The Return of Astrolog

After returning to Jakarta from my rural isolation, I finally managed to get Astrolog running under Linux Mint on my 2013 MacBook Pro. Firstly it required the installation of WINE and after that all was well. Figure 1 is a screenshot of the current transits to my natal chart.

Figure 1

Astrolog is a program that I've been using for many years and it was very difficult to conduct any astrological research without it. As can be seen in Figure 1, transiting Venus was nearly conjunct my natal Saturn on the cusp of the fifth house at the time of my successful installation. Doubtless this helped. Now I can resume my investigations and I am looking forward to doing so. It's been too long.

This is only a short post but it's a significant one as it marks my return to serious astrology.

State of Play

Living in rural isolation since late June of 2022 and not having access to Astrolog since long before that, the frequency of my astrological posts has decreased markedly. I must another effort to get it up and running on my laptop that is running Mint Linux. The problem is better discussed in my Pedagogical Posturing blog.

There's a case to be argued for moving completely online however, and abandoning my reliance on Astrolog with all its attendant installation problems when using non-Windows devices. Looking back at an earlier blog post titled An Absence of Astrolog, I mentioned astrowin.org, an online-based chart generator, and today I logged back into it. There is only my birth data there so I should add the birth details of other people that are stored on my airtable database.

Figure 1 shows a screenshot of the current planetary positions where I'm located:

Figure 1

The chart looks good. I'll discuss the current transits as they affect my personal chart in a post to the blog that I've set up for that purpose: Astro Watch. Meanwhile I'll get to work updating my database on astrowin.org.

Pluto in Aquarius

The tiny size of the menu text in Astrolog has resolved itself and I've created a new database in Airtable for my lost data. I'm gradually rebuilding my former charts in Astrolog but the initial data will always be there in Airtable should disaster strike. Figure 1 shows a chart for the entry of Pluto into Aquarius, that should take place on March 24th 2023. This is only a little over a year away.

Figure 1

Pluto is moving at the rate of about 1 minute of arc per day. This is when the changes promised by the Great Reset will really start to be felt by a suffering humanity. Pluto will remain in Aquarius only until June 11th 2023. It's return to Capricorn may mark a lull in the pace of change but when Pluto returns to Aquarius on January 21st 2024, to begin its twenty-year passage through the sign, the pace of change will accelerate and the technocratic dream will move closer and closer to reality.

The following source has some interesting observations to make about not only Pluto but also Neptune and Uranus:

The years 2024, 2025, and 2026 (when looked at as one cohesive period) delineate the beginning of the next global chapter following the breakdown brought on by the January 2020 Saturn-Pluto conjunction.

Why? Because that is when the three transpersonal planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) will change signs. Due to their slow speeds, it’s rare to see these three planets change signs back-to-back.

In my eyes, this major shift in the mid 2020s means we’ll still be dealing with COVID-19 — as a global village — in some fashion until then. That isn’t fear-mongering. It’s just a fact. Some nations will recover much more quickly than others. But, others will need until then to return to something that resembles pre-pandemic life. I also think we will see many COVID-19-related public health measures in effect until early 2024. Astrologically, 2024 is the beginning of the “post-COVID era.”

The author then goes on to describe the future movements of Neptune and Uranus:

Neptune will pay a brief visit to Aries from March 30, 2025 until October 22, 2025. However, it begins its uninterrupted twelve-year sojourn through Aries (considered the official start of the “Neptune in Aries era”) on January 26, 2026.

Uranus will dip its toe in Gemini from July 7, 2025 until November 8, 2025. However, its uninterrupted six-and-a-half-year sojourn through Gemini (considered the official start of the “Uranus in Gemini era”) kicks off on April 26, 2026.

For what it's worth, the author looks back at what happened last time Neptune and Uranus were in these same signs:

Consider these events that happened the last time Neptune was in Aries (1861 to 1875):

• Opioids (Neptune) are used to treat troops during the Civil War (Aries); many became addicted
• Formation of the Prohibition Party — essentially a war (Aries) on alcohol (Neptune)
• The Suez Canal opened, linking the Red and Mediterranean Seas
• First use of submarines in warfare
• Introduction of pasteurization — applying heat (Aries) to kill pathogens (Neptune).
• The 13th Amendment is officially ratified in the United States — compassion toward other human beings (Neptune) is turned into something actionable (Aries).
• Russia abolishes serfdom (same as above).
• The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded
• Formation of the International Red Cross — a pioneering (Aries) organization that helps others (Neptune).
• The HMS Challenger surveys the deepest point in the oceans
• Impressionism begins. This art (Neptune) movement is characterized by bold (Aries) colors as well as the inclusion of movement (Aries).

Events that occurred when Uranus transited Gemini from 1858 to 1866:

• First aerial (Gemini is an air sign) photograph
• Development and production of first traction engine
• Production of first gas engine
• First recording of a human voice
• Invention (and patent) of attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil
• Invention of escalator
• Invention of postcards
• Invention of quad skates
• Invention of rotary printing machine
• Invention of first practical typewriting machine

Events that occurred when Uranus transited Gemini from 1941 to 1949:

• The first test fights of many operational military jet aircraft
• Development, and patenting, of first disposable aerosol cans
• Invention of first “instant” (at that time, 60 seconds) camera: Polaroid. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, which is all about speed.
• Invention of the microwave (very “Gemini,” as a microwave allows for very quick cooking)
• Invention of the hand dryer (Gemini is an air sign and also rules the hands!)

While this list may be a little facile, I like the idea of looking back at astrological history as a way of making mundane astrology predictions more reliable. 

Looking at the chart in Figure 1, it can be seen that when Pluto enters Aquarius in March of 2023, Saturn has already entered Pisces. It will remain in Pisces until it enters Aries on May 25th 2025.  That two year period should mark a dissolution of many of the old systems and structures of the past as Pluto wipes the slate clean so that humanity can enter a technocratic utopia or dystopia, depending on your point of view.

Figure 2 shows the entry of Saturn into Aries with Neptune and Ceres very near. New structures and systems will emerge, especially regarding food resources (the domain of Ceres).

Figure 2

Interesting times ahead, that's for sure.

Astrolog Returns

Frustrated with the limitations of Chrome OS Flex on my Mac Book, I installed Ubuntu 20.04 instead. It was then a matter of installing WINE and downloading astrolog.exe. After some tinkering, I was able to get it working although the drop-down menu text is tiny and I can't figure out how to make it larger. Nonetheless it's working but my biggest problem is recovering the astrolog data. I thought I'd backed it up but it appears I hadn't. I'm hoping I can find a backup somewhere. Why didn't I back it up to Google Drive? 

Figure 1 shows the transit picture for 3:29am in Jakarta on March 6th 1953. Venus and Mars are almost exactly conjunct being in 29d38m and 29d41m of Capricorn respectively. The tiny menu bar is visible at the top of the graphic.

Figure 1

If I can't recover my Astrolog data, then I will simply have to rebuild my database that was full of birth details of people that I had long forgotten. There are only a few people whose charts I am really interested in. When I've rebuilt the database, I'll make sure to back it up to Google Drive and also add the information to astrowin.org just to be sure. Figure 2 shows the results of the first entry into the Astrolog database along with the transits.

Figure 2

It's good to have Astrolog back up and running again, because I have total control of what I'm doing. This is not the case with online alternatives where there are more constraints.

An Absence of Astrolog

After years of running Astrolog under WINE on my Mac laptop, I suddenly find myself without it. The reason is that I installed Chrome OS Flex on the laptop and removed the Macintosh operating system. This OS is still in beta and there are numerous glitches. One of them is an inability to install Linux, after which I could install WINE and then run Astrolog.

On my granddaughter's laptop, I removed the Windows operating system that was capable of running astrolog.exe directly and replace it with Ubuntu. Again, I'm having trouble installing WINE, so the net result is that I can't run Astrolog on either laptop for the moment. I'll have to rely on online programs to keep track of my transits.

However, the Astrolog website links to openastro.org that has an Ubuntu repository that I'm keen to test out. Figure 1 shows a screenshot.

Figure 1

Unfortunately, I get the following error message:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:

openastro.org : Depends :  imagemagick

E: unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Obviously this is something that I need to keep working on. Another promising link that the Astrolog website provides is to Morinus touted as a "Free Astrological Program Written in Python, Using The Swiss Ephemeris". Mind you, the site hasn't been modified since March 18th of 2017. Figure 2 shows a screenshot.

Figure 2

Again, this will take a little more research as I need to install Python from within Chrome OS Flex. Meanwhile, I always have Astrodienst to fall back on. Figure 3 shows a screenshot of my transits for today.

Figure 3

As can be seen, Venus and Mars are rapidly moving toward another conjunction. This upcoming conjunction of the two planets is the third that will occur within a space of about eight months. The dates of these conjunctions are:

• Tuesday, July 13th 2021
• Saturday, February 12th 2022
• Saturday, March 12th 2022

I wrote about the likely effects of these conjunctions in my previous post titled Mars-Venus Conjunction. 

The site astrowin.org is quite comprehensive and will display transits to a natal chart in two different forms as well as supplying many other features. See Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 4

Figure 5

2022: What Does The Year Ahead Hold?

I want to approach this question in terms of the chart I drew up for 8:10am in London on January 13th 2020. I feel this is the seed chart from which all the events of the past two years have sprung. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

This is a remarkable chart featuring as it does the conjunction of Sun, Ceres, Pluto, Saturn and Mercury. The interplay between Saturn and Pluto is key here because the former represents the force holding together existing structures and the latter is the force that is transforming their very foundations. When we look to the year ahead, we need to look at the current and upcoming angular relationship between these two planets. Yes, Pluto is a planet!

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows the transit picture as of today, December 30th 2021. At the moment it can be seen that Saturn is relatively inactive, not aspecting any natal planets significantly. However, there is a very active T-square involving transiting Ceres/North Node at the apex in square to natal Venus and natal Moon. Transiting Jupiter is passing over natal Venus which serves to amplify the energy of the T-square. With Ceres involved, it would seem that food shortages caused by supply chain disruptions will dominate the early part of the year.

By June 3rd 2022 however, transiting Saturn moving rapidly through Aquarius will station in 25°15' in rough semisextile to the natal stellium in Capricorn and closely opposite the natal Moon in 26°24' of Leo. I'm not emphasising house positions here because I arbitrarily chose sunrise on January 13th as the time of the chart. Transiting Ceres will have reached the natal North Node by this time. There's an interesting line up of Mars in 7° Aries, Venus in 7° Taurus and Ceres in 7° Cancer. This is just transient of course but it synchronised with the Saturn station. The suffering of the public (represented by the Moon) will reach its apex around this time and maybe subside a little as Saturn retrogrades. 

Saturn will retrograde to 18°35' Aquarius by October 22nd 2022 before moving on into Pisces in 2023. That's looking too far ahead. To my mind, the start of June should bring some interesting developments.

ALGOL

I've long known of the fixed star Algol's evil reputation but was reminded of it again only today when I watched the following video about the lunar eclipse on November 19th of the current year (2021). A transcript of the video can be found at the end of this post.

The author of the video points out that the Moon, at the time of the coming eclipse, will be conjunct Algol. Figure 1 shows a chart drawn up for the time of the eclipse in Jakarta:

Figure 1

As can be seen, the eclipse occurs in the fixed signs of Taurus and Scorpio with Jupiter located near the apex of a T-square in Aquarius. Mars is located earlier in Scorpio than the Moon but will pass over its position (and Algol) on December 9th, which the author of the video says may be the time when the full effects of the eclipse manifest.

I was surprised to find that Algol is not listed among the fixed stars whose positions can be displayed in Astrolog (which is may I had to manually insert it into Figure 1). I used Stellarium to locate the celestial latitude and longitude of Algol. See Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Much has been written about Algol and its malign influence but astronomically the star is quite interesting as well:

Fixed star Algol, Beta Persei, is a 2.1 magnitude, rare triple star and eclipsing binary, located in the Medusa’s Head, carried in the left hand of the Hero, Perseus Constellation. The name Algol comes from Al Ghoul, an Arabic word رئيس الغول  meaning  Head of the Ogre. The English translation became Demon Star, with other names being Satan’s Head, the Spectre’s Head. Algol appears to blink ... every 69 hours, its magnitude dipping for about 10 hours before returning to full brightness again.

Algol, alias Caput Medusa, is the Demon herself. Indeed she is, without doubt, counted the most malefic of all stars in astrology ... Medusa’s Head, the meaning of the Latin title, is being held in Perseus’s hand, which is star β in his constellation. It causes misfortune, violence, decapitation, hanging, electrocution and mob violence.

Algol represents the head of the Gorgon Medusa who was slain by Perseus. Medusa, who was the only mortal one of the three Gorgon sisters, was originally a beautiful maiden, but her hair was changed into hissing serpents by Minerva in consequence of her having become by Neptune the mother of Chrysaor and Pegasus in one of Minerva’s temples. This gave her so fearful an appearance that everyone who looked at her was changed into stone. Source.

The final paragraph in the above quote has connotations of genetic modification that are quite relevant in today's era of "gain of function" research and release. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next three weeks. I'm sure our psychopathic overlords are planning something special for Christmas.

In conclusion, it is to be noted that:

(The eclipse) will also be the longest lunar eclipse in 580 years, lasting about 3 hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds, and also the longest this century ... (it) will fall just shy of being total; 97.4% of the moon's diameter will become immersed in the Earth's dark umbral shadow at maximum eclipse, leaving just the southernmost limb ever-so-slightly beyond the outer edge of the umbra. Source.

Transcript from video:

hi i'm Joni petrie today i want to talk

about the month of November and we have

some very significant events that are

about to happen in the month of November

one of the main features that i always

look to as an astrologer are eclipses

and we will be having the lunar eclipse

in November on November 19th

this will set up a whole array of

major emotional changes

around the world i've been talking a lot

about the grand

finale what do i mean by that really

what i mean is everything has been

mounting and building

over the past year of 2021

and now everything comes to the

combination point with a major

explosive

event

this will probably be more like in the

month of December and January that we're

going to feel it the most but let me

just tell you

November is the month you're going to

see the direction it's all going in

as we approach the eclipse season what

they are is actually when the sun and

the moon come together with Rahu and Ketu

Rahu being the north node of the moon

and Ketu being the south node of the moon

how powerful is that think about what

the sun and moon represent

they represent the male the female the

whole entire set up here on planet earth

mother father night day

positive negative forces

and i don't mean negative in a bad way i

mean this is the electric charges of

things we have to have this polarity

that makes the world go round

but considering what an eclipse is

eclipses are when you have the darkening

of the light of the light of the sun or

the light of the moon and in that

darkness always

something is revealed when we go into

that darkness think symbolically we

darken and we go into that quiet

darkness where all the secrets and

things can become uncovered

then we have the return of the light

comes back

so in that darkness things are revealed

that we did not know now this goes to

what's going on globally in the world

and it's about time we get some answers

here right

and

it also applies to your life personally

because

there will be something that will be

revealed to you

that you didn't know about in your life

that will give your life great

understanding and meaning so look to

these eclipses as something powerful so

the lunar eclipse that happens

the 19th of November

is

three degrees of taurus which is

extraordinarily meaningful

but then again two weeks following

December 4th we're going to have the

solar eclipse

and this is going to really between

those two week periods bring to light

something that will be

very surprising i might say shocking to

the world so watch how this all unfolds

but going back to this lunar eclipse

that happens on the 19th of November

what i think is going to really be

revealed

is

a lot

of

world leaders

are going to show their true colours

of their

losing their head

explosions of emotion why do i say that

three degrees of taurus where we will

have this

lunar eclipse full moon

is exactly conjunct the fixed star Algol

and this is considered to be the most

violent

and the most destructive

fixed star of the heavens this is

astrology the language of the stars this

star

is said to be

the most violent

they say it represents decapitation

this is huge that the lunar eclipse

happens on this star

so what does that mean decapitation it

means losing your head losing your

temper being out of control

you better watch in your own life don't

let this affect you

in such a negative way as it could

keep your cool keep your calm

and always ask

yourself do i have control over this

situation if you do do something about

it

but let me just say you're going to see

people in the news people that rule

countries

losing it

this is what this is going to bring

about and you know what always happens

out of that i must say

the truth comes out

once something is comes to an explosive

event

then the clearing reveals what it was

all about

this is what's finally happening

at this time

moving into December but as we move into

December let me just give you fair

warning

mars is going to be going into scorpio

triggering where the eclipses are

through December and January and this is

going to be

well let me just say it could be very

war-like

and i have been predicting that this

year of 2021

we'll have the remnants

of war

because people are losing it people are

angry people have been frustrated they

have not been told the truth in so many

instances and we know it now

it used to be that we didn't know

because

the media everything was preventing

things from coming out now people have

the freedom to really explore what's

happening

because we have the internet because we

have

all of these aspects of social media

that we can truly see what's been

happening behind the scenes under the

surface and now

well i gotta say a lot of people don't

have a lot of trust in their leaders

anymore based on what they are seeing

so throughout this month of November we

have one thing and another

occurring continually leading up to the

grand

finale as i've been calling it so we

have this new opening

an opening to truth and opening to

awareness and opening to awakening to

the truth been talking about this for a

while

what a time to be on planet earth to see

all the revelations and the changes

finally coming about

yes we had things a lot calmer before

but we were all asleep before

now we see the reality and the truth of

it all what's behind the scenes

and now

there is so much opportunity for

spiritual growth

and let me talk about what i feel the

month of November how you can use this

for your highest good

especially probably one of the most

meaningful holidays we celebrate in the

united states called thanksgiving it

will be November 25th

it's always on the fourth Thursday of

the month i think it's very meaningful

as well that it's on a Thursday

because Thursday is Jupiter's day

and Jupiter is the planet that deals

with spirituality deals with higher

mindedness truth and there's nothing

more higher mindedness than to come from

a place

of

gratitude

thanksgiving is a holiday that we

celebrate in the United States

it's actually

our birthday in

essence for the United States of America

but

here's what it's truly about this

holiday everyone comes together in a

family family and friends come together

and we celebrate

what we're thankful for

how beautiful is that

this empowers your life in ways beyond

comprehension you see when we come from

a place of gratitude what happens is

that energy that we put out in terms of

respecting

and telling people how grateful we are

and how much we love them

what you put out

is always what's returned back

this is the law of the universe that is

why we're here

we're not here to hate and be angry and

resentful we are here to love

be compassionate

and heal