by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA
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For many years, as my own life periodically and indiscriminately blew up, I remarked that my life felt like the War of the Worlds, like the famous book and radio broadcast that panicked the U.S. East Coast (and more) in the late 1930’s. A few years ago, I casually heard the date of that famous radio broadcast… the evening of October 30, 1938. Wait a minute! I was born the following evening, not too many miles from that eventful broadcast. You don’t suppose that being born into the residual energy of the War of the Worlds might have something to do with me or my personal life, do you? Should I investigate this? Of course!
In the 1930’s there were movies. We had transitioned from silent films to talkies and were getting quite sophisticated in our presentations. There was radio (audio), but no television. Around their home radio in the evenings, families would gather and listen to audio theater broadcasts in half-hour to one-hour segments. I personally remember “The Inner Sanctum”, “The Shadow”, “The Buster Brown Show”, “Fibber McGee and Molly” and more. The radio version of sitcoms and dramatic serial programs played out weekly. It was either that or checkers and homework. Well-known actors played out the roles verbally and even provided the sound effects live and on air. Longer programs had musical interludes, weather reports, news bulletins, etc. Especially enjoyed were programs provided by “The March of Time” and “The Mercury Theater on the Air”. With nothing to distract visually, we listened intently, so caught up in the tales being told that we would forget it wasn’t real. I remember listening to the plot thicken and the attempt about to be played out… and the burning wood stove in our living room expanded suddenly with a sharp crack and it nearly gave my child self a heart attack! The programs were so real in that day and time. This is the background of the radio broadcast that panicked the metropolitan New York/New Jersey area that fateful night.
It was the day before Halloween, time to put on audio theater extraordinaire with the best actors available. The play would be part one of the War of the Worlds book. The program started at 8:00 PM as usual, with a description of what was to come, sort of, and there were the usual bulletins, music, etc. Apparently, no one took the introduction at face value. About 8:12 PM they launched into the night’s theater: the War itself. Suddenly there were aliens landing in New Jersey, fights between the locals and the spacecraft, a weapons tripod emerging from the space ship retaliating against the locals, decimating them and their weapons. Regular programming would resume only to be interrupted by battle bulletins, pleas for help, advancing alien forces heading for New York City in the dark (it was autumn). There were suggestions of more alien crafts and weapon tripods, screams, sounds of gunfire, explosions, reports of fires, destruction. This went on for (as close as I can tell) the timing given to about 8:41 PM, when explanations were repeated that it was Mercury Theater broadcasting. But the public had panicked and while many were listening, no one was hearing. The whole of the program was ended by 9:02 PM but the public continued in their blind panic. There were actual suicides and frantic activity, much to the shock and consternation of the radio station, crew, actors, etc. It was difficult, nearly impossible, to put that particular genie back into the bottle.
I’m going to leave it to you to follow what happened after the 62 minutes of broadcast because my space is limited. The footnotes include the article from which I took the timing and a YouTube recording of the show itself. Researchers amongst you might like to verify that my times are correct. The program was scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM EST and it did. It ended at 9:02 PM – those are set in stone. Reportedly, the last third of that period was regular programming and trying to calm the panic. To me that would be 8:41. The broadcast studios hosting the actors with their sound effects was in New York City. Let’s do the Astrology, starting with the Ascendant.
The start of the broadcast at 8:00 PM gives 1 Cancer 27 on the slow-moving Ascendant, with Capricorn on the Descendant T-squared by Mars, angles applying at 2 ¼ degrees equals up to 12 minutes on the clock to the power point of that T-square. The broadcast transitioned from the opening explanation to reports of attack, fluctuating in and out of normal programming/battle bulletins until about 8:41 (speculative), then supposedly transitioned back into program mode. Note that Mars is widely (9 degrees) opposite Saturn, but don’t discount it altogether because angular Mars is the dispositor of that retrograde (therefore weaker energy) Saturn. Passion and daring overcame prudent responsibility.
At 8:41 PM the Ascendant was 10 Cancer 30 squaring Saturn at 12 Aries 54R (a critical degree). That aspect is applying and not over until approximately 8:55 PM on the clock. Either the transition at 8:41 is set too early and there was more panic to go, OR… the real battle had moved to the hearts and minds of the audience and was ongoing in real time in their lives.
At 9:02 PM the Ascendant was 14 Cancer 57, 2 degrees past the square to Saturn; the energy of the square had peaked about 8 to 9 minutes earlier on the clock! Hold that thought.
Chart ruler: the 8:00 PM Moon was 3 Aquarius 53 separating opposition to Pluto 1 Leo 31, both T-square the Sun at 6 Scorpio 57. Because the Moon is applying to the Sun (3 degrees) this was a current unfolding T-square until the Moon moved past the solar position (do remember the Sun is moving as well). Moon motion is about 1˚ every 2 hours on the clock (1˚ x 3˚ separation = 6 hours. The Sun moves 1 minute of arc every 24 minutes on the clock. For this aspect to cross from causative to history would take until about 2:45 AM of the following day. That explains the continuing severe panic of the citizens: emotions, self-identity, power/powerlessness issues. Note: this went on far longer in the public sector, but it was old activations not newly generated.
8:00 PM Midheaven 8 Pisces 01 opposite the fourth cusp in Virgo is in separating T-square to Venus which is retrograde. Venus’s power is in the past; despite being a benefit, she can no longer help or prevent what is about to occur.
Tenth house co-ruler Neptune at 22 Virgo 29 is almost exactly quincunx co-ruler Jupiter at 22 Aquarius 38 (9 minutes of arc). Neptune is angular so I would pay more attention to Neptune as angular planets tend to evidence themselves visibly. More on this in a moment. Can you see Neptune’s contribution as play acting, theater, make believe, illusion? Can you see Jupiter as over-the-top, exaggerated?
Mercury is conjunct the North Node with both opposite Uranus and South Node, all T-square co-ruler Jupiter which already has its own battles to fight. Notice all three communication planets in this T-square. Does Uranus supply the off-the-wall unusual, space invaders, aliens? Mercury is sextile co-ruler Neptune, so communication will be a participant in the mayhem and a helpful influence as time goes on. To me the nodes are karmic in nature.
If you have been keeping count, the start of the broadcast had 3 tight T-squares operating Mars/Ascendant/Descendant, Moon/Pluto/Sun, Mercury/Nodes/Uranus/Jupiter. Along with the Jupiter/Neptune quincunx, that’s almost ALL the primary positions active.
What happened to the Midheaven as the clock ticked on? The end of the broadcast is given as 9:02 PM with the Midheaven 24 Pisces 48, which places it past the opposition to its ruler Neptune at 22 Virgo 29, a 2 ¼ degree spread. The end of what started at 8:00 actually ended about 9 minutes earlier. That coincides exactly with the reading of the 9:02 Ascendant being 8 to 9 minutes late to the end party. The peak was reached around 8:52-53 PM. The aftermath dragged on as the public continued their panic and they picked up the pieces for a very long time.
We won’t go into the details but I was born the following day, same time of evening, about 200 miles from NY City for my own personal War of the Worlds! Ascendants are within three degrees.
Book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds
Broadcast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_drama)
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6YNHq1qc44
More: http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/warofworlds.htm
Published by AFA Nov 2019 vol 81 #11, republished with slight editing.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.