Welcome to the COSMIC UPDATE

My COSMIC UPDATES are a way of looking at items and people in the news from an astrological perspective. And while I try to make the text as understandable as possible I realize that some of the astrological jargon baffles the general reader. 

COSMIC UPDATE: 3^rd December  2001

Included in this week’s Cosmic Update: 

• Once in a blue moon

• George Harrison - his death in Los Angeles

Once in a blue moon

I should have included this piece of not so useless information in the last Cosmic Update since it applies to the full moon in Gemini, which took place on the 30^th November. However, on the principle of better late than never here is the definition of a blue moon.

When there are two full moons in a calendar month the second is known as a blue moon. Thus, since a full moon had already occurred on 1^st November, the full moon in Gemini on the 30^th was a blue moon.

There have been two blue moons this year – the first on February 19^th – but we will have to wait until July 31^st 2004 for the next.

Actually, there is another definition of a blue moon. According to the Maine Farmer’s Almanac­ a blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons.

So there.

And the moral of this story? Don’t say something will happen on a blue moon when you believe it won’t happen at all because blue moons come around fairly regularly!

George Harrison – his death in Los Angeles

Sadly, George Harrison passed away on the 29^th November in Los Angeles. He had spent the last few months seeking a cure for his cancer. However, it was not to be.

I discussed George’s chart in July 30^th’s COSMIC UPDATE, which you can find in the COSMIC ARCHIVES for a full version of the text. However, I have included the most relevant comments at the end of this COSMIC UPDATE.

The charts of the moment of death are often full of astrological poetry and George Harrison’s  is no exception.

 
George Harrison's death
29th November 13:30hrs, Los Angeles, CA
(Click For Enlarged View)

 
George Harrison
24th February 23:42hrs Liverpool, England
(Click For Enlarged View)

The 4^th house: the roots of life

Sometimes the fourth house, representing the area of endings and beginnings, figures at the moment of death in that one of the planetary bodies or the angles/points connects with the MC/IC axis. Neptune, of course, has been hovering around George’s IC for much of the year and in July’s discussion of his chart I had considered November of this year and January of 2002 to be times when an ending would be appropriate. My reasons being that in November transiting Mars would conjunct Neptune at the base of his chart and in January the sun, Venus and Mercury would do the same.

The 8^th house – ‘in my beginning is my end’

The eighth house also frequently figures in the charts of a death.  This house is known as the house of sex and death, although I usually refer to it as the house of emotional and sexual exchange.

Then again sex and death have a certain correlation – the moment of orgasm is sometimes referred to as le petit mort (the little death) and we seek to lose ourselves in the ecstasy of sexual union. Indeed, the theme of liebestod (love in death) is central to the great love stories of all time – Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde and La Dame aux Camelias to name but three. In the Twelfth Century when knights took up holy causes and the romantic novel was born – indeed, Tristan and Isolde was the first story to encapsulate this idea of love and chivalry  - their cause celebre was transformation, which they sought first through passionate love and ultimately death.

And if we are to believe the testimony of those who have ‘died’ and come back to life, those who have gone through the tunnel into the light, death is beautiful. And it is certainly transformative.

At the moment of death…

1) the moon was at twenty-five degrees of Taurus – the exact degree of the eighth house cusp   – and applying to an opposition to Venus, at twenty-six of Scorpio. Thus, the moon and Venus were straddling the 2^nd/8^th house cusps.

2) The Ascendant at the moment of death was four degrees of Aries, which sextiles Saturn  and Uranus in George’s eighth house.

3)  Mars, the ruler of the chart, at twenty-three degrees Aquarius,  is conjunct the nodal axis and trining the Part of Fortune – also in the eighth house of the natal chart.

4) Since Aries is a sign of short ascension (a sign that rises quickly over the horizon) a mere fourteen minutes earlier, the Ascendant would have been at twenty-nine of Pisces – the degree of George’s natal Venus – which would indeed have suggested that death was a loving and beautiful experience.

The Point of Death

There is something known as the point of death in astrology, which is calculated by taking the degree of the moon in the natal chart and using it as the Ascendant degree. Once this ‘new’ chart is created the eighth house cusp of that chart becomes the point of death.

In Harrison’s case the moon at zero degrees of Scorpio creates an eighth house cusp of twenty-seven degrees of Taurus. Thus, the point of death in George’s chart is twenty-seven degrees of Taurus. In this instance, however, since the moon is already rising in George’s natal chart, the point of death is a mere two degrees from the eight house cusp.

Jupiter at fourteen degrees of Cancer is closely conjunct George’s natal Jupiter in the ninth house of philosophy, religion, the ‘higher mind’ and distant horizons. Harrison, of course, died in Los Angeles, half a world away from his home in Henley, Oxfordshire. However, more appropriately, George Harrison was acutely conscious that his life was a spiritual journey – a factor that was as present in the way he lived and his music as his immersion in Eastern mysticism.

That the sun was applying to an opposition to Saturn and conjuncting Pluto is also significant. And I think we can expect to see many revered and famous figures swept up by this astrological scythe during the next four weeks.

To return to my point that the Ascendant would have conjoined Harrison’s Venus at 1 16 pm, perhaps this moment was his last conscious connection to this earthly world. Certainly his last words, love one another, are emblamatic of such an astrological moment.

George Harrison was known and loved by many. He will never be forgotten. Happily for us all his spirit lives on in his music.

From COSMIC UPDATE 30^th July

Of the famous four, George Harrison was the musician who seemed least at home with fame. He preferred to work in his own way, following his own muse and especially after his spiritual opening at the feet of Maharishi, a muse that was distinctly Eastern in flavour. Many consider him to be the musical genius of the Beatles. In the Sixties he was married to model, Pattie Boyd. He now lives with his second wife (an advocate of all things mystical) just outside London. He remains an extremely private person.

In 1997 he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous lump on his neck and following a course of radiation, was declared cancer free some months later. In early January 2000, an intruder broke into his mansion and in the scuffle that followed Harrison sustained a knife wound to his chest that missed his heart by centimetres. All the more sad, therefore that after ‘cheating’ death twice he now seems to be looking it ‘in the eye’ once more.

The Libra factor

All the Beatles share a strong Libran theme in their charts – not surprising really since Libra is a very musical sign. In George’s case Libra rises, placing ruler Venus in Pisces along with the sun. That Venus forms a close opposition to mystical and artistic Neptune, which is trined and sextiled by Saturn and Uranus in the eighth house, certainly provides a reason for his talent for composition. I would say of the four Beatles, taking this configuration into consideration along with the ‘T’-square, he has the most depth and poetry in his soul.

‘T’- square in Fixed signs

Like many prominent individuals, George has a powerful and tough alignment providing him with the tension necessary to produce great things. The ‘T’’ square is created by a Mercury-Pluto opposition (flanking the MC/IC axis) intersected by the moon in Scorpio (and the Ascendant). A rising moon is often present in the charts of writers and since George’s moon is in Scorpio there is likely to be a deep fascination with all things dark and mysterious – a factor amplified by the Mercury-Pluto opposition. Aside from his exposure to Eastern mysticism he may also have had an excursion into natural magic and certainly New Age philosophy.

The period 1997 – 2001

In 1997 Pluto in the early degrees of Sagittarius began to make a series of important connections in his chart. First, a square to the sun and an opposition to Saturn, plus a trine to its natal position in Leo (and later a harmonious trine and sextile to the MC/IC axis and Mercury).

For the record also in 1997 Uranus at 8 degrees of Aquarius was transiting the IC. By January 1999 Neptune had also entered Aquarius, thereby squaring his natal moon and beginning to impact on the MC/IC axis. In 1999 Saturn entered Taurus and by the end of 1999/early 2000  was squaring Mercury and the MC/IC axis.

Which brings us to today, with Saturn having just returned to its natal position for the second time in his life. But Saturn, of course, is not alone because this planet is currently opposed by Pluto.

To be honest, as far as George’s chart is concerned, the current Saturn-Pluto opposition at 12 degrees Sagittarius 38’ (exact on Sunday, 5^th) is a little far from exactitude but when we consider that back in 1997 transiting Pluto began to make a serious impact on his Mutable  planets, including an opposition to Saturn, the current Saturn-Pluto transit is effectively playing an old theme – a theme first heard in 1997.

Second Saturn Return

Saturn returned to its natal position on June 6^th this year. So we can presume that this was the time when Harrison realized that cancer had returned. Saturn will not return over this ground again so on the face of it, astrologically speaking, things do not looks as bleak as one would expect with a terminal condition.

Second Saturn Returns are notoriously difficult. Text books say that what was not dealt with at the first Saturn Return (at roughly twenty-nine years of age) comes back with a vengeance twenty-nine years later. And while this is a fairly good rule of thumb to follow, in my many years of experience second Saturn Returns can come up with a whole lot of new stuff to be faced – and at an age when the individual is physically weaker and has less of a life ahead of him or her to compensate for any losses and difficulties.

Natal Saturn is in the eighth house of his chart – Scorpio territory – so aside from dealing with some large and complex financial issues, he must also be facing the spectre of death sooner than later. (The eighth house of the chart is known as the house of sex and death,  although I place more of an emphasis on this being the house of emotional and sexual exchange.) Also, significant is the progression of Venus (the chart ruler) to natal Saturn – exact a year ago but still within orb now.

Jupiter Return

By the autumn Jupiter will also be returning to its original position and this is, of course, a far more jubilant prospect. A new cycle is beginning here and since Jupiter is in the ninth house of far horizons, without the recent diagnosis, George could have been expecting to travel more and begin a new era for his writing and composition. As it is, this return coming at the same time as a Neptune conjunction to the IC (the base of his chart) any journeys appear far more spiritual in nature.

Neptune conjunction to the IC

Since Neptune can be a very confusing and erosive influence transits of this planet to the roots of a chart can be a very wasting experience. On a material level, money seems in short supply, perhaps because of job loss or some plummet of status, sometimes a house move becomes necessary and in general it appears the rug has been pulled out from beneath your feet. However, Neptune is a highly mystical planet so there is always the potential for a spiritual awakening of a profound nature – and I have known people to meet and marry their soul-mate under this elevating influence.

In November of this year Mars will join up with Neptune at the base of George’s chart; at the same time Venus and Mercury will transit his moon and Jupiter will return to its natal position for the second time in this cycle. In January 2002, Venus, Mercury and the sun all pass over the IC joining up with Neptune as they do so (and triggering the ‘T’- square) and Saturn at eight degrees of Gemini will be close to its natal position and trining the MC/IC axis.

I do not know George Harrison personally but my reading of the astrology and the little knowledge I do have of him suggests to me that the worst is behind him. Once the understanding that there was little more to be done in medical and scientific terms, he would have taken the path he was always more drawn to – the spiritual, the mystical. These next few months or years will not be unhappy ones; they will be a time filled with the things that elevate him on an emotional, spiritual and artistic level. He will remain privately among the things and people he loves.

I would say that George Harrison will pass on an extremely happy man.

Recommended Reading:

Click To Order

	The Astrologer's Handbook Frances Sakoian, Louis S. Acker
	Planets in Transit Robert Hand
	The Final Prophecies of Nostradamus Erika Cheetham