James Holmes' (the "Joker") horoscope - and the Virgonian Moon of the 3 recent mass murderers!

                                                        (James Holmes at court)

If your astrological idea of a mass murderer is that of a "Martian" individual having a very tough Moon then you should rather revise that idea! James Homes, the 24 years old man that recently killed 12 persons in the Aurora Colorado movie theater apparently has a "placid" horoscope! Very appropriately, the (solar) sign of this so called "Joker" (the fictitious personality Holmes was identifying himself with) is Sagittarius! Sagittariuses are famous for being "good guys"! They are depicted as extroverted, exuberant, moral, well intentioned and ever forgiving to their fellow humans! Apparently, Holmes bears some of these characteristics. As a high school acquaintance of his stated: "Holmes was A SUPER NICE KID!" Well, that description perfectly fits a Sagittarian!

Could his Moon sign be then the culprit? Not really! Actually, neither his Moon nor his Sun sign are the "culprits" - on their own. Although we don't know the exact time of his birth, the "Joker's" Moon is most probably in the sign of Virgo! But Virgo is again considered as one of the less aggressive and belligerent signs of the zodiac! Some even describe it as an "angelic" sign! We are getting confused here! The two basic Holmes' signs are rather "innocent", "refined", frail, placid, moral! How comes then this man turned to be such a monstruous murderer?

In my opinion the "pivotal" configuration in Holmes' chart is the square aspect (90 degrees of distance) between his Sun and his Moon! No matter what time Holmes was born, his Sun is definitely forming a harsh square aspect to his Moon (or the reverse)! And the square aspect between the "Luminaries" (Sun and Moon) is considered one of the heaviest aspects in a chart - because it somehow blocks the energies that should be flawing unhindered in the individual and it causes a clash between the conscious and subconsious layers of him/herself! Under this aspect a sort of "rupture" may manifest within the invidual, a rupture between his core personality and his "psyche" (his inner "Universe" of feelings and states of mind)! And this might ultimately breed a profound sense of alienation in him! (Please note: this does not mean that if you have a square aspect between your Sun and Moon you are going to get "alienated" or become a mass murderer. It means instead that you have to work with yourself in order to transform this difficult aspect and convey such an "expenditure" into creative outlets! You might enormously enrich yourself then and perform miracles!)

Holmes' chart brought to my mind the chart of another mass murderer: the Norwegian's Anders Breivik who in 2011 killed - on a single raid - 77 people! They both have Moon in Virgo - forming a harsh aspect to Saturn! The Virgonian Moon is an earthy and realistic one - not particularly sentimental. And when this Moon forms a harsh aspect to Saturn it becomes even less sentimental - while the person becomes more cold-blooded, somehow loosing - in the most extreme cases - the very human trait of empathy!

The common Virgonian Moons of these two mass murderers contributed to another fundamental attribute of theirs: the high level of their technical expertise! Both Holmes and Breivik became - on their own - two skilled bomb technicians - and that's no easy task at all! Actually, Holmes's apartment was rigged with so many small bombs that his whole condominium could be blown apart!

The similarities between these two mass murderers do not end here: they both have a Mars - Pluto contact! In particular Holmes has a rather "deadly" conjunction between his Mars and Pluto, a conjunction that produces - unless given some creative outlet - TITANIC anger and aggressiveness in an individual's soul! Breivik has a Sun - Mars conjunction and that kind of aspect produces a lot of anger  too (and rebellion in Breivik's case, since both these planets are located in the unconventional sign of Aquarius).

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis  

P.S. 1) As I said before, if you have any of the here mentioned aspects and configurations it does not mean you will become an unstable person or a mass murderer. If we work with ourselves and maturily deal with our harsh configurations - finding positive outlets for them - then we might turn them to our advantage!

P.S. 2) A couple of weeks after the Aurora tragic event we got to know James Holmes' time of birth. It is 9:04 Pm.  He has a Leo Ascendant (you may see his chart below):

Thus James Holmes has a strong Sagittarius - Leo emphasis. This fact brought to my mind a controversial historical figure that had too a strong Sagittarius - Leo emphasis in his chart: Nero! Apparently, they both exhibited paranoid / megalomaniac traits! They even look alike:

                                                             James Holmes

                                                                     Nero

P.S. 3) This James Holmes article somehow turns into a study on mass murderers. Just two weeks after the Aurora theater tragic events another manic shooter, Wade Michael Page, entered a Sikh temple in Milwaukee and  started shooting indiscriminately the people around him killing 6.

Apparently, Michael Page is joining the "Virgo Moon" club! If he was really born on November 11th (on the veteran's day), 1971 he has then a Virgo Moon - most probably in a square aspect to his Saturn! Actually Page (apart from belonging to an ultra "fixed" sign like Scorpio) has a "mega" T-square - formed between his Moon, Saturn, Mars and Neptune.

As I explained above, the other two recent mass murderers James Holmes and Andres Breivik have their Moon in Virgo too! How comes the placid and "angelic" sign of Virgo is so prominent in the charts of the three recent mass murderers? Maybe because Virgo is "too placid"! Remember we are talking about a "young maiden" here, about a little girl! A young girl has not yet gone through the "full maturity process". It is full of insecurities and it somehow stands on a fragile and unstable soil (no wonder Virgo is a mutable sign).

Virgoneans are in general  ultra-sensitive to the other peoples' criticism. We are dealing here with a "feminine", sensitive, discreet sign that in critical issues prefers to remain deadly implicit rather than become explicit about them! Thus, ultimately a Virgo Moon absorbs any kind of "negativity" stemming out of its environment in a rather "passive way", without RE-ACTING the very moment it receives the negativity (as most people do - and that's quite healthy if properly done)! This means that in the long run the anger in a Virgonean Moon person builds up! And if s/he doesn't "dissipate" this constant anger in a rather healthy manner (usually through hard work and in general by serving his/her fellow humans) the person might reach a point where a morbid layer of "meaniness" forms in his/her soul. And if this is combined with other "volatile" elements in his/her chart (like Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto harsh aspects) then a very explosive mix will be produced!

Breivik's, Holmes' and Page's Virgo Moons are all forming harsh aspects to their Saturns! All the three recent mass murderers having the very same Moon configuration, well that's quite rare!!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

A "birth" on the Moon (Moon-centric astrology)!

The chart above might look pretty ordinary to you. In reality though it is a chart that - most probably - you have never seen before! It refers to a momentous event that took place in 1969 on the Moon: the first step of a human being on another celestial body! What you see above is a "snapshot" of the lunar sky, that shows the configuration of the planets the very moment Neil was stepping on the powderish lunar surface! So, we actually have here the first "Moon-centric" horoscope, an horoscope calculated not with terrestrial but lunar co-ordinates (the ones of the Tranquility Base - "Statio Tranquillitatis")!

As you can see, there is no Moon in this horoscope (the Moon is symbolically located at the center and the "energies" of the entire horoscope are focused on it)! There is an "Earth" instead (you can see it at the top right, in the Eighth House. Its symbol is a cross incribed in a cycle)! But how do we interpret the Earth astrologically? This question has never truly bothered the astrologers of the previous generations. As they were standing on the Earth they were not perceiving it as a celestial body floating in space. Thus, no astrologer ever was forced to figure the astrological properties of the Earth! But we are in the 21st century, things have radically changed and the events have already surpassed us! Twelve human beings have already visited the Moon (four decades ago in fact), they walked and lived on the Moon (some of them for four whole days). In a couple of decades babies will be born on the Moon. And we earthlings have not yet developed a Moon-centric astrology! Thus, we are confronted now with the chart of the first human step on the Moon but we cannot interpret it properly because we actually ignore the astrological meaning of the Earth in a Moon-centric horoscope! All of the sudden our old tools grew inadequate...

It takes a giant leap to move from the Geocentric astrology to the Mooncentric one (and a far smaller leap to move then to a Mars-centric, Plutocentric etc. astrology. Our eventual grandchildren will be accustomed to this kind of astrologies)! Still, we will need another giant leap when we will move to the "Exo-astrology" - the astrology for the planets of those strange Solar Systems we are currently discovering. How will we deal with the alien planets of these systems and their eventual alien zodiacs? But ultimately the zodiacs of these remote to us solar systems are they alien or are they identical to our zodiac? Most probably, when we will go there we will confirm our current assumption that the zodiac is an omnipresent universal principle, exactly the same in every single corner of the Universe...

For the time being, our imperative need is to determine the astrological properties of the Earth! Is the Earth a sort of "Moon" to the Mooncentric astrology, a planet associated to the "cradle", to the roots of the "Mooners", to their past, their "inner world", their soul's particular features? This "riddle" is one of the first we have to solve in order to formulate a proper mooncentric astrology...

To turn back to our horoscope, this "first human step on the Moon" event has (according to my calculations) a Leo Ascendant. A brilliant, regal Ascendant which is further strenghthened by the ultra-propitious trine aspect that the Earth and the planetoid (planet to astrology) Eris are forming with it! Ultimately, this Leo Ascendant is not irrelevant to the fact that the first moon-landing turned to be a glamorous TV show that attracted the largest number of viewers till then - 600,000,000 across the globe!

There is an oddity though regarding the Ascendants of the future Mooners. This oddity stems out of the fact that the Moon is not rotating around its axis as fast as the Earth. It takes almost 28 days for it to perform a full rotation. This fact has some strange implications. I.e. a "day" on the Moon lasts almost fourteen of our days (for 14 whole days the Sun is located constantly either below or above the horizon)! And what is astrologically more important, all the children born within a frame of two days and a half bear the very same Ascendant, ALL of them (that's an interesting "synchronicity" with the fact that - seen from Earth - the Moon spends two days and a half in each zodiacal sign)!

The "synchronous" rotation of the Moon (it rotates around its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit the Earth) produces another paradoxical effect: in any given Lunar location the Earth seems to be eternally fixed at approximately the same point of the lunar sky, as if it were "stuck" there! This implies that the Earth is changing alright zodiacal signs every two days and a half but not Houses - in the lunar horoscopes! Therefore, all children born in a particular lunar location would have their Earth in the very same House of their horoscope or - on few occasions - in an adjacent one! And as a result of this "fixity" the Earth almost never "transits" in a Mooncentric horoscope (it does transit actually but just within a few degrees frame)! All these "oddities" must have their own intrinsic astrological meaning which we should decipher!

Why is there - for example - such a "spatial fixity" of the Earth in the Mooncentric horoscopes? Why is the Earth permanently emphasizing a particular House in all the horoscopes of the people born in a particular lunar zone? Why i.e. all the people born in a certain lunar zone should have an Eight House Earth in their horoscopes - regardless of the time period they were born? Is that lunar zone particularly dangerous and life threating, invoking thus the presence there of strong, risky and sexy inhabitants - meaning with an Eighth House Earth in their horoscopes? And how the majority of these "Eighth House people" will be treating the eventual minority of the "Seventh or Ninth House people" living in their zone? These are interesting - probably vital - questions and we must find adequate answers to them.

The position of the Earth in a Mooncentric horoscope can be easily found: it is the opposite of the position that the Moon has in the corresponding Geocentric horoscope. Thus, the first thing we have to do is to cast a Geocentric horoscope for the same "Universal Time" (U.T.) our lunar event took place. Then we should note and write down the position of the Moon in it. In the corresponding Mooncentric horoscope the Earth will be located at the diametrically opposite sign, at about the same degree (i.e. if the terrestrial Moon is in the 11th degree of Libra then the corresponding lunar Earth will be in the 11th degree Aries)! I said "at about the same degree" because on Earth's surface the Moon's position may vary up to a whole degree, depending on the particular terrestrial location we are observing it from. You see the Moon is very close to us - in comparison to the other planets - so its zodiacal position changes slightly if we observe it from two distant terrestrial locations. On the other hand, the zodiacal positions of the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars seen from the Moon are almost the same as seen from the Earth. They vary only by a few tens of minutes. The other planets are so far away that they do not present significant differences.

For the rest, I think we should interpret a Mooncentric horoscope the same way we interpret a Geocentric one. We cannot fail to notice i.e. in this "first human step on another celestial body" chart the tight Jupiter - Uranus conjunction (both planets are in the same degree)! We couldn't get a more ideal planetary configuration for this unique event, a configuration expressing so neatly the expansion of the human species in space! And this conjunction becomes even more important if we observe that it coincides with one of the "fingers" of an impressive planetary formation called "Yod" - composed in this case by Sedna (on the base of Yod), by the Jupiter - Uranus duette at the one "finger" of the Yod and by Mars at its other. All these planets are located at about the first degree of the signs that they are in and they mutually activate each other, participating in the formation of two powerful quincunx aspects (Sedna is forming a quincunx - 150 degrees - aspect to both Jupiter-Uranus and to Mars!

Another important factor in this chart is the tight conjunction of the Earth to the planet Eris (planetoid Eris is actually considered a "planet" in astrology). Although we can make some assumptions, in reality we ignore both the astrological properties of Earth and Eris, thus we cannot say much about this pivotal conjunction. All we can say is that this is a VERY significant conjunction - especially if we take in consideration the fact that Pluto is forming a square aspect to it! Pluto and Eris are two "universal" and somehow "fatal" planets, harboring very strong and "transforming" energies in them. And indeed enormous energies have been consumed for the first man to reach the moon - not to mention that this has been a very transformative event, an event of unprecedented proportions in the evolution of the human species!

Thomas D. Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

P.S. Since there is no Mooncentric astrology program - as far as I know -  I had to calculate the positions of the Mooncentric planets on my own. As I explained before they do not differ much from their - same Universal Time - Geocentric positions. I am using the Equal House system.

Higgs Boson: the astrology of its discovery

An historical scientific discovery was made yesterday, 4th of July! The nuclear physicists of the C.E.R.N. collider confirmed the existence of a mysterious - vital to the fabric of our world - particle called "the Higgs Boson". This particle is actually the agent that bestows mass to the constituents of an atom - thus it is ultimately bestowing mass to all of us humans, to the celestial bodies, to the very Universe! This might be a once in a century discovery!

You can see below the chart set for the moment this remarkable discovery was announced by the "Reuters" news agency: 

The two main astrological factors that "bred" this discovery are - in my opinion - Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries. Pluto has a lot to do with the nuclear particles and its presence in the "scientific" sign of Capricorn would definitely bring out a new discovery regarding the sub-atomic particles (note that the Moon was too in the scientific sign of Capricorn). Uranus in Aries on the other hand is ever bringing forth new and exciting discoveries (especially when Uranus is perfectly trining Mercury, like it does in our case)! This discovery was made during a perfect (partile) square aspect between Pluto and Uranus (both in the 8th degree now of the respective signs they are in). I don't thing that's a coincidence. This historical Pluto - Uranus configuration is unleashing now tremendous, ground breaking energies!

Another pair of planets that played a fundamental role in this discovery is Saturn - Eris. Eris is an "ultra-universal" planet and its current contact with Saturn (they form a perfect opposition aspect, both being in the 22nd degree of the signs they are in - Aries and Libra) ultimately brought an elusive universal element into our earthy, tangible, laboratory dimensions.

Neptune in Pisces (in the very sign it rules) has its share too in this discovery, since the "Higgs Boson" is the very constituent of the so called "Higgs sea" that permeates the entire Universe - and seas (all kind of them) have a lot to do with Neptune! 

Neptune was squaring both Nodes and Jupiter at the moment of the discovery.

Thomas Gazis  

Modern Greece's national horoscope - natal chart

For many years now I have been conducting a study on the national horoscope of Greece. My conclusion is that modern Greece was born on January 13th 1822 (NS), on the very day the Greeks declared their independence from the Ottoman Turks (who had militarily occupied Greece for 4 whole centuries). You may read my relative article and see modern Greece's natal chart (its "national foundation chart") here

There is a number of astrologers though (mostly in Europe) favoring a rather recent birthday for Greece (placing the birth of this country in the period following the fall of the Greek military junta, in 1974). Some of these astrologers are claiming that modern Greece's national horoscope should stem out of the date of its most recent "Constitutional amendment" (on June 11th, 1975 - soon after the collapse of the military dictatorship). But how proper it is to assign as the national horoscope of a country the one based on a posterior Constitutional "amendment" and not on the pivotal date that its very first, original Constitution was drafted (and the declaration of its independence was proclaimed)?

If somebody studies the January 13th 1822 Constitution s/he will realize that it is essentially as democratic and advanced as the "Constitutional amendment" of 1975. Thus, in 1975 we did not experience a major constitutional shift in regard to the VERY Greek Constitution (the Constitution upon which Greece was founded on). We just experienced a rather momentaneous shift imposed by the military junta regime - a regime that barely lasted 7 years, not so many to alter the "soul" of Greece and its original constitution.

Some other astrologers are claiming that modern Greece's horoscope should stem out of the moment its first post-junta Prime Minister took office - on the 24th of July 1974. But as I explained before, the seven years military junta did not change either the "soul" or the Constitution of Greece. Why should we then consider the July 24, 1974 chart as the "national horoscope" of Greece and not the original January 13, 1822 one? If we follow the same reasoning then we should argue that a person is not born when s/he comes out of his/her mother's uterus but when s/he gets married for the second time!

Finally, the vast majority of the Greek astrologers believes that their country was founded on February 3rd, 1830 - when the foreign powers recognized the independence of Greece and established the "Kingdom of Greece" (imposing a Geman king on the Greek throne). Thus, they believe that the national horoscope of their country stems out of the February 3rd, 1830 "London protocol". And if you ask today a Greek astrologer whether s/he uses this chart out of some thorough study s/he will probably answer you: "Well, I am using it because everybody says that this is Greece's chart"... 

Actually, this is a rather bizzare fact: the Greek astrologers keep obstinately making predictions on the basis of the (actually outdated) 1830 "tributary kingdom of Greece" chart while monarchy has been abolished in Greece almost 40 years ago (by a national referendum in 1974)!

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

Latent Synastric Elements: The Secret Fuel of Love!

                                                 (Wallis Simpson and Duke Edward VIII)

What is it that makes two people come close and eternally stick together? The obvious assumption, “because their signs are compatible,” is rather inconclusive. There is ample evidence of relationships that went wrong even though the couple had compatible charts. On the other hand, we often encounter incompatible elements in so-called happy, long-term relationships. Thus, the supposedly standard astrology rule—“to have a happy relationship all we need is many harmonic elements between the two partners’ charts”—is too simplistic, and often contradicted. 

In reality, astrology and synastry (the branch of astrology that specializes in human relationships), are more complicated than this. Just survey the people you know, and you will realize that in certain happy relationships, the Lights of the partners (their Sun and Moon) are found in mutually discordant signs. That’s not a “bad” thing on its own. When the Lights of partners are found in discordant signs, an energizing pattern is formed that carries the potential of forging deep bonds. 

To examine this issue of discordant signs further, let’s take a look at one of the greatest love stories of all time: Prince Edward (Duke of Windsor) and Wallis Simpson (Duchess of Windsor). The grandeur of their love stems from the fact that the Prince gave up the throne of England in order to marry the “mortal” (and already twice-divorced) Wallis Simpson. If this wasn’t love, then what is? The two stayed together for 30 years—the rest of their lives. Such hard evidence attests to the fact that theirs was a genuine love. Edward and Wallis stayed together not for some utilitarian convenience, but because they really wanted to, because they enjoyed each other’s presence. For such a sublime, eternal love we would expect a great synastry. 

Much to our surprise though, there is an arresting discordance in the synastry between these two mythical lovers—if we study it following the traditional “synastric” recipies. There is another technique though that delves much deeper into synastry, a technique that I personally call “Latent Synastry.” I believe now that the secret of this illustrious couple’s success lies in their latent synastry.

 

Discordant Signs 

To begin with, their Sun signs are considered incompatible: Simpson is a Gemini and Edward a Cancer. Furthermore, Edward’s Moon is in Pisces, which is in a very discordant position to Wallis’s Sun sign, Gemini. According to astrological tradition, this is a negative factor, because in a man’s chart the Moon represents his inner self, his “anima,” the kind of feminine figure he is ideally attracted to. And, in this case, we have Edward who apparently, and against every rule, “buttons up” his anima to a woman whose personality possesses dissimilar traits to the ones he longs for. 

But there is even more. Wallis’ Moon is in Libra, forming a square aspect (by sign) to Edward’s Sun in Cancer. Again we discover an element of discordance among their Lights, a clashing of the inner world of Wallis to the core personality of Edward. It seems odd for what is considered the most illustrious couple of the previous century to have such discordant configurations. Even their common Ascendants do not actually compensate for this fact (both Edward’s and Wallis’ Ascendants are in Aquarius, although some astrologers claim a Cancer Ascendant for Wallis). The identical Ascendants speak more of some sort of common background and of an attraction that climaxed mostly during the initial stages of their relationship. In any case, identical Ascendants are not an element good enough to firmly bind two people. How then did this couple come to live happily for so long together? 

Latent Element #1: Incompatible Conjunction 

We cannot satisfactorily answer this question unless we apply to this couple the “latent synastry” technique. At first glance, Edward and Wallis’ charts seem to have very little in common. They have no major affinities (apart from their common Ascendants). Their crucial solar and lunar signs are anything but harmonious. But latent elements are crucial aspects that may not easily be spotted at first glance. So we have to plunge deeper into their synastry in order to understand the mystery of their union. 

First of all, their basic signs might not be harmonious, but their respective Suns lie very close in the zodiac—just 3 degrees apart. Therefore, their Suns, although in different signs, actually form a conjunction aspect. This kind of conjunction I call “incompatible” because it contradicts the classic signs-based concept of a conjunction. Incompatible or not, the fact remains that Edward’s and Wallis’ Suns are in conjunction, so they do share some fundamental common energy, some sort of affinity in their core personalities. 

Latent Element #2: Incompatible Trine Aspect 

A second latent element is the trine aspect formed by Edward’s Moon and Wallis’ Sun. This too is an “incompatible” aspect, as the signs of Pisces and Gemini are discordant. Still, his Moon and her Sun are within orb of a 120-degree angle, a much needed aspect in order to “button up” Edward’s inner world to the otherwise discordant (to him) core personality of Wallis. 

Latent Element #3: Reciprocal Fifth House Emphasis 

The synastry of these two legendary lovers becomes more meaningful if we take into consideration the Houses their Lights are in, apart from the signs of their Lights. Wallis’ Sun is in her natal Fifth House, but as the Fifth House corresponds to the sign of Leo (each sign bears a similarity to its respective house) Wallis has a regal, Leonean Sun. But Edward’s Sun is also in his natal Fifth House, so he also has Leonean traits. Since both their Suns dwell in their natural House, we have here two individuals who are radiant, glamorous, and aristocratic. And undoubtedly this reciprocal Fifth House emphasis breeds a strong sense of community between them. 

Wallis’ Sun falls in the duke’s Fifth House. This particular domification further “lionizes” her Sun. Thanks to their synastry, Wallis Simpson was turned into a very prominent Leo (especially when standing beside the Duke!). 

Latent Element #4: Kindred Sun/Moon Traits 

Wallis was born under the sign of Gemini, but she had her Moon in the sign of Libra. Her Moon is also in her Eighth House, therefore she has a Scorpio-flavored Moon (the Eight House corresponds to the sign of Scorpio), giving her a very penetrating and powerful, erotic, and passionate character. But this “Scorpio-tinted” Moon of Wallis perfectly matches both Edward’s Cancerian Sun and Piscean Moon (all three being watery signs, signs that crave deep feelings and a potent binding of the souls). 

Edward’s Sun forms a harsh square aspect to his potent Mars (in Aries), bestowing upon him much energy, dynamism and virility. The same square aspect though is creating in him (along with his Moon in his First House) a very impatient and quarrelsome sub-personality. But Wallis probably had an equally virile and quarrelsome side as her Mars (in Aries) partile opposes her Scorpionic (Libra) Moon. These similar aspects in their charts produced “kindred” traits in their characters (remember that a man functions mostly through his Sun while a woman mostly through her Moon). 

Edward’s Moon in his “cardinal” First House means that he needed a very dynamic, assertive, and independent woman by his side, as Wallis Simpson was. 

Latent Element #5: Prominent Venus 

Wallis had a Sun-Venus conjunction. Thus, both her Lights turn out to be very “Venusian.” Perhaps this explain her irresistible eroticism, her elegance, and her diplomatic ways—all of which enabled her to obtain whatever she wanted. When Duke Edward met Wallis, she was neither young (40 years old, too old back then!) nor really beautiful, and already twice-divorced. Still, Wallis managed to cast a huge spell over him. 

No doubt that Venus is a prominent planet in Wallis’ horoscope. Venus resides at the cusp of her natal Fourth House—a house corresponding to the sign of Cancer. In this way, Wallis turns out to have a strong Cancerian tint in her personality (and, as we remember, Edward is a Cancer). 

Edward’s Venus is well-positioned in Taurus (in the sign it rules). His Venus is in his Third House, which actually corresponds to the sign of Gemini. This position suggests that the ideal other half of him should be an intelligent, youthful, communicative, versatile, woman—in other words, a Gemini, like Wallis. 

At times their opinions clashed and they squabbled (her Mars squares his Mercury). When having an argument, she would easily lose her temper and, in those moments, he perceived her as inexplicably hostile and polemic. In any case, there was a strong intellectual stimulation between them and this too played a key role in their relationship, as Wallis had a whole bunch of planets in Gemini (a Mercurial sign in constant need of cerebral stimulation). 

Latent Element #6: Jupiter Conjunct Neptune 

Another crucial latent element in their synastry is Edward’s Jupiter forming a conjunction to her Neptune—and to nearly all the planets of her remarkable Stellium in Gemini (Jupiter is traditionally considered the major benefic). No doubt that Wallis benefited from her wedding to Edward. The two became a very open and free couple (her Uranus is in opposition to his Venus), a cultivated couple, both spiritually and socially. 

Wallis is a Gemini in excess (she has Sun, Mercury, Venus, Neptune, and Pluto in this dual sign). If an individual has the Geminian traits in excess then, by extrapolation, she somehow lacks the Jovian ones (meaning a sound moral system, spirituality, a faith in a superior force taking care of her and optimism/joie de vivre). Not by chance Gemini is considered the sign of Jupiter’s exile. But the Duke’s Jupiter remedies Wallis’ “frailty” because it actually conjuncts her Geminian Stellium (meaning that Edward is graciously offering her what she lacks). In particular, his Jupiter in tight conjunction to her Neptune brought her a lot of faith and magic in her life—made her literally believe the unbelievable. 

Latent Element #7: Eighth House Synastry 

Wallis’ Moon falls in Edward’s Eighth house. The Eighth House is considered to be an utterly (and fatally) unifying House. Its force of union (or repulsion) is irresistible, and when two persons come together under the urge of the Eighth House, the unitary force produced is of the deepest and most powerful kind. We should not forget, as well, that the Eighth House is the House of the sex drive; therefore, passion and sex must have been paramount for this couple. 

Latent Elements in Progression 

Now let’s take a look at the evolution in time of their synastry during the magical period of their marriage/post-marriage. If we progress Edward’s chart to the day of his marriage to Wallis (June 3, 1937), we encounter his progressed Moon in her Eighth House and in the sign of Libra, in a wide conjunction to Wallis’ natal Moon—and ever more approaching her Moon in the ensuing months. This lunar convergence means that a unique emotional convergence took place between the couple during their marriage/post-marriage period, an attunement of their souls and of their erotic appetites (Eighth House emphasis). 

Then, if we progress Wallis’ chart for the same event, we notice her natal Stellium in Gemini (mainly her Sun, Mercury and Venus) being moved to Leo, into Edward’s natal Seventh House (a strong indication of attraction and integration among the two). 

Furthermore, on the occasion of their wedding, Edward’s progressed Jupiter was forming a perfect trine aspect to her natal North Node (a bountiful karmic aspect), and was simultaneously starting to form a conjunction to her natal Sun. On the other hand, Simpson’s progressed Moon was forming an opposition to Edward’s natal Saturn (which by the way was already opposing Wallis’ natal Moon for a “double-whammy” effect!). So, on their marriage day, both her lights were receiving strong Jovian and Saturnine energies. This means that Wallis experienced her wedding with Edward as a very joyful event, as an event that expanded considerably her horizons and catapulted her socially, but brought her excessive obligations too as the Duchess of Windsor. 

The Lessons of Latent Synastry 

This one example should hopefully give you a general idea of how the latent elements work in synastry, weaving a multitude of invisible patterns of attraction and affinity. Though the process of pinpointing these latent elements may be difficult, it is crucial to dig into the many layers of astrological latency for a real understanding of synastry. Starting from the most obvious and explicit layers, we should dive deep to uncover those layers that require a deeper and more sophisticated analysis. The more we bring to light the latent elements of a synastry the more we can understand the mystery of love.

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(P.S. This article was originally published on the quite popular American relationships' site "Sasstrology".  You may read it here)

(A "Sasstrology" article by Thomas Gazis)

Is the 20 May 2012 Eclipse the "big quake" one (according to Nostradamus)?

There are two specific prophecies in Nostradamus "Quatrains" over an extreme, mighty quake that is bound to hit Earth "in the month of May". Since we live in strange times and somehow the year 2012 carries on a "fatal" connotation, is it possible that these prophecies are referring to the current month of May? Furthermore, are these prophecies referring to the Solar Eclipse of May 20 (May 21 for Europe and western Asia), a critical Eclipse that will take place with both the Lights (Sun and Moon) located in front of the (very "significant" to the Maya) constellation of the Pleiades? Not to mention the fact that both the Lights will be partile conjuncting during the eclipse the rather infamous star Alcyone, a star that is alleggedly causing (among other things) blindness, sickness, epidemics and violent deaths!

Let's see first what exactly Nostradamus wrote (note that the term "Century" corresponds to "Chapter").

"Century" X, Quatrain 67:

"A mighty earthquake in the month of May.
Saturn, Capricorn, Jupiter, Mercury in Taurus: 
Venus also, Cancer, Mars in Nonnay. 
Hail will fall larger than an egg".

"Century" IX, Quatrain 83: 
"The sun in 20 degrees of Taurus, so strong shakes the earth,
That the great theater, repleted, will be ruined;
The air, sky and land, dark and troubled,
Then shall the infidels invoke God and the saints."

Regarding the first of the above Quatrains, the planets Jupiter and Mercury are indeed now in Taurus! Saturn though is not in Capricorn but in Libra. Venus currently is in Gemini, thus neither in Taurus nor in Cancer (there is always some ambivalence in Nostradamus writings). Mars is currently in Virgo, thus neither in Cancer nor in "Nonnay" (that's an enigmatic phrase which many interpret as "zero". But Mars is not now in its zero degrees declination - this would be the most plausible explanation for "Nonnay"). So, the Quatrain X, 67 is largely busted!

Regarding now the other Quatrain, the Sun was in 20 degrees of Taurus almost 10 days ago and the "big one" did not happen. So, this Quatrain is busted too - at least for the current year.

Remains though the fact that this Solar Eclipse occurs at the very moment the Lights conjunct the allegedly "harmful" star Alcyone - while they simultaneously receive a discordant square aspect from the "dissolving" planet Neptune (located in the ultra-dynamic First House, for the co-ordinates of London).

By some coincidence, the path of this eclipse is crossing two of the most quake prone "fault zones" of the world. It starts in eastern China, it goes over Japan, over the northern Pacific Ocean and then it  crosses California and Nevada.

The current Solar eclipse is emphasizing the dual sign of Gemini. This means that some things are hanging in mid-air now, a duality prevails around us, a critical situation cannot be stabilized and is ever changing.

The square aspect of Neptune to the Lights is aggravating further this Geminian fickleness, creating some sort of disillusionment, chaos and decay around us - ever more deconstructing the world we used to know. There is confusion both within us and around us and some form of cheating. We are faced with certain "stationary" and somehow abnormal, "sick" situations that are delaying us and pushing us back. A dramatic event related to the element of water or to the sea or a major earth-quake might occur (in ancient Greece Neptune was the god of earth-quakes).

Thomas Gazis
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis

Far-right parties on rise in Europe

The poster you see above apparently is a very convincing one. It is a modern political  poster of the French far-right party "Front National". The slogan on it goes: "let's produce French products with French workers" . This is a rather nationalistic slogan that obviously goes against the many millions of foreign (or foreign descent) workers in France! But it seems to have been appealing to the French, because last Sunday it led almost the 20% of them to vote for "Front National"!  And although the above poster seems modern, dynamic and "awaking" it is somehow reminiscent of certain posters that are by now 80 years old! I am referring to the 1930's far-right political posters in Europe, of a highly volatile period that ultimately led to the rise of Hitler's fascist party in Germany (Mussolini's in Italy etc.) and to World War II! 

In reality, us astrologers we had already compared and correlated the actual period with the 1930's, we had already predicted the rise of far-right parties in the 2010's even whole decades ago! We "knew" about it and we were ready to witness it! But now that is happening under our own eyes it is impressive! There is a resurgence of the far-right parties almost all-over Europe! This is not a new phenomenon. As I said before, it happened again back in the 1930's (in the previous "Uranus - Pluto squaring each other" period - again back then with Uranus in Aries and Pluto in the cardinal sign of Cancer).You see planet Uranus expresses - according to the sign it is in and according to the aspects it receives - the "political trends" of each single period. And now that Uranus receives a heavy square aspect from Pluto (a "dark", irrational, extremist, absolutist planet) far-right parties are rising again all over Europe! 

P.S. A meteoric rise of the Greek far-right party "Chrysi Avgi" (Golden Dawn) has occured in the last 3-4 years. On the Greek Parliamentary Elections of the 6th May 2012 the party "Chrysi Avgi" won 7% of the votes (while in the previous 2009 elections it had won just a 0,29%! This means that the "Golden Dawn" party increased its power - in less than 4 years - by a factor of almost 2400%!).

World War II - An astrological "Waterloo" no more!

                                    (German troops at the outskirts of Warsaw watch the city burn)

                                                         (by Thomas Gazis)

There is a certain ignominy that casts its shadow over the shoulders of all the modern astrologers, a sort of disgrace that the skeptics are actually taking advantage of. This ignominy has to do with a colossal failing of ours that occurred in the previous century: the astrologers all over the world had blatantly failed to predict the gigantic event of the World War II! French astrologer Andre Barbault - an internationally recognized expert on Mundane Astrology - is explaing the intricacies of this failure in his book "L'Astrologie mondiale":

"Shortly before the war my older brother (an astrologer himself) was running a journal on world events called: "L'Avenir du Monde" ("The Future of the World"). In those times a grim specter was hovering over Europe - especially after the Munich events - and the crucial question on everyone's lips was: can peace be given a chance? "No, the war will not happen" was the reassuring headline of my brother's newspaper, just a few months before the outbreak of World War II - and actually in full agreement with his astrological "intelligentsia" colleagues".

Barbault got utterly disappointed by the blatant failure of the pre-war astrologers to predict world war II!  He wrote later on: "what if tomorrow a third world war or a disruption of global proportions were to break? Would we be able this time to predict it? A new forecast fiasco like the WW2 one would ultimately amount to the condemnation of our celestial art!"

The late 1930's astrologers were very knowledgeable about astrology, almost as knowledgeable as we are! Just think the fact that they were including Pluto in their charts, they knew how to spot the major planetary formations and they were taking seriously in consideration the various Ingresses and Eclipses. Why they failed then so miserably?

Let's see the data they had in their disposition. First of all, in the very year the great war broke (1939) no major stellium was formed upon the sky - nor any major configuration between the outer planets. Let's study then the Vernal Ingress chart that preceded the war. You can see it below:

With the Moon being in the bellicose sign of Aries and both Sun and Moon in the Eighth House - receiving a square aspect from Mars -  and with Pluto sitting right on the Ascendant this Ingress chart is  fraught with war energies! I am wondering how the 1930's European astrologers missed to see that!

Let's study now the Solar Eclipse that preceded the outbreak of the World War II. You can see its chart below. Surprisingly, the Sun and the Moon are found again in the bellicose sign of Aries, receiving an almost partile square aspect from the culminating Pluto (not to mention the fact that Saturn is conjuncting the Luminaries)!

In both these charts there is a "war odour" which the astrologers of the time apparently did not pick up. In hindsight, it's easy to criticize the astrologers of the 1930's for this blatant failure of theirs but if we would put ourselves in their shoes we would extenuate them a lot. In human history there have been many difficult Ingresses and Eclipses and most of them did not entail an event of epic proportions (likeWorld War II). Back in the late 1930's there was no major planetary configuration on the sky heralding an imminent war. In addition, planet Pluto had been discovered just 9 years before, so they didn't have a good understanding of it - as we don't have today a good understanding of the dwarf planet Sedna, which was discovered in 2003 (we just know that Sedna is an ultra-remote and "exotic" object, with an eccentric orbit that looks like a stuffed cigar).

The newly found "dwarf planets" (or "Kuiper Belt Objects" or "planetoids" as I prefer to call them) are actually constituting our new advanced astrological "tools" and they are making the difference (the 1930's astrologers totally ignored them)! If you consider these planetoids as some sort of minor "asteroids" then you should think twice. Planetoid Eris is bigger than planetoid Pluto and if you consider Pluto significant in astrology then you have to consider Eris equally significant! And you should consider significant too the second biggest planetoid: Sedna!

Although it's very early to decipher the astrological properties of these newfound planetoids, we may try to extrapolate some of them out of the "synchronicity" of their name and out of the "zeitgeist" (the "spirit") of the period of their discovery. If you think about it, Eris has a lot to do with war as it is the goddess of discord and strife (in Greek mythology it was Eris that threw the golden apple and indirectly caused the Trojan war). Sedna on the other hand is the most "exotic" and remote planetoid of our (wider) solar system. Its orbit actually looks like a stuffed cigar, with our entire solar system comprised in that cigar's burning edge!  The "snuffing edge" of that cigar-shaped orbit extends incredibly far away - till the so called Oort cloud, a "bubble" of unimaginable dimensions that surrounds our solar system. In the Oort cloud the kingdom of the Sun ends (we have discovered there the so called "héliopause") while beyond that "cloud" there is nothing else but the galactic space. So Sedna constitutes a sort of "cosmic link" that interconnects the more tangible reality of our Solar System with the transcendental oddity of the external galactic space, with the deepest mysteries of our universe! Thus I consider Sedna's energies ultra- undifferentiated, universal and fatal - much more than Pluto's energies are!

Let's travel now with our imagination back in the 1930's. We are some French astrologers experiencing the aftermath of the 1931 Saturn - Uranus - Pluto T-Square (in hindsight, we can tell now that Sedna was pivotal in that formation, as it was conjuncting Uranus and squaring Pluto and Saturn).We would feel that something was going terribly wrong with Germany and we would try to figure out astrologically if there would be a new Great War. We would ask ourselves: when do wars break out according to the astrological theory? During major inharmonic planetary configurations of course but chiefly when the sign of Aries is over-activated. So, we would look ahead and we would see no over-activation of the sign of Aries in the 1930's - 1940's. On the contrary, we would notice an over-activation of the peaceful sign of Taurus in the beginning of the 1940's! Thus, our conclusion would be that no war would occur in the 1930's or in the beginning of the 1940's!

Let's change our script a little bit. What about being French astrologers of the 1930's knowing about Eris and Sedna? That knowledge would radically change our perspective. Both Eris and Sedna orbit the Sun in a very long time periods (Eris in 557 years and Sedna in a staggering 11.400 years!). During the whole period of World War II both Eris and Sedna were in the sign of Aries! That's a unique event that occurs only once every many thousands of years (last time i.e. that Sedna was in the sign of Aries the mammoths were roaming over an ice-covered Europe. Not to mention that rarely both Sedna and Eris are simultaneously found in the sign of Aries)! Thus, this must be considered an event of epic proportions!

How much of a coincidence is the fact that the bloodiest and most violent War in human history (that unleashed tremendous energies and caused an alleged number of 70.000.000 casualties) occurred when both Eris and Sedna were in the sign of Aries? And on the other hand, how can such a war break out with just an outer planet in the sign of Aries (Jupiter)? It makes no sense at all. The World War II had a distinctive Aries trait (Germany is traditionally an Aries country and even its "Blitzkrieg" (the "lighting-war" that the Germans introduced in WW2 for the first time ever in world history) is a typically Arietid product. All this makes sense only if we take in consideration Eris and Sedna! In such a case, an entire stellium is formed in Aries on the very moment of the German invasion in Poland (1st of September 1939) that traditionally signals the breaking of World War II: 

We can clearly see now a whole array of planets-planetoids in the bellicose sign of Aries (with three of them falling in the bellicose - as well - Eight House). Eris is conjuncted by the Moon and Jupiter while Sedna receives a square aspect from Mars. This is by all means a major war outbreak chart!

 And since we have in our hands these new wonderful “tools” (Eris and Sedna) why we don’t apply them to the 1939 pre-war Vernal Ingress chart so as to see what kind of clues will come out this time.

Well, you can see above how much ominous this Ingress chart becomes! Eris is conjuncting both the Luminaries and squaring Mars!  That’s a pretty “shady” element on its own (if you think that Eris instigates strife)! Additionally, Sedna is tightly conjunct by Saturn - unleashing its harsh energies over the social and political reality of the time! This Vernal Ingress chart might easily be considered a war harbinger (notice how much the very first degrees of Aries are emphasized in it, as in the case of the chart erected for the German invasion to Poland. The Moon is in both charts in the sign of Aries - almost in the same degree)!  If the astrologers of the 1930's had in their disposition the "tools" of Eris and Sedna they would have realized the fact that the 1939 Vernal Ingress chart was a war precursor!

Even World War I can be more clearly understood if we consider the fact that Sedna already was back then in Aries, while at the same time Pluto was forming a square aspect to Eris (actually during the critical years 1914 - 1916 Pluto was forming a broader square aspect to both Eris and Sedna. That was quite unusual and certainly must have bore certain implications on world history that we should pinpoint)!

I have personally re-examined tens and tens of major events in world history and I can assure you that we rarely encounter a chart of some historical significance with none of these two planetoids pivotally participating in it! I am even amazed by the fact of how much accurate are the aspects that Eris and Sedna are forming in each separate case!  Beyond any doubt, their discovery is monumental; it is a Columbus kind of discovery for astrology! Eris and Sedna are the new kids on the planetary block. Us astrologers we should call them planets and not planetoids (we are already calling Pluto a planet and we are not regretting it at all). Since the energies of Eris and Sedna are distinctively “collective” and “universal” it is more than obvious that these two planets will enormously enrich Mundane Astrology in the years to come!

I believe that the newly found planetoids - planets have considerably expanded our consciousness and opened us brand new horizons! They are offering us unique new tools, with which we can now improve and enhance - like never before - our interpretative and predictive techniques!

Thomas Gazis

P.S. You can read here some speculation of mine on the properties of Eris.

This is a Thomas Gazis original article
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis 

Astrological predictions for Greece (2012 and beyond) - under the siege of Eris!

                                                      (an artist's concept of Eris)
                                                
Greece is taken over by unknown forces! Forces the nature of which we essentially ignore! All we can say with certainty is that these astrological forces are omnipotent, primordial and somehow fatal. They will radically change the shape and the "soul" of this ancient country. A new Greece is been hatched now, a Greece that if it will be finally "born" and raised it will have nothing in common with the old Greece of the 20th century (or of the first decade of the 21st century). I wrote "if it will be born" because this is a delicate phase, where always lurks the danger of extinction. The astrological influences on Greece are extremely powerful now! And they largely stem out of a planet that has just been discovered and whose nature we must decode promptly!

Actually, modern Greece has never before received such extreme astrological influences! Especially in the last 3 years it has been the "target" of a mysterious primordial  planet (dwarf planet to the astronomers) that moves on the very edge of our solar system and which is called "Eris"! This planet is big enough - as big as Pluto - but it is so far away from us that we discovered it only in 2005. When it was first discovered many people considered it to be the legendary Tenth Planet of our solar system! We are not talking here about a "boulder" but about an important celestial body, which we astrologers owe to include in the astrological charts we erect and interpret it properly. Very little we know about its nature and its astrological properties. It will probably take another 20 to 30 years to form a complete picture of its astrological "identity". The thing is though that Eris has spent the last years being in a severe frontal collision course with the horoscope of Greece. And it is the first time since the foundation of this mediterranean country that Eris is influencing in such a negative way. This is a major astrological event, which as far as I know has not been studied yet! An event that requires us to determine directly the mysterious properties of Eris, because they ultimately determine to a large extent the course of Greece in 2012 - and in the years to come!

Eris is now at 21 degrees of Aries and it is currently forming an acute square aspect to the natal Sun of modern Greece (22 degrees of Capricorn, and a few minutes - not sure about Greece's time of "birth"). Essentially, Eris is hovering over the 22 degrees of Aries since 2010 (the year the huge crisis in Greece started). And because of its extremely slow motion and its many retrogradations Eris will keep hovering around 22 degrees of Aries until 2017 - forming continuously a square aspect for 8 consecutive years to Greece's natal Sun! Considering the adverse influences of Uranus - Pluto too in the natal horoscope of this country (you can see it here), you realize how crucial this period is for modern Greece.

Since each planet has its "flip" side (i.e. Pluto contains the "destruction" but the "regeneration" too), our interpretation will not be complete unless we find first this Eris' "flip" side . We have already taken a first idea of ​​the "destructive" side of Eris, but we completely ignore its "creative" side, namely how will  Eris "reform" and "re-build"  the future Greece (of the 2020's - 2030's)!

                                                                 (a BBC photo)

The most conspicuous elements of the mythological Eris that its namesake planet triggered in Greece's case are the next:

1) The sense of the sudden and unexpected breaking of the "wedding party". Greece lived in the previous years a largely fictitious prosperity  and suddenly - under the influence of Eris - the "party" broke! From a rather "celebrative" mood  the Greeks fell soon to a depressive and even suicidal mood!

2) The element of the "uninvited", of the "unwanted" (Eris was the only deity that was considered undesirable and was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis). This is how the Western European Union is treating now Greece, like a "pariah" country.

3) The friction and "discord" that occurred in Greece (the endless ptotests and clashes on the streets of Athens and the tension between the various social strata).

4) "Lawlessness" (a parliamentary minority - which basically does not represent the will of the Greek people - is now legislating and deciding the fate of the entire country).

5) The "chain reaction" effect. In the Eris myth something small and insignificant, like the golden apple that Eris threw in the room where  the marriage of Peleus and Thetis was taking place disrupted some delicate balances and caused strong chain reactions that eventually led to the Trojan war. On a superficial reading, the responsibility for the conduct of the Trojan war could be attributed to Eris. In reality, however, Eris intervention was just the "drop" that overflowed the already full - of egos and rivalries between the gods - glass." Such a role of an "international trouble maker" has been lately attributed to Greece (which is generally depicted as a heavily indebted country inhabited by lazy, irresponsible, corrupted people).

Every time, now, a memorandum is passed for voting in the Greek parliament all the stock markets of the world are (apparently) anxiously awaiting the outcome of the voting, as if a tiny country and economy like the Greek could affect the stock exchanges of our entire planet! This is completely absurd, and yet many people believe that Greece is largely responsible for the current course of the stock markets all over the world! And indeed Greece has a huge exterior debt. But this debt largely consists of all kinds of "toxic debts" that certain foreign banks and funds unethically dumped upon Greece! In any case, this mediterranean country has suddenly become extremely important to the entire planet, it is the country most often heard in the news all over the world! It has gained an unprecedented worldwide publicity - but mostly of a negative kind, at this stage!

And to step into the paths of the "jungian synchronicity" there are some other elements that do not stem from the mythological Eris but from the "spirit" of the period in which Eris was discovered:

1) planet Eris was given a Greek name - of a Greek deity - and soon after its discovery Greece suddenly became the most "discussed" country all over the world!

2) the element of "demotion". The "demotion" of Pluto occurred as a result of Eris discovery. Since Eris looked a lot like Pluto the astronomers suddenly realize that they both belong to another realm - to the Kuiper belt - and not to our very Solar System. But the fact of Pluto's demotion into a dwarf planet caused confusion and upset to millions of people around the world who were accustomed to regard Pluto as a planet. Similarly, the  "international rating agencies" constantly downgrade Greece lately. Moreover, the very standards of life dramatically slipped in the last couple of years in Greece (and we are talking in material terms here, because under the human point of view the Greek society has ameliorated, the human approach between the individuals in Greece became warmer, stronger, more fraternal - than in the previous consumistic Era).

3) The "capsizing" of the scene. By 2005 we knew that our Solar System ended to Pluto, that Pluto was the last planet. And suddenly in 2005 (with the discovery of Eris) we realized that a vast new world - filled with many planetoids - extends beyond our Solar System and that eventually Pluto is not the last of the planets but the first of the planetoids! This is a sort of quantum leap, a momentous shift in human consciousness! So I think that Eris is associated with properties like those of the "unexpected capsizing of the scene," of the acquisition of a "more advantageous point of view" and of a "profound mass awakening."

All these elements have been strongly manifested in the - under the siege of Eris - today's Greece. Like many citizens across the world, the Greeks were previously conducting - blissful and unaware - their lives within their "Greek mini-universe" and suddenly the horizons opened up and Greece was flooded by the agony of so many nations and international stock markets which apparently - for some mysterious reason - were dependant upon Greece! The Greeks suddenly realized that their "Greek microcosm" was ultimately composed of more dimensions than they never thought of, that their country is crucial and relevant to the entire world! They painfully realized the huge responsibility of their current and previous governments, of their fellow citizens and themselves as well for the colossal crisis they are going through. Quite paradoxically, the Greek governments that previously were expressing the will of the people now seem to express quite the opposite: what is against the will of the people! Under these circumstances the Greeks have somehow lost their "bearings" and are in confusion and despair now, they cannot understand what is actually going on, what is happening to them - as everything around them seems so grim and chaotic (another Eris' property), unstable and threatening!

Thus, if we want to discover more Eris' properties Greece is now our chance! As this country is currently under the siege of Eris, we should simply observe and differentiate the particular results of Eris upon Greece. One such key element is what I call the "schizoid paradox." While the everyday Greek citizens experience at first hand the cruelty and brutality of the various "memoranda", cuts and undemocratic measures the Greek politicians maintain that they are taking these steps "for the people's own good"! I have the impression that one of the astrological properties of Eris will prove to be that of the "schizoid paradox" (two opposite things that seem equally plausible). The fact is that one cannot liberate him/herself from the entanglement of such a paradox unless s/he possesses a higher level of consciousness and an ability of "second reading").

I personally marvel at how much "collective" and "universal" Eris seems to be. It is far more collective and universal than Pluto! Thus, Eris creates some very particular ties between the "differentiated" and the "universal", advocating the "inter-connectiveness" of all things. For example, apparently it is Greece that currently has a "huge" problem - "discussed" world-wide - but ultimately it turns out that Greece just happened to be the carrier of some very deep and profound "collective messages" that are resonating to the entire humanity! That is why many protesters in various European and other capitals rally to support Greece. They don't actually do it purely for Greece but for themselves too. Because they know that what Greeks faces today they will probably face tomorrow. Greece represents to them a "condensed" symbol of something much bigger going on, to which every single citizen on this planet partakes! As the Australian author/journalist Guy Rundle put it: «Greece is now the cutting edge of the world»!

Some of the above mentioned attributes of Eris are in a way consistent with the view of certain astrologers who claim that Eris is the higher "octave" of planet Saturn (the method of "octave" turns to be an unexpected assistance to us, in our effort to decode the properties of Eris. According to it, the higher octave of Mercury is Uranus, Neptune of Venus and Pluto of Mars). Somehow, Eris appears to have expressed several "Saturnian" properties in the case of Greece. He brought a sharp decline in its people revenues, shortages, privations, hardships (many homes have no heating while many people by now resort to public messes in order to eat). An international scorn fell upon the people of Greece - foreign goverments argue that the Greeks are lazy and they cannot tidy up their country. If Eris is ultimately the higher octave of Saturn then it will work really hard and it will probably bring Greece to the very point of extinction. From a certain point on though Eris will "mature" Greece and it will begin to build this country on a new, stronger foundations - transforming this Mediterranean country into a more vibrant, progressed and competitive country!

My personal view however is that Eris is the highest octave of Uranus. Between Pluto and Eris there are two more large planetoids, "Haumea" and "Make-Make." If we want to keep the hierarchy then we should consider Haumea as the superior octave of Jupiter and Make-Make as the one of Saturn. In such a case, Eris would be the higher octave of Uranus. This means that in the near future the people of Greece will probably experience a resounding overthrow of their established order - through extreme social uprisings and a general impoverishment and "lawlessness" that could initially dominate (another intrinsic element of Eris). I believe though that in a second phase some creative elements of Eris will manifest, which I personally asign to the Eris' "odd singularity" principle (these elements will manifest especially from 2020 onwards, when the intensity of the square aspect of Pluto to the natal Sun of Greece will begin to wane). Eris will change in a strange way Greece in the late 2020's. Of course by then Greece will be pretty much owned by its today's creditors. But as Eris is wisely teaching us polarities are somehow an illusion. All is One and there should be no distinctions. A creditor and a debtor are intrinsincally related and thus the creditor can turn to a debtor and the debtor to a creditor! Thus, by the 2030's many of the actual creditors - who are grooming now for the take over of the Greek wealth, resources, properties and assets - will be turning themselves (if living in Greece) into Greek citizens!

All in all, Eris will radically reshape Greece and turn it literally to a new country, a country more efficient and advanced, with better institutions and a more just society. Greece of 2020-2030 will be probably resembling a Mediterranean Sweden!

Thomas Gazis
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This is a Thomas Gazis original article
Copyright: Thomas D. Gazis