

and the ruler of Sag is in Scorpio.

An explosion of creative energy that is Venusian and sexual.

It doesn’t suggest.

It comes right at us.

Kt was looking for something that would indicate the capacity to go beyond the norm, beyond the Sun, for good or bad.

But there is something un Aquarian about a theory that forgets to tell us that the inner planets go out of bounds in primarily two polarities. If the Moon is always out of bounds in them, then it is the norm.

Hitler has the Moon in Capricorn.

The Moon is always out of bounds in Capricorn.

His Moon is conjunct Jupiter in the fourth house.

Chart for Adolf Hitler, born April 20, 1889, 6:30, Braunau

In whole signs, Libra is in the 1st house.

Chart for Hitler with AS and MC aspects and displaying asteroids

No one does Hitler better than his contemporary Charlie Chaplin.

youtube.com/watch?v=isLNLpxpndA

There is Hercules in Leo. In ancient times, there were some who refused to worship him as a god, and they built a sanctuary to worship him as a hero.

Between man and god. Three times an ordinary person.

Wherever Leo is in the chart, we can put three times the effort, we can ask that people put three times the effort.

There is a pelt in Leo that can become part of our skin, poison us if we don’t take it off, fall back to bathe in a lake.

There are crossroads in Leo, tests of morality,

and when the Leo Aquarius polarity is an axis in the chart,

such matters can play a part in the chart holder’s life.

Here the MC is in Leo and the IC is in Aquarius, and Saturn joins Leo with Aquarius.

In Aquarius there is universality,

and there is a separation between the gods and humanity, what is of the gods and what is of humanity,

immortal and mortal,

pure and impure.

In Aquarius we can clean,

and we can separate what is pure and impure.

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Hitler became chancellor when Saturn in the sky was in Aquarius, across from his natal Saturn.

Today Saturn is in Aquarius, and with Saturn in Aquarius such notices went up,

and no matter how well intended,

to protect, to safeguard, to combat,

we were separating pure and impure.

The Libra Aries polarity is also an axis in the chart. Libra is in the first house of what we offer, and Uranus is in Libra.

In Libra we become conscious of ourselves among others. It is the first social sign. Libra Balance is careful with what it says, careful not to upset the order of things. Libra Claws is tactful with what it says, tactfully goes about upsetting the order of things.

Uranus can be uncouth.

With Uranus in Libra, he exposed all the prejudices people were careful and tactful about, and turned them into principles.

Uranus lies across from Mercury in Aries, and it is with this combination that he wrote his autobiography, spoke passionately and unselfconsciously about the principles he would implement, made and broke alliances.

Uranus in the sky was in Aries, conjunct his natal Mercury and across from his natal Uranus, when he became chancellor on

January 30, 1933.

Transiting Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Aries were activating the axes in his chart, his inner compass, morality, ethics, principles, leadership. A time to be wary of hubris. But people were enamoured with him and he felt chosen by god to carry out his agenda.

Capricorn is in the fourth house of home and homeland, and Saturn is in Leo.

He spoke with mastery of the stage,

a father outraged with the state of the nation.

He offered rescue,

practical solutions.

We’ll break the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles and rid the nation of impurity.

Do you see my Sun, he asked them. It’s walking into Taurus to ensure your security and your prosperity.

They couldn’t see his Uranus in a quincunx to Venus Mars in Taurus in the eighth house, playing, fertilizing.

Hitler fertilized a state of emergency,

one state of emergency after another is what kept him in power.

He kept the Minotaur coming out of the labyrinth in Taurus, first the Jews, the Bolsheviks, war.

He offered structure in this constant state of emergency,

boots, armbands, flags.

Everyone would participate in carrying out the laws and building the nation,

and his public cheered.

The Moon is his public, and the Moon conjunct Jupiter is a multitude. He could move a multitude to tears, make them feel like they were part of something,

and the Moon pulled them into the lake in Cancer in the tenth house,

they were somebody.

Chiron asked that they mind the gap, mind the people left out,

but this wasn’t faith with reason.

There is Dionysus in Jupiter, the Moon and the Sun can bring out Dionysus,

blind faith, the euphoria of being saved.

Swept, 

unitl-

The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893

Venus rules the Ascendant sign, and Venus is retrograde in the other sign she rules, Taurus. She played an important part in his life.

They say he tried to join an art academy twice.

He had a taste for art and for other people’s heritage. He left the Kaiser moustache behind and adopted Charlie Chaplin’s. He took the swastika symbol from Indian religions, gave it a twist, and made it his party’s symbol. He took the Roman salute and added his name.

youtube.com/watch?v=dLyd7v0RwNI

Some say that when Venus, Mars and Mercury retrograde, they are in the underworld, place of soul making and initiation. Some say they are stronger, not filtered by the Sun. They work harder, try harder.

Venus R is conjunct Mars, and Mars in Taurus implements.

He was a man of action.

He was born when we were digging for riches in Gemini, and when the spirit of the times was in Libra. Building bridges to bring people together, building railways to unify a country.

Libra can unify, and Uranus in Libra can find unorthodox ways to unify.

He too played an important role in his life. He is at the bending of the nodes, and the nodes are in Capricorn Cancer.

He wanted to leave a mark in his homeland, make history, be remembered.

There is Enki in Capricorn, lawmaker and lover of mankind, and there is Pan, rustic god, god of the wild. There is Hera in Cancer, goddess of childbirth, and there is Karkinos who rose to help her.

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Charlie Chaplin was born four days before him, on April 16, 1889, with the same arrangement of planets, but the Sun in Aries and the Moon in Scorpio. We don’t have his time of birth, but he offered light when there was shadow.

His parents were music hall entertainers. They separated soon after he was born. He said that his mother would sit by the window and entertain him by imitating passersby. He said she was a graceful dancer. She instilled the love of performance in him.

The Moon can say something about the mother, and the Moon, ruler of the Ascendant sign, is in Scorpio in the fifth house.

Water.

Emotions.

He was seven when his mother fell ill, and he and his brother had to go live in a poor house. They called it a workhouse because the children had to work to earn their food and lodge.

The Nadir is in the third house in Virgo, and there is marginality in Virgo,

and marginalia.

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The Sun can say something about the father, and the Sun is in Aries, an independent Sun.

When he was ten, his father used his connections for him to become a member of a dancing troupe that toured music halls in the UK. This was in 1899 and 1900, when Saturn and Jupiter transited Sagittarius in his sixth house of apprenticeship.

Hands on learning.

By the age of fourteen, he was fending for himself by performing on stage.

They say that when Uranus is in the fourth house, we can be uprooted, we can re invent ourselves. He did both. In 1910, he toured the United States with a comedy company. Jupiter was transiting Libra in his fourth house and Saturn was transiting Aries in his tenth house.

His natal Uranus in Libra conjunct transiting Jupiter can bring breakthroughs in arrangements.

His natal Mercury and Sun in Aries conjunct transiting Saturn can herald mastery in a craft,

and individuality

of the Leo sort, the sort of individuality that captures attention. His Saturn is in Leo in the second house of resources.

His pantomime act caught the American public’s attention,

and his public is in Scorpio in the fifth house, families.

By 1914 he was living and working in Los Angeles.

All that he did before 1914 was live and on stage, face to face with the audience.

He now turned to making films, and his first film was released on April 12, 1915.

Chart for The Tramp, released April 12, 1915

Venus Jupiter and Mars were transiting Pisces, sign of the Midheaven, triggering an axis in the chart.

Mars energizes Pisces, and Pisces carries the qualities of the twelfth house, house of watching movies. Pisces carries Typhon, the monster that can surprise us, get out of hand, go rogue.

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Across from Pisces is Virgo, and in Virgo there is pathos and there is comedy. There is Demeter mourning the loss of her daughter, and there is the old woman Baubo who tried to console her with jokes.

Chaplin brought this polarity into his films to capture attention.

There is great solidarity when Venus Jupiter are conjunct, and in Pisces in the ninth house, Chaplin won the solidarity of people in the movie industry.

They looked up to him.

He meant money for the industry, and the companies he signed contracts with pressured him to make movie after movie, one every week.

Jupiter in Capricorn, in the seventh house of contracts, is in a trine to Mars Venus in Taurus in the eleventh house of shared resources. There can be pressure here to create, to satisfy demand.

The pressure made him want to break free, use the knowledge and skill he had acquired to make his own movies, at his own pace.

The second house is the house of personal resources, the eighth house is the house of other people’s resources, the eleventh house is the house of resources built with others, and he had sufficient to take a risk.

In 1919 he partnered with two actors and a movie director to found United Artists.

Chart for the founding of United Artists, April 17, 1919

Pluto and Jupiter were transiting his first house, triggering the other axis in his chart, balancing the axis,

and he was having a Saturn return. Neptune and Saturn were transiting Leo, trining Aries and reminding him to be independent, have courage, follow his own moral code.

He controlled every aspect of his films from then on, the script, the direction, the music. Pluto was digging for riches in Cancer, and his natal Pluto digs in Gemini. He relied on himself, his body and mind, physical abilities and intellect, and what he didn’t know, he learned quickly, or found someone to bridge the gap.

Music became an integral part of his work. He couldn’t write music and hired a composer to write it for him, but every note was his. The music credit went to him.

He became the lawmaker of his films, and every film, every relationship brought him closer to satiating his thirst.

There is great thirst when Rahu, the mouth of the dragon, is conjunct the Ascendant, and in Cancer the thirst can be

for home,

mother,

roots.

People trusted him into their homes. He became a familiar figure worldwide. He communicated emotions in a language that is Cancerian, read, felt, and understood by all. He offered transparency.

When talkies became popular, he hesitated to make a talkie,

until the great dictator came to power.

When Hitler became chancellor on January 30, 1933, Neptune and Mars Jupiter were transiting Virgo, and Ketu was in Virgo. The work was here, in this place of marginality,

in Dike’s sign, place of justice,

and in shadow, injustice.

The planets touched Chaplin’s IC in his third house. They were in a quincunx to transiting Uranus in Aries in his tenth house,

and he didn’t see it until he did, the idea for a subversive comedy.

The conjunction of Mars Jupiter can give rise to great fear, great courage, the need to act.

The press reacted with fear when he announced his project,

and he responded with courage.

Aquarius is in his eighth house of crisis, and in a crisis, he rose above and detached himself, and turned it into a fictional story.

When he began writing the script for the Great Dictator, he became Hitler’s secret enemy. Virgo is in his third house of skills, and in Hitler’s twelfth house of secret enemies.

When the movie was released, he became Hitler’s open enemy in the seventh house, a Mercury in Aries.

youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY1Xg6X20

The movie was released on October 15, 1940.

The Saturn Jupiter conjunction in Taurus in the eleventh house settled him.

There is settlement in Taurus. Jupiter took the form of a white bull and carried Europa to Crete. He loved her in Crete and settled her there, gave protection to the first queen of Crete.

Transiting Saturn Jupiter were conjunct his natal Mars Venus in Taurus, and in a square to his natal Saturn in Leo. Settling him and distinguishing him as an institution, a master at his craft, a personality who stood up for his beliefs, the beliefs of-

Uranus too was transiting Taurus. Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter highlighted the quincunx to his natal Uranus in Libra in the fourth house,

and the question of home would rise in the years to come, the beliefs of which homeland.

He was an Englishman working in the United States. He’d been married thrice to American women, and never taken the initiative to become an American citizen.

Such a thing in a time of ensuring protection would seed suspicion.

The question of home.

Three unhappy marriages.

In 1942, when Uranus was finishing his transit in Taurus and beginning his transit in Gemini,

Chaplin met the love of his life, Oona O’Neill.

The Saturn Jupiter conjunction marked the end and the beginning of a stage in his life.

Charlie Chaplin

weds Oona O’Neill, born May 14, 1925, Bermuda

She quenched his thirst for home, mother, roots.

With his Jupiter in Capricorn, he must have been looking for a woman who could take charge. With her Jupiter retrograding in Capricorn, she took charge.

A woman who would put family first. With her Saturn in Scorpio, she put family first.

A woman who loved him. She loved him. With her Mars Pluto in Cancer,

she never let him go.

Suspicion of him grew during the cold war years. When he spoke against the paranoia and political intolerance of the United States, they called him a communist. He said he wasn’t a communist. He was an individualist.

Pluto in Gemini could draw secret enemies, and he drew the House Committee on Un American activities. They kept a file on him.

In 1952, when he sailed to London with his family to promote a movie, they told him that his American entry permit had been revoked. He would have to submit to an interview about his political views before he could re enter the States.

Chart for September 19, 1952, at sea

Uranus was conjunct his Ascendant. A shock. Across from Cancer was his natal Jupiter in Capricorn. The government of the United States had declared itself an open enemy.

Uranus was in a square to Saturn, Venus, Neptune in Libra

conjunct his natal Uranus.

They called for discipline, strategy, re arrangement

They uprooted him, but he didn’t feel homeless. She was with him, and he had the resources to choose where to work, where to live.

Jupiter was transiting Taurus, conjunct her natal Sun Venus. A time of beauty and excitement, but also a time of responsibility. Jupiter was in a trine to Mercury in Virgo, and she would have to go back to the States alone to put his affairs in order.

Uranus was conjunct her natal Mars Pluto in a trine to her natal Saturn in Scorpio. He placed his trust in her.

He wouldn’t tell the States that he wasn’t coming back. He would tell them he was delaying his return,

until his resources were secure.

At sea, he rescued.

Marginality,

and the ability to take action in the midst of chaos.

Making good use of what he had

to stay afloat.

On March 4, 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

Jupiter and the Sun were transiting Pisces in his ninth house, house of the Midheaven. Joyful time. The Sun has his joy in the ninth house of wisdom.

Relationships that make through the eighth house of crisis, enter the house of wisdom.

The queen thanked him for all that he had done. She said that he had helped out a great deal.

He had taken seminal fluid and given it shape,

and made it look effortless.

The Sun was in a square to Neptune in Sag in his sixth house of work, and Neptune can hide effort, the effort of a centaur merging intellect and the physical body.

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He mastered capturing attention, like fire captures attention.

His natal Mercury in Aries and Uranus in Libra are at the bending of the nodes, and he is known for creating a language that unites people.

Transiting Mars was joining Mercury in Aquarius.

Known for a language that is universal,

pantomime and comedy,

the medicine he offered in Aquarius in the eighth house.

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Transiting Venus was conjunct his natal Mercury, and Pluto was conjunct his natal Uranus, and there is here

acknowledgement,

the faithfulness of a land that acknowledged him for his medicine.

Saturn was conjunct his Ascendant, and the acknowledgement came with a title that established him as belonging to England,

Sir Charles.

He was spent and couldn’t bow to receive it.

Uranus in Scorpio was conjunct his natal Moon, and the queen did what his mother would have done. She bowed to give him the title.

They say that when Pluto is in the fourth house, we can lose our home and build a new one, because of a fire, a flood, a derecho.

Chaplin died on Christmas day in 1977, and in 1978, when transiting Pluto was at 16 degrees Libra, his coffin was stolen. The thieves asked his wife for a ransom, and she refused to pay it.

Chart for March 1, 1978, Switzerland

He was having a Saturn return, and there was a grand trine in water. Mars in Cancer was energizing his body, the memory of his body. Uranus was in Scorpio in his fifth house of romance and children, and he thought of a skit he’d never thought of before, an out of the box way of bringing his family together, letting them know he was fine. The Sun Venus and Mercury were in Pisces, and they can offer derivatives,

a derivative of his art.

Roman and Gantscho needed cash. They were watching TV and a Chaplin skit came up.

R (pointing at the TV with his chin)   Did you hear? He just died.

G (pointing out the window with his chin)   He’s buried here, in the cemetery.

R   We should steal the coffin, ask his wife for a ransom.

G   Did you sell your truck?

R   Not yet.

G   Let’s go. Get the shovels.

They dug up the coffin and dragged it to the truck.

R   Where to?

G   The cornfield.

They drove to the cornfield and buried the coffin.

R (slapping dirt off his hands)   Done.

G   Let’s go home.

Back home, they looked through the phone book and found the Chaplins’ phone number.

R   You call.

G   No, you call.

R   Okay, I’ll call. Let’s go to a phone booth.

They went to a phone booth and made the call, and Oona couldn’t believe her ears. She alerted her lawyer and her lawyer alerted the police. She called her children, and her children gathered round her.

Oona (to her children)   They’ve stolen papa’s coffin.

The moment she said the words, she knew it was him. He must have had some seminal fluid left for one last skit.

Her most perceptive child opened the front door and looked at the sky.

Most perceptive child   He’s working from the other side.

Jupiter was transiting Gemini and there is multiplicity in Gemini. Many police officers were brought into the skit. They tapped Oona’s phone and monitored her phone and watched 200 phone booths in the region,

until they caught the thieves.

The thieves confessed and the police recovered the coffin and brought it back to the cemetery.

Police officer 1 (watching Chaplin’s coffin being covered with earth)   Chiron is in Taurus.

Police officer 2   So?

Police officer 1   So we should mind the gap in the body, the earth.

Police officer 2 (watching the earth over Chaplin’s coffin being clapped smooth with shovels)   You think he’ll rise again?

Police officer 1   You never know. His Mercury Sun in Aries may come up with a new idea. Gemini in the twelfth is an active mind, full of mischief.

Police officer 2   How about we seal the grave with cement.

Police officer 1 (nodding)   That should mind the gap.

Hold me.

Two men by the sea by Caspar David Friedrich, 1830

What! But I’m not- 

That’s the name of the valley. You asked me the name.

Oh! Sorry, I misunderstood you. So I’m in the Valley hold me?

Valley saint hold me.

I didn’t know there was a Saint Hold Me.

There isn’t. Valley hold me didn’t sound right, so my dad added the saint.

Valley saint hold me sounds better. Who’s your dad?

The king.

And you?

The prince.

silence

silence

Why hold me? Because of the valley’s warmth?

No, no.  (points at the shore with his chin) See the twins?

nods

They’ve never been apart. They’re exactly the same. Well, almost exactly the same. Probably 15 minutes apart.

Like Castor and Pollux.

Yes! Do you know when Castor died?

When they were abducting the twin sisters who were going to marry their twin cousins.

Marriage would have separated them. Marriage would have meant having to hold their own chart.

You mean they were holding each other’s chart-

More than that. It was like they shared one chart. Like their charts had merged into one because they were never apart.

So when Castor died-

Pollux couldn’t live without Castor holding his chart.

Is this your dad’s theory-

My dad says that when we’re born, the people who take care of us hold our chart. So let’s say you’re born with Venus in Virgo-

I do have Venus in Virgo!

Were your parents very particular about your appearance?

My mom was. She treated me like her doll.

She held your Venus in Virgo until you could hold her on your own.

Does your dad want someone to hold him? Is that why he called the valley-

My dad says that when we interact, we can hold an aspect in each other’s chart. More so when we live together. Like my mom. She has Saturn Mercury in Cancer in the eighth house, and she says that she worried constantly about falling into debt, until she met my dad. My dad has Jupiter in Cancer, and he brought stability into her life. He would tease her and tell her that she was holding on to his fortune. That’s how they came up with the valley’s name.

What was it called before?

Valley h.

King of the Valley saint hold me by Andrey Remnev

Before Pinochet took power in Chile, Velasco took power in Peru.

Chart for Juan Velasco Alvarado, born June 16, 1910

Uranus in Capricorn lies across from Neptune and Mars in Cancer. A demanding opposition. It demands a story that breaks with the past.

They say he left home at 15, a stowaway on a boat that took him from his coastal town in the north of Peru, to the capital city’s main port, Callao.

He wanted to join the military school.

You are underage, said the commandant who wasn’t that much older than Velasco.

Velasco stood up straight, and his Uranus and Neptune Mars opposition took hold of the commandant, held him by the neck, and the commandant raised Velasco’s age on paper and enlisted him in the army.

Either that,

or

Velasco spun a tale of sorrow with his Mercury in Gemini in a sextile to Mars in Cancer.

Brother, he said to the commandant, listen to me. I’m the eldest of 11 children. You know how it is. My mother’s counting on me to provide. Please raise my age and let me in.

Mercury too touches Uranus in a wide trine, and the commandant felt for the lad, almost his age, but not quite. He took the pen and looked around to make sure no one was watching, and he broke the army’s rule of age, and wrote down that Velasco was 17.

No doubt Velasco was bright, and no doubt he loved his country. He found brotherhood in the army, and built arete in the army, and rose to become commander in chief.

President Belaúnde Terry shaking hands with General Velasco Alvarado, 1968

They say he plotted to overthrow Belaúnde’s government from the time he became commander in chief. He and other officers studied the country and made decisions on what the revolutionary government of the armed forces would do. They plotted and made decisions and waited for the right time to

Castor and Pollux seizing the daughters of Leucippus, Roman, 160 AD

seize power.

Pluto   He’s digging in the riches of the sign, exploring both sides of the glyph.

Sun   He’s rescuing the country, but no one’s going to see that until history is revised.

Mercury   He’s just taking the road that gets him where he wants to go.

Peru has oil, and the oil fields were developed and controlled by foreign companies. In the 1960s people wanted to know what kind of contracts the government signed with them, and who owned the oil fields exactly. They say that a page missing in the contract with the International Petroleum Company caused a national scandal. Corruption, people cried, and in the middle of the uproar,

Velasco led a successful and bloodless military coup.

Belaúnde was sent into exile, and he became president, and the first thing he did as president was to nationalize the oil fields.

He wasn’t going to pay a cent in compensation, not a cent, he said,

until he began to feel the pinch of retaliation.

After he nationalized oil, he began his agrarian reform, and it depended on loans.

He expropriated land from the big landowners. Sugar estates and grazing lands were turned into cooperatives run by members. The members were the landowners now, but they needed seed and fertilizer, and they turned to the government for seed and fertilizer, and the government turned to the world bank and the development bank for loans,

and they said,

first give us a lyre to forgive a theft.

They held his Mercury.

He had to negotiate a compensation plan to bring in the loans, or his revolution, his peruvianization of the country would fail.

When he next wanted to peruvianize the banks, he was more careful. He paid off and bought out the foreign banks.

There is I AM in Aries, and there is MINE in Taurus.

Saturn in Taurus is in a quincunx to Jupiter in Libra, and revisionist history now says that Velasco instilled the principle of ownership in people who had always worked for others.

They now say that this sense of ownership is what saved Peru from falling into the hands of the Shining Path, a terrorist movement that grew out of a university, a university professor and his students, and not in the fields.

The big landowners were gone, and the fields were

mine to protect,

mine to defend.

Ownership takes time to grow, and no one could see it at the time. All they could see were food shortages in a country that had produced plenty and been a prime exporter.

Velasco faced growing discontent, strikes that led to confrontations with the military, and personal health problems, but he pressed on. He authorized projects that the country could no longer afford, and signed laws that put restrictions on freedom of expression.

Chiron in Pisces asks that we mind the gap in things getting out of hand, but he didn’t mind the gap.

When newspapers became increasingly critical of government policies, he confiscated all media outlets,

and people went out on the streets to protest.

In 1975, his prime minister, General Morales Bermúdez, led a coup that deposed him.

Bermúdez would return the media outlets to their private owners, and reverse laws that nationalized industry and prevented foreign investment. But he didn’t touch the land reforms.

They say that in Pisces we can connect with things that are bigger than ourselves.

Timed chart for Juan Velasco Alvarado

The Virgo Pisces and Sag Gemini polarity were his inner compass.

There is justice and injustice in Virgo.

Velasco implemented an agrarian reform that was just and unjust and broke with the past.

Past governments had brought some reform, but his was irreversible.

There is a war in the heavens in Pisces, and there is Jupiter bringing order in Pisces, and Jupiter is in Libra in his second house of resources.

He was not an elected president. His contract was with the armed forces, and the armed forces allowed him to rule. They were his biggest resource, and they were the public that applauded him.

The agrarian reform was a new cultural practice, and his government hired educators and artists to encourage social participation

among city dwellers

and farmers.

At the root was the search for solutions that weren’t capitalist or communist, but Peruvian,

to create a more integrated society.

He made Quechua an official language, next to Spanish, and he had all school children, no matter what school they went to or where they lived, dress the same.

There are two brothers holding one chart in Gemini.

Sunset by Caspar David Friedrich

Chart for Augusto Pinochet, born November 25, 1915, data from birth record

Salvador Allende’s government took the richest and most stable country in South America, and after three years of nationalizations, the country was on the brink of economic disaster.

In September 1973, a coup led by the army, the navy, the air force and the national police deposed him, and there was bloodshed. There were executions and people were sent into exile.

In November of the same year, DINA was established, an intelligence unit that would be responsible for assassinations, persecution, and unforgivable violations and brutality. DINA existed until 1977, and was replaced by the National Information Center.

youtube.com/watch?v=vtkYDO2chtQ

The ugly side of the regime

to be rid of leninism, marxism, communism, and all the other isms that Allende partnered with and that took over his social democracy when he became president

with 36.61 per cent of the vote. At the time, Chile had only one round in elections.

The commanders in chief of the armed forces created a junta to run the country, and it was decided that each one would head the government for a year, starting with the commander in chief of the army, Augusto Pinochet.

His chart is the chart of a warrior.

He went to military school and studied geopolitics, military geography and military intelligence, and he taught at the war academy.

He wrote a book about the Chilean army’s first military campaign over land in the war of the Pacific. An account of the problems faced mobilizing an army over hostile terrain, and a study of the strategies and tactics employed. In the book he pays homage to all the men, regardless of nationality, who fought and died defending a cause they considered just.

Taurus is in his twelfth house, and behind the scenes, he retreated to his library. He was a collector of history books. The oldest book in his collection was a first edition of  the Histórica Relación del Reino de Chile, dated 1646.

Taurus and Libra.

Libra is in his fifth house, and Libra rules arrangement, and there is a war in Libra.

Their ruler Venus is in Sag in the seventh house, with the Sun.

His contract with the army allowed him to travel across the land he read about and studied, and the land he loved,

to see firsthand.

Venus is in a square to Jupiter in Pisces, and there must have been a restlessness inside him. There is a guide of souls in Sag, and in Pisces, Jupiter waged war in the heavens when it was his time to rule.

It kept him working three times as hard as anyone else, following orders and rising in the ranks, and when Allende faced an emergency, protests for him to resign, he proved to be resourceful. He deployed the army on the streets and imposed a curfew, and Allende made him commander in chief,

and then the chamber of deputies passed a resolution that accused Allende’s government of violating the constitution,

and Allende’s unconstitutional government lost the support of the armed forces,

and there was a coup

that liberated Chile.

youtube.com/watch?v=sAnUF0OR528

Chart for September 11, 1973, Santiago, Chile

Pinochet was about to turn 58 and approaching his second Saturn return.

Jupiter was transiting his ninth house in Aquarius, conjunct his natal Uranus.

Transiting Jupiter and his natal Uranus were in a square to

transiting Mars in Taurus

and transiting Uranus Venus in Libra.

A breakthrough in his career.

They asked him to put into practice his knowledge of military operations and his ability to rise above and coordinate operations.

The Battle of Alexander at Issus by Albrecht Altdorfer, 1529

There is a grand trine in water in Pinochet’s chart. Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn conjunct the Moon in Cancer, and Mercury in Scorpio. There is the potential here to become an institution in the homeland and in the family, and he became an institution.

There are many analyses of how he consolidated control to remain as head of government, but none of them consider that the other commanders in chief may have been willing to give him control

because of the ugly side of the regime.

When they asked Pinochet if they could have avoided bloodshed, he said that there were weapons in La Moneda. When Allende would not surrender and seemed to be buying time, they had to act fast, before Allende’s people attacked them.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsoRRYUBNLE

Times of natural disaster and war and lawlessness can bring out the beast in humankind,

www.reuters.com/article/us-quake-chile-disorder-sb-idUSTRE6213ZE20100302

and the coup brought out the beast in humankind,

and Pinochet assumed responsibility for everything that was done. Blame it on me, he said, because he gave the orders, and any excesses that occurred were under the conditions of war.

He assumed responsibility to protect the military, and the military protected him for as long as it could.

Jupiter in Pisces can give and receive refuge and immunity.

There is commitment in Cancer to the homeland and to protect the borders of the homeland.

Mercury in Scorpio can be drawn to study the mysteries. He can learn to keep secrets and work in places of high confidentiality. In Scorpio he can consider the people he works with to be family.

Following the coup, the junta reversed nationalizations and asked the Chicago Boys to restore the health of the economy. The Boys took hight positions and gave Chile shock therapy by implementing Friedman’s principles of a free market economy. They brought their students with them to ensure the continuity of these principles.

Jupiter’s transit through Aquarius, and the conjunction with his natal Uranus across from Neptune in Leo brought Pinochet

a new purity

and a new morality.

He encouraged more and more civilian participation in the junta’s ministries to solidify the new purity and morality.

Let’s change this country from a country of proletarians to a country of proprietors, he said.

A constitutional referendum in September 1980 gave the country a new constitution, and it assured his position as president of the republic until 1988. It put him at the forefront and the junta in the background.

Chart for September 11, 1980

The Sun, Jupiter and Saturn were transiting Virgo in his fourth house, across from his natal Jupiter in Pisces. He was laying down roots.

67.04 percent of voters approved the new constitution, and they say that tens of thousands of Chileans gathered to proclaim Pinochet’s victory. But there were also accusations of fraud.

Chile still has the same constitution.

It has been amended about 20 times since the country’s return to democracy. The first amendments were , the first time inochet and Patricio Aylwin, who was elected president in the 1989 general elections.

It has been amended about 20 times since the country’s return to democracy. The first amendments were made between Pinochet and Patricio Aylwin, who was elected president in the 1989 general elections.

Every amendment finds a middle way between these two men, born and raised in the same land.

Chile recently rejected a new constitution that would replace it.

youtube.com/watch?v=MPodbupgnXY

Maybe it’s meant to stay as a reminder of Allende and Pinochet and the middle way.

Jupiter and Saturn were conjunct in Libra with an orb of less than five degrees after the constitutional referendum, from October 1980 to October 1981. A time that would see Chile form close ties with Britain and the United States.  

In the 80s there was

the miracle of Chile

with market oriented policies

that reduced state influence in the economy.

Transiting Venus was conjunct his natal Neptune in Leo. Hearthfire.

Transiting Neptune was conjunct his natal Venus in Sag. Guru.

He was hearthfire and guru for many people, and not just in his country.

Mars and Uranus were transiting Scorpio, energizing the sign, and Uranus was conjunct his natal Mercury, activating his grand trine in water. He had managed to secure his place for another 8 years, and to secure the autonomy of the armed forces in the constitution.

He protected his family and made them the guardians of the democracy that would emerge when he stepped down in 1989.

He tried to buy more time in 1988, and held a referendum asking Chileans if he should rule for 8 more years, Yes or No. No won with 55.99 percent of the vote.

Chart for October 5, 1988

Jupiter was transiting his first house in Gemini, in a square to Venus transiting Virgo.

People hoped he would be brought to justice,

and people hoped he would retire peacefully. But he stayed as commander in chief of the army, and later as senator for life, as per the constitution.

There would be people brought to justice during this time, such as the head of DINA, and he stepped aside when that happened, but he would not let anyone come close to the army.

Transiting Jupiter was in a quincunx to transiting Neptune in Capricorn in his eighth house, and he didn’t see it until he saw it, that he was living in dangerous times, when those who had been silenced could speak, and when those who had been exiled were returning.

His natal Saturn, ruler of Capricorn, is in Cancer, and in dangerous times his biggest resource was to stay in the homeland, close to his loyal supporters, and where the laws of immunity protected him. But he traveled to London for medical treatment in 1998, and was arrested under an international arrest warrant issued by a judge in Spain.

Chart for October 16, 1998

He was about to turn 83, the time of his Jupiter return, and the beginning of his Uranus return.

Mars was transiting Virgo, and Mars would be across from Jupiter with an orb of less than five degrees later that month and in November. A personal war was beginning, one that he would fight with the help of the army and with his lawyers, and it would take him back to his library.

To get back to his library, a friend and a former ally would come to his defence.

www.theguardian.com/world/1999/oct/06/pinochet.chile

The Gemini Sag and Pisces Virgo polarities were his inner compass. They were Fidel Castro’s too, except Fidel has Uranus instead of Jupiter in Pisces.

Liberators or tyrants, depending on your

Or the two things at the same time.

Both authoritarian. They asked people to hold their chart and walk in the same direction. Pinochet to the free market and Fidel to the state.

Both kings. Pinochet brought order and became king. Fidel brought a revolution and became king.

Both identified with Dike and took justice into their own hands.

Chile let go of Pinochet’s chart and returned to democracy, holding Pinochet’s constitution.

www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/the-wine-legend

People who returned from exile didn’t want to hold his constitution, because it didn’t include products consumed in the local market.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aKDWzgjQQA

In Pinochet’s chart, Venus in Sag is in a quincunx to Saturn conjunct the Moon in Cancer, and there is love and commitment here for the country, but nobody could see it until they began amending the constitution to include wine and empanadas.

In Pinochet’s chart, the Sun in Sag is in a quincunx to Pluto in Cancer, and there is here the transformation of a country, but nobody could see it until they compared their country to-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTv-t8-Ssdw

Chart for Alberto Fujimori, born July 28, 1938, Lima, Peru, data from birth record

His mother must have felt a great sense of responsibility when she first held him. This child of hers would take a leap of faith one day and run for-

Honesty Technology Work

Impossible, she thought to herself. He is the son of Japanese immigrants! How could he run for-

She shook the vision out of her head.

She remembered her village in Japan and the mikan oranges her family grew, but she couldn’t picture him growing oranges. He would be studious and become an agricultural engineer, the rector of the national agrarian university, the-

Another vision interrupted her thoughts.

Another vision interrupted her husband’s thoughts.

Best to raise him Roman Catholic, he said. Just in case.

When Fujimori ran for president, he faced the same kind of problems Obama faced. The opposition questioned whether he was born in Peru.

Secret enemies in Aries and open enemies in Scorpio,

and Mars, ruler of Aries and Scorpio, is conjunct his Sun in Leo,

in the fourth house of home and homeland.

Once again the question: Where was he born?

Japan settled the matter. His parents had reported his birth at their embassy in Lima.

He won the 1990 presidential elections. A shock to the opposition, but they still controlled the congress.

He won with a campaign that was conducted behind the scenes, at the grassroots, riding a tractor.

His biggest resource was Gemini, and Mercury, ruler of Gemini and Virgo is in Virgo. The hoi polloi, ordinary people and people living away from the big cities, some in remote areas, the ones beginning to understand ownership.

They identified with him and were willing to hold his chart.

He offered what people wanted most, a better standard of living and security. A Peru free of the shining path, free of enemies.

elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/sobrevivientes-y-deudos-de-tarata-dan-su-testimonio-a-29-anos-del-violento-atentado-y-la-captura-de-abimael-guzman-sendero-luminoso-terrorismo-genocida-miraflores-base-naval-video-noticia/

On April 5, 1992,

he showed the country that he wasn’t just a man of service, but a man who could take command.

Saturn was transiting Aquarius. Service.

Mars was transiting Pisces, separating from his natal Jupiter. Command.

With the support of the armed forces, he shut down the congress, because the opposition kept blocking the measures he wanted to take to combat terrorism.

Jupiter was transiting Virgo, conjunct his natal Mercury, and he wanted to empower people in the countryside, arm them.

Opposition   Unheard of! What if they join the terrorists! They will turn the weapons against us!

The Moon was conjunct his natal Uranus in Taurus, in a trine to Neptune Uranus transiting Capricorn in his house of knowledge.

That lightbulb moment.

No, he said. They will defend themselves and their land.

In an emergency, he broadened the country’s mind.

When Abimael Guzman, head of the shining path, was captured in September 1992, he displayed him in a cage, dressed in stripes, like the inmates in Alcatraz. Mars and the Sun in Leo can have a sense of humour. Mars and the Sun in Leo in a quincunx to Jupiter can have a sense of humour that serves a purpose. Public humiliation. This is what I do with Peru’s enemies, he said.

He played with patterns and romanced the country in a poncho, in a suit, in jeans,

and the country romanced him back and called him Chino with endearment.

Romance and labour and the situation in the country improved, and time was running out. He would have to wait a required interval of time before he could run for president again.

But he didn’t want to let go of the work and the love of the people that filled the gap in Cancer and gave him roots.

So he changed the constitution to run for a consecutive term, and because the new constitution came into effect in 1993, he could run in 1995 and 2000. It wasn’t retroactive.

The majority of people approved. He was doing what nobody had been able to do in the past ten years,

with the same armed forces and national police available to the presidents before him. But before him, the armed forces and the national police were considered dangerous and corrupt,

and he transformed their image.

With Pluto digging in Cancer, in the village that raised him, he knew what needed to be done, better training, raise their salaries, and he knew how to treat them. Arming groups of civilians to help them fight terrorism showed them that he trusted them and respected their advice.

With Pluto in a quincunx to Jupiter in Pisces and Aquarius,

he brought back honour.

When he won the 1995 elections with 64.42 percent of the vote, they were the first people he thanked.

youtube.com/watch?v=GQ4SRMKO9XU

The country relaxed

too soon.

In December 1996, Japan’s ambassador to Peru  was hosting a gala celebration, when 14 terrorists blew a hole in the wall, charged into the embassy grounds and took everyone hostage. It wasn’t the shining path this time, but the tupac amaru revolutionary movement.

Fujimori was 58 and beginning the Jupiter and Saturn returns that happen around age 60.

The terrorists wanted him to release 400 imprisoned members of their group, and he said, No. First release the hostages and then we talk.

They wouldn’t release the hostages, so in January he called Fidel Castro to see if he’d take 14 tupac amaru revolutionaries from Peru, and Fidel said, Sure.

But the tupac amaru revolutionaries did not want to go to Cuba.

They say that before the hostage crisis, Fujimori had visited the pre Inca archaeological site Chavín de Huántar. The galleries inside are mazelike, and there are underground canals-

He had an idea. They would build tunnels to reach the embassy, dynamite their way in and rescue the hostages.

In April 1997, they rescued the hostages.

It was a successful and heroic operation, done using national technology, and carried out with the experience acquired fighting the shining path.

All the terrorists were killed.

Peru does not negotiate with terrorists, he said.

He is known as the president who fought homeland enemies, defeated terrorism.

In an interview later that year, he was asked how many people were involved in planning Operation Chavín de Huántar, and he said there were six people involved, but only calls Montesinos by name. The following year, he and Montesinos were interviewed wearing the same suit, same tie. They call it the interview of the Siamese twins.

youtube.com/watch?v=ppuKqx8ST40

We attract partners with qualities of the sign in the seventh house, and he attracted Vladimiro Montesinos.

Chart for Vladimiro Montesinos, born May 20, 1945, Arequipa, Peru, data from birth record

They say Fujimori would not have made it to the second round of the 1990 elections if Montesinos had not fixed a tax evasion problem. He fixed the problem and Fujimori made him presidential adviser.

Montesinos had been discharged from the army during Velasco’s time. They say he was charged with treason for removing documents on the purchase of armaments from the Soviet Union, and spent a year or two in jail. After his release, he got a law degree and became a lawyer for tax evaders and drug traffickers.

Fujimori asked him to negotiate with the drug lords during the war against the shining path. They controlled areas of Peru that would allow the military access to the areas the shining path controlled.

Montesinos’ contacts and ease in the world of crime made him an asset.

When the head of the shining path, Abimael Guzman, was captured in September 1992, Montesinos worked with members of the national intelligence service to extract information from Guzman and get him to sign a peace accord. They did this conducting friendly interviews that were recorded.

youtube.com/watch?v=fhcXs91WbcA

Synastry chart with Fujimori’s chart in the inner wheel and Montesino’s chart in the outer wheel, with interaspects

With Fujimori in charge, Montesinos became part of Fujimori’s clan, family. He was uncle Vladi to the children.

His Mars wasn’t self employed anymore, defending bad guys. His Mars was now a disciplined Mars, working for the national intelligence service. The homeland gave him an unofficial pelt that made him the unofficial head of the intelligence service,

and he reported directly to the president.

They were all having dinner one evening, when Fujimori’s son asked Montesinos why they called him Rasputin.

Montesinos   Who calls me Rasputin?

Fujimori’s son   My friends in school. They say you control my dad.

Fujimori’s daughter   They say you’re the real president!

Montesinos and Fujimori looked at each other.

They amped the rumour.

They were all having dinner another evening, when Montesinos asked Fujimori’s son what were the kids saying in school.

Fujimori’s son   They say you’re a copy cat.

Montesinos   Why!

Fujimori’s son (points at Montesinos’ tie and his dad’s tie)   You wear the same ties.

Montesinos (looks at his tie and Fujimori’s tie)   They’re not the same!

Fujimori’s daughter   They’re similar.

They made art together.

The stellium that the two charts form in Virgo is an artistic stellium.

They turned a cultural practice into visual art.

With Uranus in Gemini in a square to the stellium in Virgo, it was a cultural practice that depended on equal trade and no judgement,

because necessity played a part.

With Uranus in Taurus in a trine to the stellium in Virgo, it was a cultural practice that drew from the containers of our resources,

and involved mischief.

youtube.com/watch?v=HRfKA0XDYJc

Montesinos’ vladivideos date from 1998 to 2000. They are recordings of him bribing people to support Fujimori in the 2000 elections. There was growing opposition to Fujimori running for a third term.

Then came a day when someone stole a tape from his office and took it to a TV station that he had not bribed

Chart for September 14, 2000

A Moon in Aries that exposed their artistic arrangements and brought scandal.

Jupiter Saturn were conjunct in Taurus with an orb of less than five degrees in April, May and June of that year, during the second round of the elections. In the second round, Fujimori’s opponent boycotted the elections with claims of fraud, and called on his supporters to boycott them as well. Fujimori won with 74.33 percent of the votes, but it didn’t sit right with the country.

A Jupiter Saturn conjunction in Taurus can announce the end and the beginning of a cycle in the Taurus Scorpio polarity.

But neither was willing to let go.

In the synastry chart, the Sun in Taurus is in sextile to Mars and the Sun in Leo, and in a square to Jupiter in the most public house. Taking every opportunity to combat enemies and stay on top.

Rahu on the Descendant in Fujimori’s chart is conjunct Montesinos’ Ascendant in Scorpio.

Destined to meet.

A partnership that held Montesinos and what he had to offer.

Before Fujimori, Montesinos was notorious. With Fujimori, he served the homeland, and the homeland was

ours.

Jupiter joins Sag in the eighth house with Pisces in the eleventh. Other people’s money coming from foreign investments, and pooled resources for the collective. Montesinos used some of it for bribes, and some of it he deposited in foreign accounts under his name, but it was for the family.

When the stolen videotape played on TV, Fujimori made a show of throwing Montesinos out of the country, never to come back. But Montesinos could not stay away, could not operate without him and came back, left, and came back again.

Fujimori also left and came back. He couldn’t stay away from Peru, the magic of the first years in office, the love of the people, to be president again.

Pluto can do that in the fourth house. Displace us in a calamity and bring us back to live not too far from where we lived before.

Montesinos was accused of tempting politicians, judges and business people to take the road of vice, and Fujimori was deemed morally unfit to be president.

They are both in prison, in the twelfth house, each one left holding his own chart.

With Libra in the twelfth house, and Venus with Mars in Aries in the sixth house of work, Montesinos is back to being self employed. He’s written a book about Chavín de Huántar and the part he played. 

published in 2016

With Saturn in Aries in the twelfth house, Fujimori has his own prison. On his own and in a quincunx to Venus Neptune in Virgo, he’s paid attention to what he hadn’t paid attention to before. His daughter’s interest in politics, running for president, carrying his name.

youtube.com/watch?v=CtmwSGYVh8g

No one could see what was happening inside the compound, only what the drone flying above showed them. Still, they needed to be there.

Chart for May 1, 2011

There is Odysseus in Aries, and the grand stellium in Aries can ask for a group of warriors like him.

There can be group involvement with Jupiter. When he wrestled with Typhon, Typhon cut out the sinews from his hands, and he couldn’t use his hands, couldn’t hold his thunderbolts. Mercury and Pan went to the cave where Typhon hid the sinews, a cave protected by the serpent Delphyne, and found a way to get them back. With his sinews back, Jupiter struck Typhon with a thunderbolt that trapped him under Mount Etna.

At 11:35 that night,

the president of the United States announced that Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda was dead.

He once again made clear what President Bush said on September 17, 2001. That bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims, a terrorist.

americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911islamispeace.htm

With Saturn in Libra, President Obama united people across the world against terrorism.

He dug in the riches of Capricorn, dug into all the speeches given about the war against terror since 9/11. He discarded what was no longer needed, built on what was needed, and added touches of his own. The result was a speech both original and familiar.

He didn’t hesitate. He gave a speech without fear of being misunderstood. In the course of ten years, the world had minded the gap in Sag, and entering Pakistan to kill bin Laden was not an act of war against a country or a faith. It was part of the war that united us.

Chart for September 17, 2001, timed to match the Ascendant for President Obama’s speech

In an emergency, President Bush created a new pattern. He walked into a mosque, a space that was foreign to him.

He did not speak like Obama spoke, like a father to his children. He spoke in the grand trine in air,  like a student among students, willing to learn from others, be of service to his country and keep it united. He read from the Koran, enlightening fellow Americans about Islam, a religion of peace that brought comfort to millions.

He initiated a war against terror that sent thousands to Afghanistan and later to Iraq. Bad things happen in war, and good things. It was an emergency that closed a gap in information

on both sides of the world.

On one side, the likes of Osama bin Laden had painted Americans as evil.

On the other side, the likes of Osama bin Laden had painted Arab Muslims as evil.

The biggest asset during the emergency would be friendship and partnership between both.

The biggest asset to capture and kill bin Laden would be the CIA and some badass warriors.

Obama praised them in his speech. They had helped ensure Americans’ safety, and for their own safety, he could not mention their names.

But one of them couldn’t hold back, like Odysseus couldn’t hold back from telling Polyphemus that his name wasn’t Nobody. It was Odysseus.

youtube.com/watch?v=zpYruBI7qAk

Chart for Rob O’Neill, born April 10, 1976, Butte, Montana

He relied on strength, the strength that came with living outdoors, rigorous training and working in a group. Strength of the body and the mind, fueled by the commitment to protect his homeland and admiration for his president.

The need to be seen. Venus and the Sun in Aries can ask to be seen, recognized.

Mercury Jupiter in Taurus lie across from Uranus in Scorpio, and a transit may have triggered this polarity when he broke the code of silence.

With his words he painted a picture of what happened the night bin Laden was killed, and he says that this has brought closure to many people who lost loved ones on 9/11. The government offered no pictures, no evidence, and there were rumours that they had killed a body double, and he reassured his public that this was not the case, because he was there, he was the one who shot him.

Responsibility of clan in an unorthodox way, that also satisfied his solar house, a solar house powered by a grand stellium the period before and after Operation Neptune Spear.

Osama bin Laden once said he was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyad.

There is Eris in Libra.

With Libra rising, he would have partnered with people who had the qualities of Aries. His open enemies would have had the qualities of Aries. People with arete in emergency situations.

He must have recognized them when they burst into his compound on May 1, 2011, like they recognized him. He was the man who took raw material from their homeland and turned it into something else, armed jihad.

youtube.com/watch?v=8qkahQVFzMI

Whether it was Rob who killed bin Laden or not, Rob remembers that it was him, his Neptune that dissolved bin Laden’s Saturn in Sag.

Jupiter can attract a group. Saturn can attract a single person. Saturn acted alone when he claimed his place.

With Cancer in the tenth house, bin Laden was known as the man who eluded capture. He shut himself and his family inside a compound with high walls in Abbottabad.

Scorpio was in his second house, and Neptune in Scorpio accentuates the qualities of the sign, and there are mysteries in Scorpio, the mysteries of the mind, probing into the mysteries of the mind. He must have craved death and transformation, and triggered emergencies that caused harm and could bring him harm and kept him living on the edge. The ability to live like that,

waiting for an opportunity to leave his mark on a stage.

He belonged to a group that dug in the riches of the stage, looking for the right ingredients to shock the world. They shocked the world when Bush was president. Let’s see who would be president next.

youtube.com/watch?v=eLK55ToScRg

Chart for Barack Obama, data from birth record

With Aquarius rising, President Obama offered the country Obamacare.

With the Sun in Leo, he shone a light on open enemies, and bin Laden had declared jihad on the United States, and he was an open enemy. He was an enemy with a name that sounded like his, Obama, Osama. Who better than Obama to tackle someone like Osama. He made it his top priority to capture him or kill him.

People laboured hard and in secret to find bin Laden, and when the director of the CIA informed him that they knew where he was hiding, he didn’t want the compound bombed. With so many planets transiting the village that raised him, he wanted badasses to go in there and get him, and bring back proof.

Saturn was transiting Libra in his ninth house asking for proof, and Saturn was transiting Libra in bin Laden’s first house. When his DNA was verified and a full biometric analysis of his facial and body features made,

the president made his announcement.

There is a lake of memories in Cancer, and everyone who was holding their own chart on 9/11 has a story to tell, a stoty in that lake.

Shah Jahan left us with a singular story. He was born in 1592, on January 15 of the Gregorian calendar, and they say that his birth was at night, 5 hours and 10 minutes after sundown, and they calculate that sundown was at 5:15, and that he was born at 10:25 pm in Lahore. 

One of his epithets has been translated as Lord of the happy conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. The wide conjunction is in Sag and forms a grand trine in fire, with Pluto in Aries and Neptune in Leo.

There can be oneness in fire, one who is guide, one who leads, one who is hearthfire.

They can be happy together, Jupiter and Venus, and they can be fierce if oneness is challenged.

Jahangir must have felt the fiery triangle when he held his chart, the youngest of his three sons. Best to teach him rank. The eldest closest to him, the second one standing behind his older brother, and the youngest fanning him.

Jahangir and his three sons by Manohar, ca. 1605

It suited Khurram, as the youngest was known before his reign name, it suited his Mars to fan his father. Mars has his joy in the sixth house of work, and conjunct Uranus in Pisces, in a square to Venus in Sag, he can have his joy in patterns. A servant should have been doing the fanning, but Pisces can blur the lines between an imperial child and a servant, and the child liked to watch the movement of the feather break and create a pattern, a peacock feather, what would it be like to sit on a throne of peacock feathers.

There is refuge in Pisces, and there is war, and Khurram was sent on campaigns to expand the Mughal Empire, to war against the Rajput states and the Pashtun tribes in the Indian subcontinent, and to negotiate the terms of their submission to Mughal rule.

The submission of Maharana Amar Singh of Mewar to Prince Khurram,  in 1615

There is a fierce warrior in the Sag and Pisces square, and there is solidarity with the village that raised him, a push to find inspiration in the village that raised him, to break barriers playing with patterns.

There is a strong negotiator in the Mercury Sun conjunction, and there is culture, an adherence to the traditions and culture of the homeland.

He had been close to his grandparents, to his grandfather Akbar who had a taste for the foreign, and who invited the Portuguese from Goa to his court. They came bringing samples of European paintings, of the Virgin and Child drawn in the style of the Renaissance, and Akbar introduced three dimensionality to the miniature art of the land, chiaroscuro and perspective.

The Mughal Emperor Akbar crossing the Ganges, ca. 1590

Khurram appreciated such influences, but with the Moon in Aquarius, his taste was more retro, and he browsed through the royal collections to learn what came before.

Of Jahangir’s three sons, he proved to be the most accomplished and most competent militarily and politically, and in 1616 Jahangir signalled that he would be the one to succeed him,

and Pluto dug up the jealous stepmother in Aries. Nur Jahan wanted to see her own daughter from her previous marriage become empress, and she signalled that her daughter’s husband should be the one to succeed him. Her daughter’s husband was Jahangir’s fifth son Shahryar who wasn’t even in the picture.

Jahangir and Prince Khurram with Nur Jahan, ca. 1620

When Nur Jahan gave Shahryar appointments that should have gone to Khurram, the tension between them grew palpable.

Then Kandahar was besieged by the Persians.

The city had a strategic location along the trade routes and was considered one of the gateways to India. Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire annexed it in 1508 to control foreign intrusions, and in 1622, the Persians laid siege to the city.

Nur Jahan ordered Khurram to march to the city and take it back, and-

Don’t go, his wife whispered.

Khurram refused to go.

Let her see your worth.

Kandahar was lost to the Persians, and whether Nur Jahan saw Khurram’s worth or not, she continued her quest to retain power through her daughter and son in law.

What if I let Shahryar become the next emperor, and you and I go live somewhere in peace.

The first thing your stepmother will do when he becomes emperor is to have you murdered.

They were married in 1612, when he was twenty and she nineteen.

Chart for Shah Jahan

Chart for Mumtaz Mahal, born April 27, 1593, Agra, timed to match his rising sign

Mars joins his Moon in Aquarius in the fifth house, and there is passion in this combination, and Neptune amplifies it. In Aquarius there are ideas, ideal love, passionate talk of how it should be and how it should feel, a romance of the intellect. The Sun and Mercury in Taurus can stop the talk and get practical. They bring in sensuality, experimentation with scents and taste and touch, and in Leo there can be two hearts that beat as one.

She anchored his rule.

Jahangir died in 1627, and Khurram fought a war against Shahryar, and others came to his aid, namely Mumtaz’ father who was also his stepmother’s brother,

and he won the war.

He stood in the Aquarius Leo polarity, the polarity of ethics and morality, in a square to Taurus in the eighth house, and gave an order that involved flesh.

He ordered the execution of Shahryar and other rivals, and the house arrest of his stepmother and her daughter.

He stood with Mumtaz by his side giving him strength. She brought Uranus into his fiery triangle, and the realization that there was a cost to becoming emperor and ruling without contention, a cost to oneness.

He was crowned Shah Jahan, fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire in 1628.

What will you do as emperor?

What do you mean?

How will you distinguish yourself from your father and your grandfather?

I’m going to get Kandahar back.

Silence

What would you have me do?

Will you conquer more land after your get Kandahar back?

Silence

You should change direction. Consolidate what you have.

How?

A project, something that will involve everyone and unite the empire.

A new capital city.

Yes, a new capital city.

Shahjahanabad.

Agra has red sandstone-

Rajasthan has marble-

Every building and every garden perfectly symmetrical.

Do you want to compete with the heavens?

Almost perfectly symmetrical.

There is short distance travel in the third house and long distance travel in the ninth, and they enjoyed both. They went on architectural tours and to the market place, and they shopped. Jupiter and Venus can attract shiny objects, and they bejeweled themselves and their children.

Capricorn in the fourth house can speak of a stately home, with rules and rank clearly defined, and Shah Jahan grew up in such a home. Mercury and the Sun brought him erudition, the sages of the land, literature.

Mumtaz added Jupiter, and Jupiter conjunct the Sun can be excessive.

She infected Khurram with her love of the earth, the gemstones of the earth, and he watched her turn a stone into a masterpiece with the setting she chose, the clothes she wore.

He infected her with his love for patterns, the decorative arts, pietra dura.

Shah Jahan and his sons by Hashim, ca. 1633

The portrait was made after she died. She died in 1631 during childbirth, and he secluded himself in the palace,

and found refuge in the sixth house. He would build her a jewel, like the jewels she liked to wear, beautiful from every point of view. A mausoleum that was a jewel.

He would compete with the heavens and make it the way she would have wanted it, perfectly symmetrical, and she would lie in the centre.

They had come to know the finest architects and the finest artisan workshops in the land, and he met with them to plan the design and the adornments.

and work began in 1632. People across the land came to see the work in progress, and they called it the Taj Mahal, the Crown Palace, and they began telling Shah Jahan’s singular story.

None of the storytellers knew him personally or her, so the story differed depending on who told it. Some said he had three wives, some said he had five, some said he had a harem, but he chose one,

one vehicle to reach ideal love, scintillating love, the way love should be, eternal, and the way love should feel, blissful, and when she died, he grieved.

Look, they would say, pointing at the Taj, he was giving form to pure love, the essence of love, offering the empire a symbol of love.

He was emperor until one of his sons, not the one meant to succeed him, imprisoned him in the Agra Fort and took his place. The son was a son more retro than him, who disapproved of his father’s excesses, and wasn’t open to the other cultures of the land, the other practices, and some praised this, and some said it marked the beginning of the end of the Mughal Empire,

but not of the Taj Mahal.

From the Agra Fort, Shah Jahan could see the Taj Mahal,  his beloved wife, and when he died, he was buried beside her.

We may say he broke the perfect symmetry, but it’s the way he wanted it to be, almost perfectly symmetrical, with her in the centre, and him in a bigger tomb beside her, each one distinguished in their own way.

In Cancer music can tell a story better than words.

youtube.com/watch?v=PydJUinuXHc

Chart for the Treaty of Tordesillas, June 7, 1494, Spain

The line was a gamble. Nobody knew how far west or east they could go, or which side was richer, but it solved the problem between two neighbouring and seafaring countries. A line that set a boundary, gave direction and kept the peace, and a line that would multiply.

Lines of longitude and latitude had been drawn in the past, grids that showed location and gave direction, the space between them signifying distance, but they were local systems and not universal.

An Arabic mile was not the same as a Roman mile, and the prime meridian varied depending on the situation. Here the prime meridian ran through the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa, and the line that was a gamble was 370 leagues west of the prime meridian.

Uranus in Aquarius can ask for systems without a centre, a system studied in school and recognized by all, everyone’s cultural practice.

We can take for granted what began with the courage to sail away.

youtube.com/watch?v=LTrk4X9ACtw

Christopher Columbus was a trader. He worked for a trading family and had bought and sold goods in northern Europe and along the western coast of Africa.

When he heard that the Ottomans weren’t allowing Christian traders on the Silk Road, he wanted to solve the problem.

He would sail west to the East Indies. No one had done it before, but someone had calculated that 68 degrees separated Europe from the East Indies sailing west, and Columbus converted 68 degrees into Roman miles, not knowing that the calculation had been done in Arabic miles.

He wrote a proposal and took it to the King of Portugal, and the King of Portugal said, I think you’ve underestimated the distance, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m not interested in financing a western passage. Bartolomeo Dias just rounded the southern tip of Africa and we’re sure to find an eastern passage.

This was in 1484, when Pluto was in Libra and Uranus was in Sag. Breaking down old ways of relating and creating new ways in Sag.

Single Christian women of Goa wearing European fashion, and a Portuguese nobleman presumably proposing marriage, Codex Casanatense, 16th century

Columbus took his proposal to Spain, and the King and the Queen gave him an audience in 1486. They also thought he had underestimated the distance, but they gave him a salary and kept him in Spain. Pluto was in Libra and Uranus was in Capricorn, and they were busy breaking down an old unity and creating a new one in Capricorn, new laws that would unite the King’s Crown of Aragon and the Queen’s Crown of Castille.

The capitulation of Granada by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, 19th century

This was in late 1491. Spain was united under one belief, one set of morals.

In 1492, the King and the Queen agreed to finance Columbus’ search for a western passage.

Distance was important because ships can only carry a limited amount of supplies, to feed those on board, to keep them healthy. Was he sure about the distance, they asked him. It is all conjecture, he replied, but if the earth is a sphere, I should make it to the East Indies. If not-

The edge of the world by John Howe

It was a chance he was willing to take, to solve the trade problem and to know the real distance.

It was a chance the King and the Queen allowed him to take because Portugal was getting ahead.

He set sail on August 3, 1492.

The work was in Taurus.

He put all the hypothetical maps away and relied on sailors’ knowledge of the winds, the easterlies that carried them cross the Atlantic.  

The destination was in Scorpio, and Pluto was in Scorpio. Touching land would not only transform him and the people who sailed with him, but the homeland that financed his voyage, and the homelands he came into contact with.

When he touched land, Spain became a colonial power, and Uranus in Capricorn gave rise to a new social structure.

There were personal accounts of the discovery,

First landing of Columbus on the shores of the new world by Dioscoro Puebla, 1862

and empirical evidence.

Columbus before the King and the Queen of Spain upon returning from his first voyage by Ricardo Balaca, 1874

The discovery sent ripples across Spain and Portugal, and people wanted to know more about the customs and the languages and the riches of the new world.

Tell us how to get there!

How many miles away?

The  King and the Queen sent Columbus on a second voyage in 1493, when Saturn was ending his transit in Aquarius and Uranus about to begin. This time the physician Diego Chanca accompanied him, and Chanca wrote a detailed description of the voyage, and of the flora and the fauna and the people of the new world.

The four voyages of Columbus – conjectural

We do not know Columbus’ date of birth, but we know that he opened doors.

The Americas were the unintended consequence of finding a western passage, and although the King and the Queen had financed the voyage, there were rivals who could lay claim to the lands. To prevent this, they asked Pope Alexander VI to secure their exclusive rights.

The work was in-

In Taurus there is Mine and in Scorpio there is my clan.

In Leo there are the rights of the individual and in Aquarius the rights of people.

In Aries there is the story of Jason and his right to a throne.

The work was in Aries.

The Pope met with the ambassadors of Spain and Portugal in Tordesillas and said, Portugal once rejected Columbus’ proposal, and Spain embraced it. The King and the Queen of Spain pooled resources to see Columbus set sail with three ships. Last year he set sail with seventeen ships. All the lands discovered and undiscovered in the west belong to Spain, provided they aren’t already in Christian hands.

He walked over to Libra and took a seat. There was a map of the world as it was known in 1494 on the table. He asked Portugal’s ambassador which of Portugal’s colonies was farthest to the west.

The Cape Verde Islands, he replied.

The Pope signalled to the Cardinal, and the Cardinal took a quill pen and ran the prime meridian down the Cape Verde Islands.

The Pope asked Spain’s ambassador how far west were the new lands, and Spain’s ambassador wasn’t sure.

Should we say 100 leagues?

A 100 leagues! That wouldn’t give our ships enough room to turn! cried Portugal’s ambassador.

They settled at 370 leagues west of the prime meridian, and the ambassadors signed the Treaty.

When the new lands were better known and a new map drawn, they would see that Portugal could claim the coast of what is now Brazil.

Chart for the Treaty of Tordesillas

The birth of a line of demarcation in a square to Saturn in Pisces. Discipline. Commitment. Who would think that an imaginary line could draw respect and bring order.

Pluto was digging for riches in Scorpio, and there are mysteries in Scorpio, the mysteries of the mind.

Pluto in Scorpio in a trine to Mercury in Cancer can study how an imaginary line can affect the psychology of people, the way people organize the world, see the world, make sense of it.

Uranus in Aquarius in a square to Pluto in Scorpio can ask that such a study be applied, experimented with, used to create a sense of togetherness,

and a square can draw people,

and it drew Ferdinand Magellan, born February 4, 1480, Portugal.

Like Columbus, he wanted to find a western passage to the East Indies. No one had found it yet, and if the earth was round, there had to be one.

He asked the King of Portugal to finance his voyage, and the King said no. The spice Islands that Portugal controlled were in the East Indies, and if Magellan sailed west to the East Indies, Spain could claim them.

It was not uncommon for a navigator to pledge allegiance to the king or queen who would finance their voyage, but things were changing. When Magellan pledged allegiance to Charles I of Spain, he was called a traitor and faced retribution from both the Portuguese and the Spanish.

They tried to sabotage his voyage, but he persevered.

Venus in Capricorn is in a sextile to Mars in Scorpio, and a sextile can bring reprimand, and a sextile in a yod with Gemini can bring retribution. There were people holding the mes who disapproved of a Portuguese heading a Spanish expedition. But the King of Spain approved and Magellan persevered.

With Pluto digging in Libra in a sextile to Neptune Uranus in Sag, he didn’t pledge allegiance with his heart. He pledged allegiance because it gave him the opportunity to fulfill a desire, the desire to stretch the boundaries of what was known.

There is elasticity when Neptune Uranus are together, and they are together in Sag with the Moon, and the Moon in Sag can give a thirst for knowledge. Jupiter in Gemini joins Gemini with Sag, and Magellan pledged allegiance to the road that took him where he wanted to go.

Which brings in Mercury, and Mercury is in Pisces. In Pisces we can do things that are bigger than ourselves.

Magellan’s search for knowledge was knowledge that would serve the collective.

The Sun brings out the essence of a sign, and in Aquarius there is social responsibility. The Sun touches Saturn in Virgo, and there are hidden reserves in this combination, endurance.

He rose above and kept sailing along an endless coastland, until he found a western passage. He set sail, some say August and some say September of 1519.

Chart for September 20, 1519, Spain

Pluto was digging in Capricorn, breaking down a structure that held us up, and Uranus was creating a new one in Taurus,

with the contributions of people who sailed away. Magellan sailed away and opened the doors to the Pacific Ocean, and sailed across the entire Pacific.

All the while that he had been establishing an alliance with the King of Spain and preparing for the voyage, Jupiter transited Libra. Jupiter’s gifts don’t come easy. During this time Magellan faced sabotage, disruption, vandalism. They say that the day he set sail, a Portuguese fleet went after him, but he got away.

If the day he set sail was September 20, the stellium in Libra would have been considered a good omen. There is fairness and unity in Libra, there is rescue when Mercury and Mars come together, and Jupiter brings in the group, the team to reach a goal. When Typhon cut Jupiter’s sinews off, Jupiter relied on Mercury and Pan to recover them.

There was a mutiny attempt early on in the voyage led by three Spanish captains. One died in the conflict, and they say that Magellan had the other one beheaded and the third one marooned.

Unity.

Saturn in Capricorn can help maintain unity. In a sextile to Venus in Scorpio and in a trine to Uranus in Taurus, he was bent on changing a pattern, our perception of the earth, with proof.

Magellan died in a fight in the Philippines, and the navigator Elcano held his chart and completed his dream, the first voyage of circumnavigation around the world.

Before going back to Spain, he went to the spice islands and loaded the ship with spices. Proof that they had reached the East Indies sailing west.

He cast anchor at Seville on September 8, 1522, with Jupiter in Capricorn conjunct the departure chart’s natal Saturn. Accomplishment.

But a problem arose from the accomplishment. Now both Portugal and Spain claimed the spice islands.

Uranus in Aquarius can awaken the need for a universal system of measurement, and Saturn in Aquarius can ask for mastery.

We need a second line.

That’s right, a line 180 degrees east and west of the prime meridian.

What should we call it?

The anti meridian.

Cartographers, pilots and mathematicians from both countries got together to calculate the anti meridian of the prime meridian running through the Cape Verde Islands.

The Portuguese calculated it to give Portugal the spice islands, and the Spanish calculated it to give Spain the spice islands.

It’s not working.

No, it’s not. Mine keeps obstructing mathematical objectivity.

We should get a third party to do the calculations-

No!

See what I mean?

Maybe we should wait till Pluto’s in Aquarius.

He wouldn’t put up with Mine getting in the way.

He may break this whole system down and come up with a new one.

You never know.

They ended up resolving the land dispute when the King of Spain was in need of resources.

Chart for the Treaty of Zaragoza, April 22, 1529

Charles I was born in 1500. He became king of Spain when he was 16, and he became Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, when he was 19.

John III was born in 1502. He became King of Portugal when he was 19.

In 1525, Charles married John’s sister, and in 1526, John married Charles’ sister.

Whether they were friends or rivals, they were now brothers in law.

The year of the Treaty of Zaragoza, Charles was having his first Saturn return, a difficult return because his Empire was facing all sorts of trouble.

Mars was energizing Capricorn where Pluto had been transiting for quite some time. During this time, Luther had questioned the Catholic Church selling indulgences, and he’d become more popular than he already was when he spoke at the Diet of Worms.

Luther speaking to Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 by Anton Werner

Word was that he was translating the bible into German, making the sacred text accessible to ordinary people, empowering ordinary people.

Keeping an empire running was costly, and exploring the Americas was costly, but this wasn’t the time to raise taxes. Charles needed a loan, and as uncomfortable as he felt asking his brother in law for a loan, the day the Sun touched Saturn, he asked him.

They met for supper in Zaragoza.

How are things with France, John asked him.

I’m always at war with France.

It must get expensive.

nods

What about Luther?

He’s busy translating the bible.

I’m introducing the Inquisition to keep Portugal Catholic.

The Inquisition will work in Portugal and Spain, but not Germany. Luther has too many powerful supporters.   (pause) Did you ask your advisors about the loan?

They asked me to bring up the spice islands. Withdraw your claim and we’ll give you a loan that you don’t have to pay back.

You mean you want me to sell you the islands.

Charles, we found the islands first. You wouldn’t have tasted nutmeg and cloves if it weren’t for us.

You’re forgetting the Treaty of Tordesillas.

I’m not forgetting it. All I’m saying is that not everything can be decided with a mathematical calculation. We found them first, negotiated with the chiefs, built a fort, set up trade.

You’re making my heart bleed, John.

You’re the one in financial need, Charles.

(putting his fork and knife down and sitting back) Okay, but we need to word this carefully, because as we speak, there are Spaniards making improvements to measure distance.

Same with the Portuguese.

We’ll draw the anti meridian so you get the spice islands, but in the future, if measurements conclude that they belong to Spain, I’ll give you the money back and we get the islands.

We’ll add it as a clause.

Pretty good clause.

A saving face clause.

Now let’s talk numbers.

Cristoforo Colombo, Fernão de Magalhães and Vasco da Gama, American School, 1940

Pluto settled in Aquarius in 1533.

It was the year Henry VIII of England married Anne Boleyn without the consent of the Roman papacy.

It was the year Francisco Pizarro ordered the execution of the Inca emperor Atahualpa without the consent of his king, Charles V.

Pluto decentred locally, the Church of Rome, the Holy Roman Emperor,

and Pluto decentred universally. The Americas drew attention and decentred Europe.

Map describing the West Indies by Antonio Herrera y Tordesillas, 1601

Chart for August 29, 1533, the day Atahualpa was executed

Pluto would reach O degrees 34 minutes and go direct.

There is in Aquarius, ruled by Saturn and Uranus, social responsibility and the ability to stand apart, dance to the beat of one’s own rhythm.

Saturn and Uranus were in Cancer, with Uranus at a lower degree, breaking old structures, creating new ones, holding on to old ones, in the home, the homeland, the world.

It was a time of exploration and discovery, and people saw it coming. What they did not see coming were two centaurs confronting each other, unwilling to be shepherded.

Mars was energizing Gemini, and across was Jupiter in Sag. Encounters that didn’t blend or sextile or trine, that didn’t feed each other, but that saw each other fully, with one not willing to submit to the other.

Henry VIII went his separate way. He became head of the Church of England. His own hearthfire.

Pizarro killed Atahualpa.

They say Atahualpa refused to pay allegiance to a foreign king, and threw the bible to the ground,

and Pizarro forced the door open to conquest, justly and unjustly, imposing one set of principles over another.

The Fall of the Titans by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, 1596

There is Athena in Jupiter, born from the head of Jupiter, goddess of wisdom.

Athena victorious over ignorance by Bartholomeus Sprangler, 1591

Pizarro and Atahualpa did not recognize each other’s wisdom.

Pizarro’s arms were stronger and the disease that came from Europe was stronger. They weakened Atahualpa’s side.

Survival of the fittest.

Neptune in Pisces can take us on long voyages

of exploration, discovery, conquest, 

and recognition.

Venus with a mirror by Titian, 1555

Pluto takes about 248 years to return.

He dipped into Aquaruis briefly in 1777, and went back and forth between Capricorn and Aquarius in 1778, and settled in Aquaris in 1779.

The time of the American Revolution.

Pluto settled in Aquarius and Neptune settled in Libra, sign of Themis, goddess of prophecy.

The American Revolution sent ripples into the old world, the new world.

Decentering.

Pluto was at 6 degrees Aquarius when William Herschel, musician and maker of telescopes, discovered Uranus and decentred the solar system.

There had been six planets neatly arranged from time immemorial, and suddenlty there was Uranus, spinning on his side.

Chart for March 13, 1781

He could not be seen with the naked eye. It took a tool to discover him

in Gemini.

In Gemini there are two brothers cycling together, but Uranus can bring recognition, and this was a time when one brother refused to hold the other brother’s chart, and fought to go his separate way.

Wanderer above the sea fog by Caspar David Friedrich, 1818

There is trial and error in the sign

to arrive at specifics, to classifiy.

Uranus was classified as an outer planet, and there could be more out there, but to discover more they’d need higher performance telescopes.

Herschel’s 40 foot telescope, 1785-89

Higher performance telescopes and microscopes and navigational clocks

at sea.

They were at sea.

The sun was at its highest. To calculate distance from the equator, the astronomer took his sextant and measured the angle between the horizon and the sun, and noted down the latitude.

Next he checked the navigational clock.

There are 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day, and 360 degrees around the earth.

60 x 24 = 1440 minutes.

1440 ÷ 360 = 4 minutes

Every degree of longitude = 4 minutes

Their departure point was the prime meridian, and every 15 degrees travelling west was an hour behind the prime meridian, and every 15 degrees travelling east was an hour ahead.

He noted down the longitude.

In the evening he double checked the longitude by lunar distance, just in case the motion of the sea had compromised the clock’s performance.

He measured the angular distance between the moon and a star, the altitude of the moon from the horizon, and the altitude of the star from the horizon.

Pass me the predictive tables, will you.

What tables?

The lunar ephemeris by Tobias Meyer. The book over there.

(brings the book) Sorry it’s a bit wet.

He opened the book to the right page, but before he could check the measurements and the corresponding hours, he heard-

Land ahoy!

What do you mean land ahoy? I thought it was a clear passage-

We need better maps is what we need!

It’s a work in progress, thought Herschel as he surveyed the sky from his backyard. His mind wandered off to the day he discovered the new planet. He had observed it before and it appeared to be a fixed star. Then one day he noticed that it had moved.

Chart for Herschel’s date of birth, November  15, 1738

Uranus was conjunct his natal Mars R, and he felt chosen, chosen to reveal a mystery, a revelation that would influence collective consciousness.

In Gemini, the planet opened doors to study and public participation.

He named it after his patron, King George III, but people outside of Britain protested.

Pulling down the statue of George III at Bowling Green, 9 July 1776, by William Walcutt

A German astronomer suggested Uranus, Saturn’s father, god of the sky.

A discovery that did not belong to him.

His natal Neptune is conjunct his natal Saturn in Cancer. With his telescope, he erased the barrier between the known planets and the outer planets. He opened up the sky.

He broke a pattern. He wasn’t even trained as an astronomer. Necessity led him there.

Uranus and the Dance of the Stars by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 1834

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were both born on February 12, 1809, when Pluto was in Pisces. They both have Saturn and Neptune conjunct in Sag, with Saturn at a lower degree.

There is a change of the ages in Pisces, and Pisces is always there, and the ages are always in a state of change, but when Pluto is in Pisces, there is concentrated effort. And Jupiter can make it a group effort.

Mercury Pluto can read all that came before in a field, dig in all the raw material, and build on it, purposefully. There is purpose with Saturn in Sag, and something inevitable in Neptune. Driven to change people’s minds. Uranus is in Scorpio, the spirit of the times is in the sign that rules what is invisible, the mind and human psychology.

With Ketu in Taurus, Darwin supported his thoery of evolution and natural selection with proof, collections of fossils and specimens from around the world.

When others involved in the same research came up with the same conclusions as his, he joined forces.  

With Rahu and Uranus in Scorpio, his books challenged creation.

The Ancient of Days setting a Compass to the Earth by William Blake, 1794

They brought out debate on religion and science, god and the laws of nature.

Neptune can soften, and Darwin softened his words. He didn’t say,  This proves so and so. He said, This seems to me to throw some light on so and so.

But Saturn is at a lower degree than Neptune, and although his words were soft, his arguments were tightly woven.

He brought new understanding without erasing god.

Lincoln too brought something new, without erasing unity.

He said that to save the Union, he would not interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed.

Where slavery existed seceded from the Union when he became president, and he fought a war.

Unity at all costs. 

When he won the war, he abolished slavery.

It was time for the inevitable.

Illustration by Joe Ciardiello

Today, Pluto is at 27 degrees Capricorn. He will dip briefly into Aquarius in March 2023 and retrograde back into Capricorn. He will be in the early degrees of Aquarius in 2024, retrograding back into Capricorn from time to time, and in 2025, he will settle in Aquarius.

Today, Neptune is at 22 degrees Pisces. Saturn will join him in March. Saturn and Neptune dancing together in Pisces.

valley

Hera gave birth to Hephaestus without union with Jupiter. He had given birth to Athena without her, and she gave birth to the smith god, with a twisted foot, lame. He made her feel common, so she cast him out of Olympus,

and the titan god Oceanus received him.

A splash in the ocean by Jaime Danielle Smith

A castaway who turned his feelings into an exquisite golden throne with invisible fetters. A gift for Hera.

She thought he was trying to get in her good graces, until she sat down. That’s when she knew he wasn’t. That’s when she felt what he felt about her.

None of the gods could free her from the throne, magical throne, and Hera had no choice but to ask them to bring Hephaestus back.

Refusal by Marek Hospodarsky

He refused, but Dionysus intervened. He inebriated Hephaestus with his wine and brought him back in a procession of revellers. Music, laughter, even ridicule, eased the entrance of a god who wasn’t physically ideal into Olympus.

by Tyler Miles Lockett

He’s the only god who sweats.

(smelling her armpits) Like us.

How long have we been on this road?

Two days.

How much longer do you think?

The Oracle said-

The Oracle didn’t know what he was saying.

His Attendant said, Bathe in the river But don’t undress Cloth will take you there.

That’s what he told us too, they heard someone say, and they turned around and there was a crowd of people.

We thought we were alone.

We’ve been on the road for a day and a half. We could see you in the distance.

They introduced themselves.

We’re the As.

We’re the Bs.

Nice to meet you.

What took you to see the Oracle?

She was restless and I suggested we go see him.

Same here. He was restless and I suggested we go see him.

The crowd was getting ahead and they sped up not to be left behind.

The Oracle must be telling everyone the same thing.

Do you know how far the river is?

No idea. We were hoping you’d know. That’s why we rushed to catch up with you.

Excuse me, do you know how far the river is?

No. I’m hoping the people up front know.

We were up front before, and we don’t know.

Hey, C! We’re in a blind leading the blind situation!

C came over.

You know how they say the body’s roughly 70 percent water? My theory is that it’s always reaching for the missing 30 percent. Let a body wander, and it will end up near water.

I heard people go in circles in the desert.

That’s what happens when there’s no water to be found. But look at us here. The road’s filled with people. A river of people heading straight for-

What did you say, C?

A river of people-

Do you remember what the Oracle said?

Something like, The planar meridian burst into a serpentine mist that kindled the contours of broken lines-

Not that! The translation!

Oh, I see what you mean. Bathe in the river But don’t undress Cloth will take you there.

Suddenly the wind picked up, and scarves and shawls and unzipped jackets billowed.

It picked up some more and lifted what appeared to be a belt made of soft cloth, embroidered in silver and copper and gold, an intricate pattern that sparkled in the light and danced in the wind.

My girdle, someone cried.

The river of people left the road and followed the girdle.

The Wind Blows by Hugo Simberg

The As and the Bs and the Cs walked together, and an old man beside them struck up a conversation.

Are we following an undergarment? The ancient description of Aphrodite’s girdle matches the one up there.

Aphrodite’s girdle!

What does it do?

I’ll tell you what it did to me a long time ago, when I was already married and had an affair. The day my wife found out, she changed the locks and wouldn’t speak to me. So I went to my mother’s for help, and she sat me down with a book of love poems. Read them out loud thinking of her, she said, and I read them out loud while she embroidered a girdle. When she finished, she clasped the girdle around my chest and told me to try speaking to my wife again.

D!

His wife came over.

Nice to meet to.

You look agitated.

Nobody remembers where the road is. We were going for a swim in the river this morning, and we couldn’t believe how crowded the road was. Our legs stopped being our legs and we got carried away, and I want to go back to the road.

We’re following the girdle of Aphrodite.

Where?

Over there.

The- The girdle. Oh my. You know, a long time ago, when our marriage was in trouble, my mother in law, she- she told me about the girdle.

Secret by Marek Hospodarsky

Others joined the conversation, without losing sight of the girdle.

My grandmother used to say that everyone’s secrets are embroidered on the girdle, beauty secrets and secrets on how to please.

My grandmother would scold me when I wore makeup. Don’t compete with Aphrodite! Take it off or she’ll burn your skin! She’s a jealous goddess!

She’s jealous but she lends her girdle.

She lends it to Juno.

Gives her advice.

People always come to me for advice on ear hair singeing.

Are you a barber?

Holding on by Chantel Lynn Barber

I thought it was a bra.

Me too. I thought Hephaestus made it to mark the erogenous zone and make her irresistible.

It has the magic to make her more irresistible than she already is. That’s why she can lend it. It doesn’t take away. It adds.

Where do you think it’s going?

To the river. The Attendant said Cloth will take you there But don’t undress Bathe in the river.

Are you sure? He told us Bathe in the river But don’t undress Cloth will take you there.

Not to us or to the Fs or the Gs or the Hs. We’re the Es, by the way.

Nice to meet you.

What took you to see the Oracle?

It was the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up. I said good day to see the Oracle, and he agreed. So we packed some food and went to see him, and when we stepped outside the temple, one of the roads was full of people. We figured Cloth will take you there But don’t undress meant that the clothes other people were wearing would take us there, and the clothes we were wearing would take other people there, so that’s the road we took.

We met the Fs and the Gs and the Hs, and we shared food and good conversation, and the next thing we know, we weren’t on the road anymore but in this valley, and people were pointing at the sky, at the girdle of Aphrodite. Well, I thought to myself, it makes perfect sense. There she is showering us with good relations, because that’s what her girdle does, doesn’t it? Juno borrows it from time to time to mitigate quarrels in the home, doesn’t she? Now all we need is a good finale, a good swim in the river before heading back.

E! River ahoy!

They all walked to the bank of the river, and a man standing on the bank asked them to stop.

I’ve never seen such a large crowd approach my valley! What brings you here?

We’ve been following the girdle of Aphrodite.

The what?

Look above you.

What’s that?

The girdle.

Is it remotely operated?

No. The wind is carrying it.

Whose girdle did you say it was?

Aphrodite’s.

Remind me what it does.

They reminded him.

My sons could use some of all that.

It’s flying over the river!

Well, those of you strong enough can roll up your pants and cross the river with me. It’s shallow in these parts. Those who need a better footing, there’s a bridge not too far. The castle grounds are on the other side.

Reclining nude, brazier, and bowl of fruit by Henri Matisse, 1929

Cushions and blankets and bowls of stew were handed out, and people got comfortable around the lit braziers on the castle grounds.

Can you still see it?

It’s hovering above.

Wish we could spend the night here.

You are welcome to.

You said this is your valley?

My castle, my valley.

What’s the name of your valley?

Valley of the girdle.

Valley of the- You mean-

It’s named after tree girdling. We girdle trees that are sick or dying to create habitat snags.

Incredible. I mean, isn’t it incredible that we came to the valley of the girdle following a girdle?

It is. I couldn’t believe my ears when you told me, and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked up. I’m still in a bit of a shock.

He covered himself with a blanket and lay on his back, and fell asleep, and in his sleep, the girdle took a plunge and turned into a monster, and the monster chased him all night, until morning light woke him up.

Metal fish with scallop shell by Mark Brazier-Jones

He saw the crowd of people standing and searching the skies.

Is it gone?

They turned to look at him, at his chest, and he looked at his chest, and the girdle was clasped around his bare chest.

No way. I should have never gone to see the Oracle.

You went to see the Oracle?

I was returning from the temple when you showed up.

What took you there?

A disagreement with my sons.

What did the Oracle say?

Never mind what he said.

What did the Attendant say?

Bathe in the river But don’t undress Cloth will take you there Cloth will take you there But don’t undress Bathe in the river.

You got the full circle.

I’ve figured out the first half. I’m glad he told me not to undress, because I usually do when I cross the river, and you would have caught me naked on the bank.

He tried unclasping the girdle, and a woman in the crowd came to sit beside him.

Don’t force it. It will unclasp on its own one day and fly away.

Can I swim with it?

Yes. You’re going to have to do everything with it. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

You realize it’s keeping me prisoner-

Dad!

Who are all these people?

Meet my sons, everyone.

Nice to meet you.

We are visiting your dad’s valley, the valley of the girdle.

Wait a second. You changed the name?

But you got so mad when we suggested it. You said our ancestors named it valley, and it would be disrespectful to change the name.

Something made me change my mind.

He looked at the girdle, and the girdle was the colour of his skin.

It can camouflage, whispered the woman seated beside him.

What made you change your mind? The Oracle?

The girdle-

The girdle tightened around his chest.

You made me change my mind. You made sense.

After his sons left, he asked the woman if there was anything else he needed to know about the girdle. 

You got the gist of it.

She rose and joined the crowd, and the crowd left. Some crossed the river and some crossed the bridge.

Juno borrowing the girdle of Aphrodite by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1781

His sons went to check the snags in the woods.

Something’s wrong with him.

Did you see that woman? She whispered something to him.

She could have put a spell on him.

Who put a spell on whom?

Hello, old woman.

How are the princes of valley?

It’s not called valley anymore.

Has your dad agreed to change it?

He said he changed it because of us, because we made sense. But there was a woman whispering in his ear.

He went to see the Oracle and came back with a crowd of people. The woman was in the crowd.

I saw the crowd. They were following something in the sky.

What was it?

They came to a girdled tree and the old woman touched it.

It looked like a strip of bark, patterned and painted.

An omen.

A sign.

My mom heard the crowd call it the girdle of Aphrodite.

Hi, Halley.

Hi.

A sign from the gods. That’s why dad changed the name. 

It plunged from the sky after sunset.

You’re the fruit and vegetable man, the old woman said, recognizing him. What brings you to the woods?

I’ve been hiding here.

Why!

I was fishing in the river when the crowd appeared. Like you said, they were following the girdle in the sky. I followed it too, across the river. It stopped moving when it reached the castle grounds, and l laid down there, in the fields adjacent to the castle, to watch it. Like I said, it plunged from the sky after sunset, and changed into a monster, and it came after me. I got up and ran, and it chased me, and I ran into the woods-

The fruit and vegetable man was out of breath, reliving the experience.

Calm down. There, there, the old woman said. Does anyone have water?

They gave him water.

What happened after you ran into the woods?

It brushed against me and then flew away, back to the castle grounds. I curled up against the tree, waiting for morning light, and when morning light came, I felt something grip my chest and release me, invisible hands that gripped me and released me.

Is it happening now?

No.

We should take you to a doctor, said Halley.

No. I should go home now and get ready for work. It’s market day today.

I’ll accompany you home, said the old woman. Before leaving, she told the princes, Tell your dad to expect us for dinner.

Flight of silver by Mirja Nuutinen

In more formal times, she would have been called the king’s mother, but times were informal and she preferred old woman.

She stopped at the Asclepius clinic and asked the f & v man to check his pressure and pulse for reassurance, and the man’s pressure and pulse were fine.

We’ll see you at the castle when market day is done, she said. Good day.

Good day, old woman.

The girdle of Aphrodite was the talk of market day.

When market day was done, he rushed home to clean up and sprained his ankle. He took a short cut to the castle to make it easier, even if the short cut was a dirt road that dirtied his shoes. He’d dust them before going inside.

The dirt road was not lighted, and the memory of last night’s chase was still vivid, and fear rose in him and he screamed when something tapped his shoulder.

It was someone.

Sorry I scared you.

It’s alright.

Can I walk with you?

Are you scared too?

It’s not because I’m scared. It’s because of the pattern you’re leaving on the dirt road. A foot mark and a semi circle, a foot mark and a semi circle.

I sprained my ankle. I find it easier to take a step with my good foot and circle the hurt one in front.

The Attendant to the Oracle once told me that if I ever saw a pattern like that, to follow it.

What took you to see the Oracle?

My parents took me a long time ago. I don’t know why. I remember the Oracle said something incomprehensible, and the Attendant drew the pattern you’re making, and said what he said.

I’m going to have dinner at the castle.

So’s my sister! Her name’s Halley. I’m sure the king won’t mind if I join.

Golden pulse by Mirja Nuutinen

At the dinner table, the old woman asked the king if he could recount all that happened from the moment he left the valley to see the Oracle. The king recounted it all, until the moment he fell asleep next to the warmth of a brazier on the castle grounds.

Then the old woman asked the f & v man if he could recount all that happened after sunset, and the f & v man recounted it all, until the moment he curled up next to the tree.

The king’s eyes widened. He said, I saw that in my sleep! The girdle changed into a monster and chased me all night, until morning light woke me up, and it wasn’t in the sky anymore but around my-

The girdle tightened around his chest and he stopped abruptly, and the f & v man cried out in pain.

The rest of them rose from their chairs instinctively.

Where is it, dad?

The king unbuttoned his shirt, and they saw the girdle around his chest, breathtaking.

Suddenly the swinging door to the kitchen swung open, and the girdle turned the colour of his skin.

The chef and the sous chef cleared away the plates and brought dessert, and when they swung out, the girdle showed itself.

It’s intelligent.

The old woman asked the f & v man if he could unbutton his shirt, and the f & v man unbuttoned his shirt and revealed an unblemished chest.

She then asked the king to tell them again where the girdle was when he woke up.

You want to see it in action?

Yes.

It was around my-

They saw the girdle tighten around the king’s chest, and turned to see the f & v man wrap his arms around his chest and muffle a cry.

What does it feel like?

A warning pressure, said the king.

Pins and needles, said the f & v man.

Under flesh by Mirja Nuutinen

It brushed against you and then clasped around the king. It has you entangled in some bizarre way, said Max, Halley’s brother.

It brushed against you and dissolved a barrier, said Halley.

It’s restricting what I can say, said the king. I can’t say-

He pointed at his chest.

Chest, said Halley, writing it down.

I can’t say-

He pointed at the girdle.

Girdle, said Halley, writing it down.

The swinging door swung open.

Coffee or tea, your majesty?

No-

The f & v man pushed his chair back and bent over.

I guess you can’t say No either, said the chef.

Chef!

It’s a swinging door, dear old woman. But don’t worry, what we hear in the castle stays in the castle. Coffee or tea, your majesty?

Water.

It’s going to make you more agreeable, your majesty.

The king turned red with fury.

Don’t, dad!

Think of the f & v man!

The old woman stood up and slammed the table with her hand, I’ll serve the coffee and tea! You can retire for the day, chef!

Swinging doors by Susan Robertson

When things were calm again, Max broke the silence.

My guess is that you can’t unclasp it.

A woman in the crowd told me not to force it. It would unclasp on its own.

Who was she, the First prince asked him.

She must have had it before me.

I want to find her.

Me too, said Max. I’d ask her what her experience was like, was she entangled like you, the story behind the entanglement. Fascinating stuff.

I’m staying here, said the Second prince, for first hand observation.

Me too, said Halley. I’d like to complete the list of words you can’t say. Maybe they’ll form a sentence that gives us a clue.

Where’s the washroom, asked the f & v man.

Down the hall, first door to your right.

They watched the f & v man pattern his way to the washroom.

You’re drawing a symbol, said the old woman. A dot and half a circle.

She watched him return, and said, You’re completing the circle. A dot in a circle is the symbol of the sun. That’s where you should start your search for the woman in the crowd, in the valley of symbols

There’s a valley of symbols?

Yes. Chef is from there. He will accompany you.

Would you like to come with us, the First prince asked the f & v man.

I think I’ll stay here and stick to my routine. I don’t feel solid since all this began. I feel like I’m vibrating.

We’ll keep an eye on you, said Halley.

There’s one more thing, dad.

What is it?

About changing valley’s name.

When we thought of valley of the girdle, we were thinking of girdled trees, you know, something terrestrial. But it’s grown to become something much bigger-

Bigger than we can handle.

I know, said the king. I can’t even say the word.

Untitled by Bogdan Cikarda

Op-Pollo was playing his lyre. The sun was crowning him and the muses were dancing in a circle around him.

He finished playing and the muses brought his singing bowl. He touched it and the bowl filled with the sweet mana that is the food of gods. He ate and he listened, and a conversation caught his attention.

So tell us why your valley’s called valley of symbols.

Because of what we do. Say someone’s found a new metal, or come up with a new compound. They bring it to us and we give it a name and a symbol.

That’s a chemical symbol. What about the symbol for the sun?

The symbol for the sun is more ancient than all these valleys. Before there was even an alphabet. To describe the sun, someone took a stick and drew a circle. But it looked like the full moon, so they added a dot in the centre.

What does the dot mean?

Boss, the boss in the sky.

Op-Pollo looked at the sun crowning him and smiled.

You’re pretty smart.

Thanks.

But you were way out of line with the king. I’m surprised he didn’t fire you.

It’s the flaw in my character, to get out of line. That’s why they sent me to valley. The king knows my father and offered to help. You know what I think?

What?

That the girdle was meant to brush against me and not the f & v man.

Were you there?

I was. The f & v man said the girdle changed into a monster and came after him, but I thought it was coming after me. I threw myself flat on the grass and he kept running, and it chased him into the woods.

Can you draw what the monster looked like?

I can try.

Max handed him a piece of paper and a pen.

There’s something already drawn on this piece of paper.

Oh. It’s a pattern. You can draw on the other side.

This isn’t a pattern. A dot and a semi circle is the symbol for a bird’s eye.

They heard birds in the sky and looked up.

The birds of Op-Pollo!

Duck!

The birds flew away.

It’s like he heard us, said the First prince.

Dive by Andrea Bijou

Op-Pollo saw Op-Maul from the corner of his eye.

Op-Maul!

The muses made room for the god of war.

You’ve polished your armour.

Listen, Op-Pollo, you’re you and I’m me-

Shh.

The king woke up. He checked to see if the girdle was still there, and it was.

He got out of bed and went to stand in front of the mirror.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head against it, and said, I don’t feel solid either.

He took a step back and looked at the reflection of the girdle, and he heard the woman’s voice say, It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

I’m not going to look at you anymore. I’m going to ignore-

The girdle tightened.

He burst out laughing and the laughter was contagious. Op-Pollo and the muses laughed, and Op-Maul slipped away.

There was a knock on his door.

Dad?

He opened the door.

Are you okay?

Another word.

Which one? Wait! Stop! Don’t tell me!

Remember I would sometimes knock on your door and you wouldn’t open? What were you doing?

Ignoring you.

What’s the verb?

To ignore.

That’s the word.

Chest Girdle No To ignore. I guess you can’t ignore the girdle on your chest, said the Second prince, joining in the laughter.

Haha!

They stopped laughing.

Haha!

Op-Maul, they whispered.

Be careful, dad. Aphrodite is his sweetheart.

He must have heard me-

Tap, tap, tap!

They turned to see a woodpecker tapping on the window.

Tap, tap, crash!

It broke the window and flew inside the bedroom.

Look down, son, at your feet.

Tap, tap, tap,

The woodpecker tapped the mirror gently.

Tap, tap, tap.

I will look at it, said the king.

Tap, tap, tap.

I won’t-

Tap, tap, tap.

The king braced himself and completed the sentence, I won’t ignore it.

The woodpecker flew out through the broken window.

Haha!

They stood in silence for a while.

I’m girdling a tree today.

I’ll help you.

Bouquet by Mirja Nuutinen

It was his day off and the f & v man went fishing.

An old man standing on the other side of the river waved at him, Could you help me get across?

Sure.

He made his way to the old man, and the old man asked him, Why are you walking like that?

I sprained my ankle.

Can you handle an old man with a sprained ankle?

It’s much better now.

Glad to hear it. I once sprained my ankle after I had a shock.

Really? I sprained my ankle after I had a shock too!

A shock can bring down our defences and make us vulnerable to accidents. It can rob us of our vitality. What have you been doing to recover it?

I’ve actually picked up embroidery.

Embroidery. How curious. And what have you been embroidering?

Girdles.

Girdles! I haven’t seen a girdle in a long time! Could I have a look at them?

I have one in my pack, over there, by my fishing rod.

Well, let’s go there.

The f & v man showed him the girdle, and the old man was delighted, Like the girdle of Aphrodite! Do you sell them? I’d like to buy this one for my wife.

You can have it.

Are you sure?

Positive.

After he bid the old man goodbye, the f & v man went back to fishing.

When he got hungry, he put down his fishing rod and opened his pack. Next to his lunch,  he found a bag with silver, copper and gold spools of thread, the colours he hadn’t been able to find in the market. He wondered if the old woman or Halley put it there. Or could it have been the old man.

An old man had found him sitting beside his f & v cart on the road to the market. It was the day the king said the word ignore. Invisible hands gripped him twice, and he sat down, vibrating, and waiting for the hands to release him.

I’d like to buy some fruit, please.

Take whatever you want.

Are you sure?

Positive.

The old man started walking away with his cart, and he had not reacted. The old woman and Halley reacted for him. They were on their way to the market to check on him.

Hey old man! Stop!

That’s not your cart!

The old man stopped, and said, He told me to take whatever I want.

He’s not been feeling himself lately.

What’s wrong with him?

Pins and needles.

Maybe he’s done selling fruits and vegetables. Maybe he should pick up pins and needles. The clue is in the ailment.

I can teach him to embroider, said Halley.

You’re a good friend, said the old man, handing her the cart.

The f & v man saw Halley pushing the cart, and the old man behind her grew fuzzy and disappeared. He heard the old woman beside him gasp.

Now he knew why.

Op-Shiva

by Desislava Koleva

Better put this piece of paper away.

Max put it back in his wallet.

I used to think of Aphrodite as an innocent goddess. Sensual and seductive, but innocent. She could do no harm.

The question here is, is the girdle harming the king and the f & v man?

It’s changing them, said Chef.

Into what?

I don’t know. Better people? If I had that girdle around my chest, and it tightened every time I got out of line, I’d probably correct my character flaw.

But what about the f & v man?

I’d correct it faster, knowing that each time I got out of line, I was hurting him.

The fact is that it’s not correcting a character flaw. It’s restricting the use of certain words. If you say them, a man feels like he’s dissolving.

The worst part is that the king doesn’t know which words he can’t say until he says them.

Playful and cruel.

Is it a game?

Who knows.

Like you said, this whole thing’s bigger than us.

It’s put us in suspense.

I used to wonder how Aphrodite could be paired with the god of war, but now I can see them getting along.

Deimos and Phobos are their children.

Shh. Don’t say their names or you’ll invoke them. Look what happened when you showed me the piece of paper.

Are you scared?

You should be too.

Max and the First prince looked at each other, and began to chant, Terror, fear, panic, dread.

Chef shook his head.

Terror, fear, panic, dread. Terror, fear, panic, dread. Terror-

Haha!

What was that?

Op-Maul’s war cry, whispered Chef.

The air grew still.

There’s something behind us.

Run!

Ahhh!

Black net by Alexander Perkins

Op-Maul caught them in his net and flew up, and when he was high up, he swung the net and sent them flying, and he caught them and sent them flying again.

Haha! Haha!

Take out the piece of paper!

Are you kidding me!

Take it out!

Having a task to do made Max get a hold of his body and a hold of time. When he was flung up, he reached into his pocket, took his wallet and held it tight. He landed in the net, and in the split second before he was flung up again, he opened the wallet and took the paper out. He let the wallet drop and held the paper in his fist.

Caw!

Op-Pollo’s birds circled Op-Maul. There were so many that when the three of them could finally look at the mighty god, they could only catch flashes of red and black.

When their feet touched the ground, the birds flew away, and the net and the mighty god vanished.

We’re here, said Chef. He saved us a day’s walk.

White net by Alexander Perkins

Chef’s father was surprised to see them.

I thought you’d be here tomorrow! Come in, come in. I have some colleagues over for lunch. Come join us at the table.

They joined the group at the table, and there was talk of what do you do and what do your parents do, and the First prince said that his father was the king of valley.

Valley has been the talk of the market place lately.

I heard someone say that there are two ways of coming into contact with the gods, practising science and visiting valley.

Is it true that a brassiere was sighted in valley’s sky?

Don’t listen to him! He’s being an idiot! It wasn’t a brassiere. It was the girdle of Aphrodite.

Someone wrote about it in the paper. They compared the girdle to a strict diet for beauty, a tight corset for shape, a rose with hidden thorns.

My sister says it can entangle us. It can brush against one person and clasp itself around another, and entangle both.

Are we talking quantum physics?

We’re talking Aphrodite.

Oh, emotional entanglements. They open us up to quantum physics, don’t they?

It’s true. You have no idea how many people I’ve heard say, I feel what he feels.

She’s a psychologist.

That makes sense, said Max. Um, you mentioned your sister. Could we speak to her? We’d like to know more about the girdle.

I’ll ask her.

Max, you haven’t eaten anything, said Chef’s father. What’s that you’re holding?

It’s-

Max opened his fist and looked at the crumpled piece of paper.

It’s my amulet.

He reached for his wallet to put it away, and his wallet wasn’t there.

I think I need to lie down for a while.

Caught in a net by Pamela Ruggiero

The following day, Chef’s father said his colleague’s sister had telephoned.

Her name’s Chonon. You can go to her studio anytime this afternoon. It’s on the main road.

What kind of studio is it?

Wellness.

They walked over to the wellness studio in the afternoon. The small foyer opened directly into the room where Chonon was teaching a class.

Welcome, she said. Take your shoes off and join us.

They took their shoes off and the people in the class gave them mats and made room for them.

Can you tell us your names?

I’m Chef,

Max,

First prince of valley.

Nice to meet you.

Alright. We’re working on the root chakra. Does everyone know where it is?

Base of spine.

Around the tailbone.

That’s right. This is the chakra we work on when we feel powerless or in need of vitality. It’s the chakra that connects us to the earth and to life.

She turned to look at the screen behind her and clicked to the next slide.

Does everyone know who she is?

Wonder Woman!

She’s in an excellent pose to animate the root chakra. An excellent pose to get rid of terror, fear, panic and dread. I want everyone standing like her, feet apart, hands on hips.

She looked around the room, and said, Max, your aura’s a bit off. Relax your shoulders. Good. Now, slowly, take a deep breath through your nose, and exhale through your nose. Good. Expand the chest. Very good. How’s everyone feeling?

Confident.

Ready for action.

She walked around the room, correcting posture, relax this muscle, contract this muscle, don’t forget to breathe, and the three of them made eye contact, and their eyes wondered if it was a coincidence that she had mentioned the words of their chant.

She came to stand next to the First prince, and he asked her, Is Wonder Woman wearing a girdle around her waist?

No, she said. But there’s an episode where she captures invaders from Saturn, and she transports them to a correctional facility called Transformation Island. When they get there, all the captive Saturnites have to wear Venus girdles.

What did the Venus girdles do?

Wonder Woman #28

I find it jarring, someone said.

That’s not what the real girdle does. I mean, the girdle of Aphrodite.

Does anyone know who wrote it? I’d like to read the whole story.

Class dismissed, said Chonon.

Her students filed out noisily and the three of them remained.

Are you the woman in the crowd, the First prince asked her.

I am. How’s your dad doing?

He can’t say certain words.

I couldn’t go to certain places. It would tighten when I tried to enter the building where I worked, the grocery store where I lived, even my own place. It didn’t tighten in this neighbourhood, so I moved here and opened the studio.

Who were you entangled with?

Your dad, Chef.

My dad! How!

Do you know the park where your dad goes for hikes?

Chef nodded.

We ran into each other on a day when there was a crowd in the park following the girdle. We got swept by the crowd. At nightfall, we reached a campsite, and the girdle stopped moving. We settled down in groups, keeping an eye on it. I fell asleep, and when daybreak woke me, your dad was telling the crowd that in the night, the girdle had chased him. It had brushed against him and disappeared.

We walked back together, your dad and I, and reached my place first, but when I came to the door, something tightened around me and your dad crunched over.

Aphrodite fastens the girdle for Juno by Andrea Appiani, 1811

The girdle was around me and I couldn’t unclasp it. I took a few steps back and your dad went to the door, and nothing happened. He went inside and got the things I needed, and we walked to his place. The girdle didn’t tighten at his place, so I stayed there, and we learned about the girdle together.

Did you tell your sister?

No. Only what she told you. Your dad helped me with everything, with the move and the studio.

This must be yours, said Chef, taking a small painting from his wallet. I found it in my room.

My amulet, she said, smiling.

Does it protect you from terror, fear, panic and dread?

I said that in class, didn’t I? It comes from the street vendor who gave it to me. An amulet to protect me from Deimos and Phobos.

The owner of the huayruro by Pecon Quena

How did the entanglement affect my dad?

He said something one day that has stayed with me. He said, My skin has awakened to the love of Aphrodite. Your dad changed his field to quantum physics. It doesn’t feel spooky to him anymore.

Did you tell him that you met me in valley, the First prince asked her.

He knows. He came over yesterday, after lunch. He should be here any moment. He wants us to walk down memory lane, to the park where it all began-

Chef’s father walked in.

Chonon Bensho

Coming back from the park, they passed through the market place, and there was talk of valley.

The people of valley had asked their king to honour the girdle in the sky in some way, and the king said they would honour it with a temple to the goddess Aphrodite. He had announced a contest to choose the art that would adorn the temple.

We should be the judges, said Max.

We should go back, said the First prince.

They left at dawn.

They walked in silence, lost in thought, until the First prince said, It’s going to change the character of valley.

It will draw a lot of people.

I wonder if we’ll have an Oracle that speaks the words of Aphrodite.

I wonder if her words will be as garbled as Op-Pollo’s, said Max.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

Max, I think you just angered your protector.

The sky darkened with crows.

I’m sorry!

Feet apart, hands on hips, shoulders relaxed, chest wide open, said Chef.

The three of them stood like Wonder Woman, and began to chant, Feet apart, hands on hips, shoulders relaxed, chest wide open. Feet apart, hands on hips, shoulders relaxed, chest wide open. Feet apart-

Haha! Haha!

The mighty Op-Maul descended from the sky and scooped them up in his net.

Ahhh!

Help!

Aphrodite! Help us!

Aphrodite of the Girdle! Help us!

A girdle flew through the sky, bringing back the light, and danced around the god of war, and the god of war brought them back to the ground, and they found themselves on the bank of the river in valley.

Magic carpet by Desislava koleva

The three of them joined the Second prince, Halley and the old woman in the king’s study, and waited for the king.

Where is he, the First prince asked.

In the library, composing a poem for the girdle.

It’s a delicate thing to do because the owner is the god of war’s sweetheart. The poem should flatter in an impersonal way.

Does he compose one every night?

He has to. He can’t ignore it, so every morning, he stands in front of the mirror and recites a poem.

The girdle didn’t like the poem he recited today, so he’s trying extra hard.

How do you know the girdle didn’t like it?

It camouflaged.

The king walked in with a piece of paper in his hand, and said, Ready?

Ready.

A poem by Sea Opal, 2017

There were words of approval, and Halley clapped, and the king took a bow. He poured himself a cup of hot cocoa and settled into his favourite chair.

How did it go in the valley of symbols?

They told him about Chonon and Chef’s father. The rest they would tell each other in intimate moments.

Did you hear about the temple?

We heard it in the market place.

We’ll go over the drawings and walk to the site tomorrow, said the king, rising.

Everyone left, except the princes.

I met a street vendor from the valley of symbols while you were away, said the Second prince.

Was he selling amulets?

How did you know?

The First prince told him about Chonon’s amulet, She said a street vendor gave it to her.

Amulets, trinkets and charms! Amulets, trinkets and charms! Hey you, lad! Let me offer you an amulet to keep you grounded. If you ever get lost in matters bigger than you can handle, hold it in your hand.

I have a brother, I told him, and he gave me two. Here they are, said the Second prince, taking them out of a pouch. They’re made of bark.

The First prince chose one. He stroked it, and said, There’s writing on it.

Symbols of protection.

This is how we started, with the bark of girdled trees.

Magic amulet, 4th to 6th century CE

How’s the fruit and vegetable man?

Halley says people gossip about him in the market.

Why?

He’s taken up embroidery.

Whatever for?

He embroiders girdles.

The First prince laughed, and the Second prince gave him a look.

They’re actually well made and quite beautiful. They clasp around the solar plexus, and activate the solar plexus chakra.

I can’t believe I’m hearing this. How does he know about chakras?

You’ll have to ask Halley.

He asked her in the morning. She was staying in the castle, and they met for breakfast.

I found a book about chakras in your dad’s library. I don’t think anyone had read it in centuries, it was so dusty. There was a section on the colours of the chakras. I thought the f & v man would find it interesting, and your dad lent it to him.

People are giving him a hard time at the market place, said the old woman.

That’s because the goddess of gossip and rumour lives there, said Max, joining them at the table.

I didn’t know there was a goddess of gossip and rumour, said Halley. How do you dispel her?

You don’t want to dispel her, said Max. She could be carrying messages from the gods.

Gossip by Juan Eduardo Martinez

XIII