Canada’s Chart

• Transitting Pluto is on the Nadir, the lowest point of the chart, and is in the part of the chart that indicates the Opposition rather than the ruling party. It is also part of a process that will take several years and change the nature of the country. It is a continuation of the power struggle between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the people of Canada. and the conflagration surrounding the G20 conference.

  

• In Canada’s Solar Return, the part of the chart that indicates the government (i.e Conservative Party) is ruled by Saturn opposite Uranus/Jupiter, indicating a process of surprise and change. The part of the chart that rules the Opposition has far more auspicious aspects. (Moon Trine Sun, Sextile Pluto)

Stephen Harper

• Pluto is affecting Harper’s chart by conjuncting his Saturn. Pluto conjunct Saturn is an incredibly intense transit. The effect is to obliterate what is no longer necessary or helpful and appears, in the moment, to be totally destructive. It is ultimately freeing.
• Harper wants to rule unchallenged. His style is to refuse to be accountable to parliament or to the people. He does not allow dissension at all. Only party faithful are allowed at his public appearances and he limits questions by the press as much as he possibly can. With the energies surrounding Canada’s chart in the immediate future, this style will not work and Canadians will ‘revolt’ in any number of ways.
• On the eve of the election, it appears that Stephen Harper will not get the majority that he wants and it is even possible that he will lose his role of ruler.

Update: Surprising results indeed. Liberals and BQ virtually wiped out — both leaders resigned — and the Reform party is now official opposition. The polls taken on the eve of the elections were not that far off re the percentage of votes but could not predict the distribution.

Keep your eye on Harper for the next year or so as Pluto conjunct Saturn moves slowly and will ruthlessly expose weakness.

From the synastry of Williams and Harriman:

Both David and Mary feel excited by this union. Their imaginations are enlivened. In particular David’s ideas are encouraged by Mary’s creative input, enabling him to better express himself. It’s possible that they work together on a creative project. Communication has an easy flow, more intuitive than concrete. David and Mary establish an empathetic bond which enables them both to exchange their thoughts and feelings with ease.

Browning was trying to dry the seats of his convertible with a leaf blower that he propped up against the car — unconventional perhaps, but nothing that would raise red flags. He had stepped away briefly and, when he returned and saw the fire, it was too late to save the house from damage estimated to be around a million dollars.

Before the fire, an astrologer would not have said ‘your house is going to be destroyed by fire’ but rather:

• From the Natal chart: nothing happens unless the potential for the event appears in the original birth chart. Browning has Pluto, the ruler of his Fourth house (home, emotional roots) in the First, right next to Uranus, the planet that represents dramatic change. This all means that Browning’s home and emotional roots are an integral and visible part of his personality and that, from time to time, dramatic events would occur that would change everything.
• From the Solar Return: Pluto is the most visible planet in the Solar return because it is located at the top of the chart. It is opposite the Sun and square Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn so it was bound to be a year when Browning’s emotional base was dramatically changed.
  

• From the Secondary Progression: this is the chart where the Moon is the element to watch. It moves about a degree a month, taking about 2 1/2 years to go through each sign and about 30 years to go all the way around the chart. At the time of the fire, Browning’s SP Moon was inconjunct Uranus and Pluto, the two planets that promised occasional shake-up in the original birth chart.
  

• From the Solar Arc Progression: this chart is created by moving each of the elements of the birth chart approximately one degree per year. In the chart, the Uranus/Pluto combo is inconjunct Saturn, showing a current need for dramatic adjustment to structures and patterns.
  

• Current Transits: Uranus, the shake-up planet, is square Browning’s two most personal planets, the Sun and the Moon, something that happens once in 42 years and means he is undergoing a personal transformation. Uranus is also next to Saturn, again showing that it is time for structures and patterns that have served their purpose to make way for new patterns.

This is definitely an upsetting and stressful time for Browning and his family but it is one of those situations that he may one day look back on and say ‘ You know, I wouldn’t wish that time on anyone but, if I hadn’t gone through it, I wouldn’t be doing ‘X’ now.

Toronto, June 23 – The earthquake we all just felt in Ontario prompts me to mention that the energy represented by this Lunar eclipse is going to manifest in many ways: stormy weather, earthquakes etc. as well as strong emotional expressions in those who are directly affected. The ‘eclipse period’ or intense time precedes the event by ten days and lasts approximately 3 days after and the rumblings will be felt until the next lunar eclipse in December.

With the earthquake, the intensifying protests and strong thunder storms forecast for this evening, I decided to dig out Toronto’s chart to see if the eclipse is hitting any important points. It is. All three ‘legs of the table’ (see below) touch something in the Toronto chart. The heaviest energy is in the Second and Eighth houses which represent ‘What I Value and Own’ vs ‘What We Own’. The Eighth house also represents banks which have already been a target for damage.

The G-20 began in 1999 as a yearly forum for finance ministers and central bank governors. It later evolved into the premier leaders forum for international economic cooperation and it meets this year in Toronto on June 26.

There is a tradition of large demonstrations and protests held in conjunction with the G20 and most of the billion dollars that the Canadian government is spending to host this event is for security.

In a mundane chart (i.e a chart constructed for an event or a nation etc.), the moon represents the people and the will of the people, so it is especially significant that a Lunar eclipse occurs on June 26, the opening day of the G20.

A Lunar Eclipse has the effect of a ‘full moon times ten’, particularly if it hits something in your chart. This eclipse is at 4 Capricorn, exactly the same degree as Pluto, the planet of transformation and intensity. It is also square to Jupiter and Uranus, both in early Aries, and it is opposite the Sun and Mercury – forming a heavily loaded T-square configuration of volatile energies.

A T-square is like a 3 legged table that is easily knocked off balance — with powerful consequences. There has already been a firebombing of a bank in Ottawa, supposedly a sign of things to come, and banks in Toronto have been spray-painted and vandalized.

Important events always show up in more than one way (ie. in a transit, progression, return etc).

In the July 1, 2009 Solar Return, Pluto is close to the Ascendant, indicating that this is a year of dramatic change for Canada. It’s location, just behind the Ascendant, shows that the events that are part of this transformation will occur just before Canada’s 2010 birthday on July 1.

Mourning for Icarus, by Herbert James Draper (1863-1920)
Icarus – Son of Daedalus who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Daedalus had been imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within the walls of his own invention, the Labyrinth. But the great craftsman’s genius would not suffer captivity. He made two pairs of wings by adhering feathers to a wooden frame with wax. Giving one pair to his son, he cautioned him that flying too near the sun would cause the wax to melt. But Icarus became ecstatic with the ability to fly and forgot his father’s warning. The feathers came loose and Icarus plunged to his death in the sea.

Rising political star Adam Giambrone announced on February 1, 2010 that he was running for mayor of Toronto. Nine short days later, as a result of a sex scandal, his campaign was over .

Giambrone was first elected to Toronto city council at the age of 26. He is only 32 now but has been seen as popular and very visible, particularly in his role as chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission. It was only a matter of time before he sought higher office.

Giambrone is not married but living with a woman in a long term relationship. When he announced that he was running for mayor, his partner stood proudly by his side.

Unfortunately, one newspaper mistakenly reported that he was married. That prompted an incensed Kristin Lucas, 20, to tell the Toronto Star newspaper that she had been seeing Giambrone for over a year, including several trysts in Giambrone’s office at city hall.

After a few days of trying to wiggle out of the situation, Giambrone admitted that he had had a number of ‘inapropriate relationships’ in the previous year. He had even told Lucas in an e-mail that he was with his live-in partner only for political reasons. “It was important for the campaign,” one text message said.

By The Numbers
Giambrone is an 8 born on an 8 (Destiny, Personality). The 8 is wordly success, ambition, power. The double 8 is almost too strong. One danger of the 8 is that you attract powerful enemies who are ready to leap at the first sign of weakness.

Giambrone is in a 5 Pinnacle with a 3 Challenge so freedom, drama, romance, adventure and curiosity are very much a part of this nine-year period. Perhaps his mistake was believing that he had to present himself as a partner in a stable relationship to get elected.

By The Stars
The only transit currently affecting Giambrone’s chart is Neptune square Jupiter. Neptune has a ‘dissolving’ effect on what it hits and, because of the devastating effect the events of this past week have had on every aspect of Giambrone’s life, I would guess that the sign ruled by Jupiter, Sagittarius, is on is Ascendant or his Mid-heaven.

The big karma’s-gonna-get-you astrological effect comes from his Solar return on his last birthday. Because we don’t know his time of birth, we can’t run a proper return but we can see that, on that day, Saturn was exactly opposite his Sun. Saturn will always tell you exactly where you are and remind you of any short-cuts that you have taken.

The important thing to remember is that Saturn doesn’t say ‘no’ , it says ‘not now’, you’re not ready at this time.

On December 30th, Stephen Harper unexpectedly prorogued Parliament, killing all pending legislation and closing the hearing into reports that some of the Afghan detainees that had passed through Canadian hands had been tortured.

The Conservatives assert that this is to allow them time to ‘recalibrate’ their economic action plan.

Ralph Goodale, the Liberal House Leader said “Three times in three years and twice within one year, the prime minister takes this extraordinary step to muzzle Parliament. This time it’s a cover-up of what the Conservatives knew, and when they knew it, about torture in Afghanistan. So their solution is not to answer the questions but, rather, to padlock Parliament and shut down democracy.”

Harper maintains that the people of Canada are only worried about the economy and not bothered by the Afghanistan torture issues or that Parliament will not sit for over 3 months. He may have miscalculated. Over 180,000 have signed on to the Facebook site Canadians Against Prorogation, rallies are being planned and over 170 university professors have written a letter of protest . Even some Conservatives are starting to complain.

Stephen Harper

Canada’s rising sign or personality is Libra and Harper’s Sun sign is Taurus. Both Libra and Taurus are ruled by Venus and Canada’s Venus and Harper’s Venus are virtually the same (16 & 18 degrees Gemini). This is one of those connections that are very important when someone is running for office. Another is that Harper’s Mars is virtually the same as Canada’s Sun (11 & 9 degrees Cancer). The clincher is Harper’s Saturn opposite Canada’s Moon, i.e the people. The connection is cold and distrustful, on both sides, but very strong.

Current Influences

The current face-off between Harper and the people of Canada will not fade away as did the grumbling at past problems. This is a power struggle and an important period of testing. It is part of a several year period which will be as dramatic and confrontational as any Canada has experienced.

The current Pluto opposite the Moon indicates that the people of Canada are being challenged by powerful forces and they will find they have to become stronger than they ever thought that they wanted to be. The Pluto energy will be used by them or against them.

At the same time, Pluto is conjunct Harper’s Pluto, a once-in-250-year period when his reality, the structures in his life, and those things he thought would never change are transformed. It is a powerful and brutally honest time for him.


Canada (with current Solar Return)

A Saturn – Uranus opposition is the old versus the new. Forward motion is hampered by structures and conditions built up in the past. Individuals who find change difficult or frightening are stressed and put up road-blocks.

With a slow moving planet like Saturn has been this year — or that Uranus always is — the effect of a transit can last for months. It takes the addition of one of the fast moving planets to trigger off a manifestation of the energies. The degree-per-day Sun will be at 22 Virgo on the 15th and play the role of an instigator.

This Saturn/Uranus energy will be felt by everyone as stress but, for any transit to affect an individual or a nation as a physical event, it must connect with a point in the birth chart.

The USA:

The United States has Mars at 21 Gemini square to Neptune at 22 Virgo. Saturn is moving forward at 24 Virgo and theoretically past connecting with those two planets but Uranus, at 24 Pisces, is retrograde or moving backward so it is opposite Neptune. Once one planet in a configuration is aspected, any other planets in the configuration are also affected.

On September 15 — and a day or two before — the Saturn-Uranus opposition will affect the USA. There will be the clash of the new vs. old forces, exacerbated with the addition of the Mars/Neptune square which produces (among other things) the ugly anger that rises in a form that is difficult to confront with logic or debate.

An important transit always shows up in more than one way. In the 2009 US Solar Return, the Solar Point is now in the 3rd house which is ruled by Mercury opposite Pluto — power struggles over ideas — and, on September 15, the Solar Point will be at 2 Cancer, right on Mercury.

The Ninth and Third houses are involved by both transit and Solar Return. The Ninth House represents legal matters, religion, foreign countries and long-distance travel and the Third house represents communication, short trips and neighbours.

Similar Elements:

• Pluto on the Ascendant indicates a year of transformation. The transformation ahead for Canada may not be as dramatic as the last year has been for the US — Pluto sits on the side of the ascendant that is more associated with hidden activity.
• Pluto is opposite Mercury – this is a conflict of ideas and again it may not be as noticable as it has been with the US as this is not repeating an idea that appeared in the original birth chart.
• The Sun (ruler of the chart) is in the Seventh house – Like last year’s US solar return, the Sun is in the Seventh house and shows an emphasis on relationships with other countries. Marriage is also associated with the Seventh house, even in a country’s chart, so perhaps the issue of marriage rights will be prominent.
• The Sun rules the Eighth house which also contains Saturn – The Eighth house is financial relations with other countries and anything to do with death. Saturn in the Eighth house usually indicates both financial problems and a public in mourning .
• the Mid-Heaven is square to the North Node – some difficulty in the acceptance by the public at large of the actions taken by the ruling powers.

Other Elements in Canada’s 2009 Solar Return

• a lovely, double, Grand Trine with Moon, Mercury, Neptune and Jupiter – The Moon represents ‘the people’ so it would seem the people will feel optimistic and even inspired.
• The ruler of the ‘money’ house (Second) is Uranus, always good for surprises, is in a stressful T-square with Pluto and Mercury…power struggles, transformation of many of the elements of the finances of the nation, financial shocks.

And…This Bears Repeating:

Canada: Natal and Solar Arc - from Canada Faces a Challenge, July 2008. The described ‘power struggles, financial stress and economic restriction’ not only continue but intensify.

…..Canada’s birth chart has a Saturn/Pluto opposition involving the two ‘money’ houses. Saturn in the Second house is Canada’s money and Pluto in the Eighth house is financial dealings with other countries. The opposition in the chart shows there is always stress and pressure involved.

…..The birth chart ‘progresses’ and, through Canada’s 141 years, Pluto and Saturn have ‘progressed’ to a point where Pluto is approaching the ascendant, indicating a transformation of the country as a whole. At the same time, the Pluto/Saturn combo is squaring the Moon, Uranus and the Sun. This represents intense power struggles, financial stress and economic restriction. These conditions begin now (2008) and last approximately six years.
…..Canada has oil, fresh water in abundance, food products and now, the melting northern ice cap is opening the possibility of new oil exploration as well as a navigable shipping route. Canada has so much to sell at a time when its people are very worried about their economic future.

…..The transformational effect of Pluto crossing the ascendant can be seen by what has happened to the USA since September 11, 2001. At the time, Pluto (by transit not progression but the effect is similar) was on the ascendant of the American birth chart.

…..The struggles of the next several years will change the nature of Canada as the nation uses the power and stresses it faces to forge a stronger, more powerful nation or that power will be used by others, against Canada.

Canada’s current Solar Return does not show the emphasis on Sixth and First house involvement like the USA and Mexico solar returns. The Canadian chart shows that this is a concern involving long distance travel and other countries more than its own people.

Canada 2008

Canada 2009

Holly never made it home. Family, friends, neighbours and police searched through the night but no sign was found until the next morning when a bags containing parts of her body were found on the Toronto waterfront.

Holly Jones

Holly was born on September 14, 1992 at 4:30 am EDT in Toronto. (Birth time source = Holly’s aunt)

With a Sun, Mercury, Jupiter stellium trine to a Neptune/Uranus combo, Holly was expressive, popular, bouncy and cheerful.

Was Holly’s fate in her birthchart?

Holly’s Eighth house (death or transformation) is ruled by Neptune which, along with Uranus and the Vertex, is the focal point of a t-square with Moon and Venus. Uranus and Neptune are both planets that have to do with expanded consciousness and the Vertex is a point of ‘fated connection’ .

Holly's Murder

The time used for the murder chart comes from a 61 page statement made by Michael Briere at the time of his arrest in June, 2003:

“On the 12th…I always had the fantasy of having sexual relations with a little girl. So, I just got carried away, and I walked outside and Holly was…I didn’t know her, I’d never seen her before…it’s just coincidence.”

“I think I left my house maybe just a little bit before 6, 10 to 6, 5 to 6…and she was right there. So, I would say she was probably gone 25 minutes after, say around 6:25 – 6:30.”

Influences at time of murder:

• by Transits -
  • Mars/Neptune conjunct Saturn – Mars and Neptune are often associated with victimization and Holly’s Saturn brings the materialization: “I just got carried away, and I walked outside and Holly was…I didn’t know her, I’d never seen her before…it’s just coincidence.”
• by Progression -
  • Pluto has progressed by Solar Arc to 1 Sagittarius 08, inconjunct Holly’s Natal Mars at 1 Cancer 12. Pluto inconjunct Mars is transformation through force majeur.
• by Solar Return - chart
  • Solar Return is ruled by an Eighth house Jupiter, conjunct Vertex (fated encounter) and opposite Nepune, which may indicate confusion or vulnerability.
  • Pluto is conjunct the SR ascendant; Saturn conjunct the SR descendant. Both are square to Mars, indicating a power struggle, oppression.
  • Solar Point at the time of murder was 20 Leo, in the Eighth house, and square to Holly’s natal Pluto.
  • Mercury is right on the mid-heaven, trine to Neptune and the N Node, representing the publicity, public displays of sorrow and a permanent memorial constructed in Holly’s neighbourhood.

Holly Jones and Michael Briere

Micheal Briere lived in the same neighbourhood as Holly. He was employed as a software developer and had no criminal record.

The police had surveyed the neighbourhood, asking the men for voluntary samples for DNA testing. Briere refused twice and he was arrested after the police tested a Pepsi container that he discarded. He confessed when confronted with the evidence.

Because we don’t know Briere’s time of birth, we don’t know exactly where his Sun was located but it is within one degree of 7 Libra and within one degree of the Moon in the murder chart.

Synastry

• the strongest connection between the two charts is Briere’s Pluto/Uranus conjunction on top of Holly’s Mercury, Sun, Jupiter.
• Pluto is the same degree as Holly’s Sun at 21 Virgo – one tries to suppress the other, separation, often through force majeur — Reinhold Ebertin