Well, not always. Remember that debacle I flagged up in 2010 when NASA spokesman Dr Tony Phillips made a startlingly wrong call about the last time there was the coincidence of a Lunar eclipse on the Solstice? I discovered after a bit of research that he was more than a few hundred years out! I wrote to him, he changed it but every media outlet still ran with the incorrect data. It always pays to double check the 'experts' as no-one is infallible.
Yesterday, my Scorpionic desire to ferret out the truth led to an interesting bit of fact finding regarding this 'birthday' of Neptune. I ended up reading the astronomical computations of a very clever man known only as 'Bob' and it transpires via Bob that Neptune's birthday was yesterday. Okay, so it's only a day out but its orbital period was completed at 21.48.and 26.6 seconds UT on 11th July 2011 which means that all the other sources, some of them very highly regarded, are wrong.
To keen cycle watchers like myself Bob's blog post was utterly fascinating not least because I learned all about the Solar System barycentre - but also because he unearthed an absolute gem for astrologers. We always try and seek out precise times in order to cast accurate charts and Bob had posted (and I hope he won't mind me reproducing it here) a link to the table for the moment that Neptune was discovered - and he even converted it into Universal Time for us. The data appeared in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 7, November 1846, page 155:
What this means is that even the industry renowned Skyscript site is carrying the wrong astrological chart and data.
The time for the Discovery of Neptune ( which was actually first seen by Galileo on 28 Dec 1612 and noted as a star) should in fact be 23:06:40.0 U.T. on 23 September 1846.
So this shows us that Neptune was discovered at 25 degrees of Aquarius (Celestial longitude) with 29 degrees of Cancer rising. It also shows that today, 12 July, Mars is transiting the position Jupiter occupied on that day in 1846 - and what does the transit of Mars to Jupiter portend? Huge international publicity.Obviously Neptune is being widely publicized today but also it got me to thinking about this...
Of course it would have been more perfect, and more persuasive for the skeptics, if the newspaper had shut down exactly 164.7 years after opening but if we look back to what was happening that length of time after its first publication date in 1843 it brings us to 2007. Lo and behold we find that Editor, Andy Coulson, resigned in 2007 over allegations of journalists hacking into phones belonging to the Royal Family. It is also the period that encompassed the Max Mosley revelations. So some may say that was the beginning of the end for the paper and right on cue, the seeds of this newspaper's demise took root 164 years, one exact Neptune cycle, after its opening.
Furthermore, when events which we all get to hear about happen out in the world there is usually a confluence of cycles occurring and it is apparent that more than one cycle is prevalent with this News of the World story. Only those with as keen an eye as I have for symbolism will fully appreciate this link but I notice the planet Uranus - currently in Aries- had stationed to go retrograde as this story exploded AND the Venus/Pluto cycle was at its opposition phase. Uranus in Aries speaks of sudden events (Uranus) involving things associated with personal electronics ( mobile phones) but also the colour red. When the planet is stationed it brings things which correspond to the nature of the planet to the fore big time. Who can have failed to have noticed the red mane of hair tumbling down the back of beleaguered News of the World executive Rebekah Brooks!
Meanwhile Venus Pluto cycles are linked with covert behaviour associated with sex and money. This cycle has particular affiliations to underworld organisations such as the Mafia and to prostitution and dealings one would rather keep secret because they are morally dubious. It seems fairly obvious that the Murdoch empire have tried to quickly cut off the blood supply to a story that needs to be suppressed, perhaps because it could have significant ramifications for the entire News Corporation brand as it attempts to take over BSkyB Or maybe, as many suspect, to protect someone in a position of great political power and influence? Are we going to hear of sex and financial scandals at the highest level? You bet we are.
It may take a while for it all to fully surface but with the planet Uranus stationing and retrograding until Dec 10th you can be sure it will be shocking and with Pluto in Capricorn forming ongoing aspects with other planets (watch around the 9th to mid Aug) this one will run and run. And so it should. Those terrier-like journalists who work for these, often salacious, newspapers are also often people with a strong social conscience who believe that double standards should be exposed and that we all have a fundamental right to a free press. We should applaud them. By fair means (as well as foul) they seek to bring us the truth.
It's not looking good though for Rebekah Brooks nee Wade (27 May 1968). She'll be okay long term but she has a chart full of planets in Gemini. Whilst this will undoubtedly make her great at her job, it will also give her the astrological propensity (not certainty) to be a double dealing, clever talking, conniving and devious woman who is economical with the truth. With the approaching Full Moon in her solar 8th house I cannot see how she can survive in her position for much longer unless someone feels it is too dangerous to cut her loose. If there is one chart that shows someone who could turn on her friends and boss this is it!
Meanwhile old Rupert is the embodiment of Neptune as he is a Piscean (11 Mar 1931) the sign ruled by the fishes swimming in two directions! He's undoubtedly got a great head for business and a superlative intuition but he can also wear 'rose coloured glasses'. And as rose is another shade of red, with Uranus in Aries he should be careful that they aren't suddenly ripped from his face because he may not like what he will be forced to see.
In his personal chart Neptune is coming to the opposition of its position at his day of birth. If not handled carefully and honestly Neptune could see the collapse of all he has structured and built up, especially re his BSkyB bid. As one headline put it........ 'Sky falling in on Murdoch Empire.'
I could write about this for ages but suffice to say here, especially to other astrologers - take a look at the progressions and composite chart of Mrs Brooks and Murdoch. It is a fascinating example of synastry and cycles at work!
