by Marilyn J. Muir, LPMAFA
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Yesterday’s screaming headlines about the workplace shooting at “The Maryland’s Capital Gazette” in Annapolis added one more senseless massacre to our nation’s scorecard. How many merciless killings before we as a society step up to the plate and get a handle on this carnage? This one was timed quickly as the police response was rapid. Initially it was thought to be 2:40 PM but almost immediate news corrections bought it back to 2:34 PM EDT, June 28, 2018.
As I built my body of information, I came across a clip that the newspaper itself had been founded in September of 1727 there in Annapolis. Seriously? So I went searching. Alas, I could not find the specific date in September, and I tried for more than an hour. What to do? I wanted to compare the event to the historical launch of the newspaper using either the incorporation or the first issue, but in 1727 it wasn’t even the USA. According to the material I read, what became Maryland was an English colony named Mory Land. I even searched worldwide news sources with no luck. Hmmm? Two things came immediately to mind.
- For many parts of the world, calendars were changed after that date complicating any dating.
- I might gain some info through speculation.
So I chose the middle of September, the 15th, planning to look only to the outer planets. I chose the noonmark ballpark to play in because that would limit any planetary position error to half the daily distance traveled by each planet. Noonmark seems to fit business charts best in my experience. Of course, I could not trust any house system under the circumstance.
- This speculative chart is of the launching of a newspaper, a birth, an initiation of some sort. Appropriately this was a New Moon chart, perfect about ten hours earlier in the day, which would have been the middle of the night in 1727, not likely for business; a later birth made more sense.
- The speculative rising sign was 7 Sagittarius 16, appropriate for a newspaper. Ruler Jupiter 1 Gemini 28 is opposed by that faster moving Ascendant, and Jupiter is conjoined by Neptune 8 Gemini 29 retrograde, almost directly opposed the Ascendant.
- Remember, at that time the three outer planets had not been discovered and were invisible, and therefore unconscious. Each planetary energy was present and working, but hidden from view. When you read the biography of the newspaper you can see these oppositions at work. Even in 1727, there were difficulties, setbacks and twists of fate and success. Considering that the newspaper still exists today, 291 years later, there must have been some success. Look to the positive aspects. Pluto plus Saturn are trine that Jupiter/Neptune conjunct, a grand air trine. However, two of the four planets are undiscovered, invisible, unconscious, yet still helpful.
From the biography, I realized this newspaper was one of a handful around for the founding of our country in 1776 and was a major source of news. Its Revolutionary War period is very interesting, so I have provided you a source for that.
- A Virgo stellium contains the Sun, Moon, Mercury and the lunar south node in this spec chart. The south node implies prior history; this was not the founder’s first attempt at news reporting. Virgo looks for logic, reason… the facts. Newspapers then were more local in nature, simple and straight-forward.
In my neighborhood, there is an old restaurant that has been around a long time in an original southern farming community. It offers down-home, comfort food in an atmosphere of antiques and relics. The tables are laminated with issues of the local newspaper from the turn of the twentieth century. I sit at a different table every time I go there just to read the old news – nothing like today’s newspapers! Hope you find one near you; very insightful!
- Founding speculative Mercury in Virgo is tightly square the Ascendant, Jupiter and Neptune. Apparently, the views could be quite contentious for this early colonial newspaper!
- A wide Venus/Uranus conjunction in Scorpio squares Saturn in Aquarius; the ups and downs of money severely affected the business. Uranus is, of course, undiscovered, invisible and unconscious. Talk about surprises!
- One last natal planet – Mars is in late Cancer in the eighth house sextile those Virgo planets, which probably also aided and supported the efforts to maintain the business.
Next I set the accurate event chart. The event supplied the triggers; now I just had to see how it connected to the speculative natal and what was triggered specifically. I got a bingo immediately!
- That accurate Midheaven of 26 Cancer 46 directly conjuncts founding Mars 26 Cancer 33, only 13 minutes of arc, and more widely the event Mercury at 29 Cancer 19. The method of attack was a gun (Mars). It was very public, at the communication (Mercury) business itself (Midheaven). That’s not bad for an initial hit! Anything else?
- Event South Node 6 Aquarius 01 (groups and karmic) conjunct event Mars 9 Aquarius 12 retrograde (uses a gun) and also triggers the founding Venus/Uranus/Saturn square (Uranus represents the unexpected). Closest is founding Saturn at 9 Aquarius 09 retrograde, 3 minutes of arc from event Mars, with the event South Node 1 degree 7 minutes square founding Venus. The shooter had an ugly history (Saturn) with the company.
- Event Jupiter 13 Scorpio 34 retrograde is conjunct that hidden founding Uranus at 14 Scorpio 56. (Uranus/Jupiter ups the magnitude of the event, over the top, shocking, headline grabbing.)
- Event chart ruler Venus is 17 Leo 11, square the event Jupiter (no protection from the two benefics) and quincunx the Moon/Pluto conjunction. Note the Moon was last over Saturn and next over Pluto, both malefics. That is known as a besieged Moon.
- On the other side of the chart, event Neptune at 16 Pisces 28 retrograde completes the other side of the Finger of God (fated) quincunx aspect with Venus. The combination is Moon, Pluto, Neptune to Venus. Destiny found a place to happen.
- Event Sun 7 Cancer 01 opposed event Saturn 5 Capricorn 40 retrograde. A day prior, that aspect was exact; the Sun moves one degree per day. I believe that was the precursor1 to the killing. Something specific happened or came to a head that triggered the “now” of the attack itself. Something tipped the scales from potential to “now”.
The event chart is a stand-alone chart. Regardless of what other chart we compare it to, this chart is the map of an actual event. Look at the positions in the last decanate of cardinal: Ascendant/Descendant, Midheaven/I.C., Pluto, Mercury. Look at the planets in angular houses (Jupiter, South Node, Mars, Uranus, Mercury, North Node, Venus. Experience for angular houses is the most visible, active, in-your -face energy. A critical event.
I also set the diurnal for the founding chart, the personal transit chart. The event chart and the diurnal will be quite similar (same day). I would look to the Midheaven, Ascendant and Moon normally, but this founding chart is both time and date unknown. Will I see anything worthwhile in this speculative diurnal?
- The diurnal Ascendant is 5 Libra 26. The founding Pluto is 4 Libra 50, 35 minutes of arc separating. Again, the day prior was the perfection of that aspect, a precursor1.
- The diurnal (and event) Sun opposite Saturn is in hard aspect to the four angles and that founding Pluto.
- The diurnal Moon is less than a degree from the event Moon, same reading as event Moon.
- We don’t know if the foundation and diurnal charts are valid, but I should point to the location of diurnal Uranus conjunct diurnal eighth house cusp (death, destiny) within ¼ degree. Looks valid to me!
This attack succeeded. Five people were killed and so many were terrorized and traumatized. Studying it will not erase the loss of life and the tragedy. Understanding it may help us determine what happened and why, perhaps helping us in the future. There are too many deaths, too many tragedies. We as a people must get a handle on it and re-establish public safety. Our very lives depend on it.
1 Precursor: Just after I finished editing this article, I found yet another news article on the shooting. Apparently the alleged shooter, Jarrod Warren Ramos, had an ongoing, ranting Twitter account for some years that had gone dormant in January of 2016 but re-activated the day prior to the shooting. Something happened that day prior of the nature of diurnal Sun opposed Saturn and diurnal Ascendant conjunct founding Pluto, the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
Unanswered question: A news source indicated the shooter also used a “smoke grenade”. I have not ferreted out where that is in the event chart, but the event is where to search. Any suggestions gratefully accepted.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Gazette
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Gazette#William_Parks
Published in AFA Today’s Astrologer Sep 2018 vol 80#9, republished with minor editing.
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