Astrological Weather: March Forecast for San Francisco Bay Area (Peninsula)
March 2, 2007 by admin
In March 2007, we can expect mostly dry weather, with only the occasional heavy clouds or rain, and getting increasing rain toward the end of the month. Many of the astrological indicators this month are connected with the hot and dry planet Mars, as well as Jupiter, which is hotter and drier than usual, because of its location in a fire sign, Sagittarius. As a result, whenever these two planets are active, we are not going to see a whole lot of rain or major clouds/fog. We will see more rain activity from the Moon passing into the sign of Cancer and applying to Mercury in Pisces, but that will not happen until the last week of March.
Last month’s prediction of an increased chance of earthquakes in February proved accurate, as we had two small (Richter scale 3 and 4) earthquakes that could be felt in our area. For the first half of March, there’s still the possibility of an earthquake, but the indicators are not as strong as last month. Similar indicators, namely Mercury, that show possible earthquakes, also describe wind conditions. The first half of March should be somewhat turbulent, though mostly we would see steady but moderate breezes. The second half of the month shows a smaller likelihood of earthquakes, with some medium northern breezes coming through.
The overall temperature for the first three weeks of March will be colder than usual, and it will seem like the cold weather is holding on quite tenaciously. The last week of March (starting with the Sun’s entry into Aries on March 21) will warm up a little, but it may not be the best time to break out the swimsuit just yet. The warming influence of Jupiter will be tamped down by its trine to Saturn, again giving cooler than usual weather. Also, the prominence of Mercury in Pisces, a cold planet in a cold sign, promises both coolness and moisture.
San Francisco Bay Area Weather Forecast February 24 to March 2, 2007
February 27, 2007 by admin
As last week, we are still looking at windier conditions than usual, though this doesn’t necessarily mean gale force winds. Rather, steady gusts or breezes, especially coming from the west will be the norm.
We would expect this week to be fairly wet, as we are looking at Mercury in a water sign (Pisces) conjunct the Sun in Pisces in the all important fourth house. This conjunction is squared the Moon, which is in its first quarter. The lunar aspect is yet another hint that rain, or at least a good amount of clouds and fog, is likely to continue.
Saturn dominates the chart, given that it is at the top of the horoscope, so we might get periods of nastiness, or at the very least, a good amount of gloom and clouds.
Weather Astrology: Forecast for San Francisco Bay Area (Peninsula), February 17-23
February 19, 2007 by admin
February 17-23, 2007
It looks like a pretty wet week. Venus in Pisces will make sure we have at least a good layer of fog/clouds, and will likely bring some rain. However, by itself, Venus is pretty moderate, so we wouldn’t expect extreme rain. Note that Venus is conjunct the Ascendant and squares the 4th house cusp, which makes it that much more certain rain will come. I am somewhat concerned by Pluto exactly conjunct the Midheaven, however, which may make any weather that much nastier. I am still trying to understand exactly when the outer planets become relevant in weather charts. We’ll see if a tight conjunction to the MC by Pluto will do something.
Mercury (ruler of the 4th house) is in Pisces, which would give a somewhat wetter prognosis, but tucked away in the cadent 12th house, it might not do a whole lot with regard to bringing moisture.
As far as wind goes, the previous week’s prognosis still applies here: breezes and moderate westerly winds (Mars gives the western wind, but here it is moderated by a partile sextile from Venus…whew!).
Astrological Weather: Forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area (Peninsula), Feb. 2-10
February 2, 2007 by admin
I have always been fascinated by the ability of astrology to beat modern sciences at their own game. Nowhere is this more evident than in the practice of astrometeorology, or the prediction of weather using planetary cycles. In modern meteorology, it is extremely difficult to make accurate forecasts for more than three days in advance due to the chaos effect (also known as the butterfly effect). The farther out you go in time making a prediction, the more random factors interfere. These errors compound over time, causing long-range predictions to be highly unreliable.
With astrology, that is not an issue, because the positions and movements of the planets are known as far in advance as one desires. Therefore, using astrology, one can make a weather prediction for that July 4 picnic we planned for 2010, if necessary. I find this tremendously exciting, and so decided to inaugurate an experimental column using astrology to predict weather in the San Francisco Bay area, on the Peninsula.
First, let us take a look at the overall temperature this winter — it will certainly be colder than normal, as we have already experienced. Mercury and Saturn are active in the chart for this winter, both of which are cold planets, with Saturn having a particularly nasty bite to it. Because this is a mundane chart, dealing with events in the world, rather than specific individuals, I believe that using fixed stars (and yes, their close cousins, the outer planets) is highly beneficial. We see malefic Pluto right on the descendant angle for the chart for this winter, indicating that the cold we expect will be destructive. From observations of weather charts, I have noticed that the outer planets seem to act very much like fixed stars, being most determinative when they are closely conjunct something important. There are a number of Mars-type fixed stars scattered around the seasonal chart, further indicating the violent and harmful nature of the cold this winter.
Second, let us observe the level of wind we can expect in the next few weeks. I expect that it will be somewhat windy, though not drastically so, until about mid-February. While the chart for wind shows some activity, I expect that this will be somewhat moderated by the more beneficial influences in the chart, and should not cause significant difficulties.
Finally, we can examine the level of moisture (clouds, snow, rain, etc.) here on the Peninsula between February 2 and February 10. I do not expect this week to be particularly rainy, but it will definitely be cloudy/foggy. We may get some showers, but due to our local climate, the moisture will primarily manifest as a good cloud cover.
UPDATE (Feb. 13, 2007): The entire week, the National Weather Service has been predicting wild storms to strike the San Francisco Bay area; the storm did not materialize in the time period they thought. The week was cloudy with a few sprinkles here and there, and then it really dumped it on February 10, appropriate to next week’s forecast. Astrology 1: NWS 0.
Advance outlook for February: Wetter, wilder, and woolier as the month goes on, culminating in the third week of the month.
Guest Astrologer: Astrometeorology – Hurricane Season 2006
June 11, 2006 by admin
Dear readers, this week I am very pleased to present a continuation of the hurricane theme from last week by Thomas Decker, a German traditional astrologer whose skills I greatly respect. In the future, I plan to mix things up a bit, and publish articles by other traditional astrologers to give you a sense of the great variety within traditional astrology. If you are interested in having your article appear on this blog, contact me at nina “at” gryphonastrology.com. Enjoy!
—Gryphon, AKA Nina
By Thomas Decker
At the beginning of the hurricane season I asked a horary question whether there might be another devastating storm in the Gulf of Mexico region. The general tenor of the chart was yes and probably at the beginning of September. But this particular chart does not answer the question where this might be. Other methods are required.
The first step is to try to find a focus of activity and so it seems that a rough triangulation would be the appropriate method. The Cancer Ingress chart for Cancún, Mexico, Santiago de Cuba and Miami Beach give a general region where most tropical storms and hurricanes seem to cross. This is really very rough, other points could also be used. The charts of Cancún and Miami show some indications of danger. In the Cancún Ingress chart the MC is at 9 degrees Aries which is one degree away from the position of the last total solar eclipse on March 29th. The Miami chart has Mercury and Procyon rising.
More detail is required, however, as judgement cannot be made on an Ingress chart alone. The New Moon charts of August 23 and the Full Moon/lunar eclipse charts of September 7 need also to be considered. Here activity directly on the angles would support any testimony given by the Ingress chart. A cursory view shows some danger but nothing extreme. That doesn’t exclude storm activity. In the Cancún New Moon chart Mars is applying to conjunction with the MC, an indication of danger. In the lunar eclipse chart of Cancún Mars repeats this pattern, he is once again within one degree of the MC. This is like a multiplication.
But based on the Cancún chart I tried to find an area where there is even more focused activity. There must be somewhere where Mars might be exactly on the MC. As the New Moon occurs only at 0 degrees Virgo, we have to look for somewhere a little bit further west and a bit more northward. And so I examined the charts of Houston, Texas. So let us look at these charts.
The Cancer Ingress chart of Houston has Sirius, the Dog-star rising. Sirius was important to the Egyptians as he marked the flooding of the Nile. The Nodes are directly on the MC/IC axis of the chart in exact square to the Sun in the 12th house. The North Node and the MC are conjunct Scheat a fixed star of the nature of Mars and Mercury. Scheat is associated with drowning. A conjunction with one of the nodes usually brings with it far reaching change in the sense of before and after. The North Node tends to multiply anything for better or worse. In combination with a malefic fixed star associated with drowning this does not portend well. Already all of the exact aspects and the tie in two fixed stars is testimony to look closer. While the Cancún charts are like warning lights, this chart is already like a siren.
Let us continue with the New Moon chart for Houston. Mars at 20 degrees Virgo forms an exact sextile, in mundo, to the position of the Sun in the Cancer Ingress chart. This position of Mars we need to remember as it plays a central role in the Lunar eclipse chart. What we see here is an activation of the Ingress T- square of the Sun to the MC/IC and Lunar Nodes.
The Houston Lunar eclipse chart of September 7 has Antares, the heart of the Scorpion rising. This is an extremely malevolent star associated with destructiveness and violence. In this chart the position of 20 degrees Virgo which was occupied by Mars in the New Moon chart is now occupied by Mercury and the MC. Mercury which is at 20 Virgo 59 is applying immediately to a conjunction to the fixed Star Denebola at 21 degrees Virgo. This means that Denebola is about to culminate in one degree. Denebola at the tip of the Lion’s tail is associated with misfortune from the elements. Mars at 29 Virgo is about to conjunct the IC and South Node of the Cancer Ingress chart. The eclipse itself is in Virgo, a human sign. This means that human beings will be directly affected. William Lilly in his Annus Tenebrosus say of a Lunar eclipse in the second decanate of Virgo that “…it prepares destruction and Calamities…”
As to timing, the one degree application of both Mars and Mercury to respective critical points would show that within a week of the eclipse a very dangerous storm will approach Houston and Galveston, Texas.
If we were to try to formulate all of this in William Lilly’s language we might say: “Citizens of Houston take warning. The month of September may be one of many troubles from storms, flooding and general malevolence of the elements” It certainly wouldn’t hurt to take the necessary precautions.
Afterword:
The hurricane season is the theme here. Everyone knows that through global warming hurricanes will increase both in number and intensity. No one knows where and when. Just as meteorological methods of prediction are used to try to narrow down this area of the unknown it seems justifiable to use the time honoured astrological approach particularly if extra precautions, such as the strengthening of storm protections can be taken in time, and anyone in authority can thereby be convinced that this is indeed necessary. The astrological testimonies mentioned above are so strong that it is a responsibility to make them known. If there should be an error in this judgement, you are called on, dear reader, to correct it.
Astrology of Current Affairs: Hurricane Katrina…Back for an encore in 2006?
June 4, 2006 by admin
The widespread and unnecessary disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2006 is just beginning to drop out of the news. Of course, it’s just the beginning of the new hurricane season, and with global warming being what it is, experts say hurricanes will become more and more powerful and destructive. The question on everyone’s mind is “will there be another Katrina for New Orleans?” For another similar disaster would surely bring the city to its knees for a long time.
We do not have the founding chart of New Orleans, since it, like most cities, just sort of accumulated over time. There are some historical charts floating around, but it is unclear how useful they are in predictive work. The best we can do is to use a Cancer Ingress chart set for New Orleans. Let us first look at the 2005 chart to see how Katrina shows up. With Ingress charts, we must be very careful, since the planetary configurations are identical anywhere in the world (and it is funny to see some modern astrologers cast charts for a particular location and seeing death and destruction visited upon their own hometown…the same aspects are happening world-wide, folks!). Thus, we will have to watch out for close aspects to angles and their rulers, since that is the only thing that will make the New Orleans chart unique from, say, the Washington, D.C. chart.
So back to our 2005 chart. Doesn’t look too bad, right? At least that’s what I thought when I first glanced at it. Mars, Lord 1, rules the location for the duration of the summer season. It is essentially strong, but accidentally (and remember, accident is what counts in these charts) very weak in the 12th house. The preceding eclipse is lunar, and as such has a luminary above the ground, which makes the effects strong, according to Lilly. Further, the eclipse will be partially visible from North America, further increasing its effects on especially the eastern part of the United States. So this eclipse will have a lot to say about the hurricane season in New Orleans. The Lord of the eclipse is Mars, ruling the elevated Moon in Scorpio (double whammy of wetness). Mars is in a hot and moist sign in the eclipse chart, which adds yet more moisture to an already drenched eclipse. Lilly writes that when an eclipse happens in the watery triplicity, it “presages a rot or consumption of the vulgar sort of people [these were the hardest hit group in the entire Katrina devastation, as the poorest areas of New Orleans were most affected by the broken levees]…destruction of Water Foul, great inundations and overflowings of the Seabanks [!].” And this eclipse was not even angular in New Orleans – merely elevated, and then “plugged in” to the Cancer Ingress.
In the Ingress chart, Mars is also opposed by Jupiter, the planet of rain. Jupiter (and hence Mars) squares the IC/MC axis of one’s position in the world. Jupiter will afflict the city’s standing – despite being a benefic, here it is a rather malefic influence, due to its contact with Mars and the angles. Jupiter is not done with New Orleans yet – it is conjunct Vindemiatrix, a star of the nature of Saturn and Mercury. It is generally malefic, and is specifically associated with overreaching and causing one’s ruin. Finally, we get the Moon in Sagittarius trining the Ingress Ascendant. The Moon is conjunct the fixed star Sabik, which brings “wastefulness, lost energy,” among a host of other undesirable qualities. Indeed, these are words that well describe the relief effort mounted by FEMA after the disaster.
What about 2006?
The 2006 Cancer Ingress chart for New Orleans has Cancer ascending, so the Big Easy will be ruled by the Moon for the season. The Moon is in Taurus, so it is exalted, and in the cold and moist 4th quarter. So how is New Orleans? It’s all right, but seems to be doing better than it really is (exaltation), because it is rather wet. The Moon is applying to an opposition of Jupiter, the planet of rain, in a cold and moist sign, which itself is retrograde. Could this mean that New Orleans will be inundated once again? If so, let us hope it is only with heavy rain and not with floods stemming from broken levees. The Moon also applies to the inauspicious Mars-Saturn conjunction in Leo on the cusp of the 2nd house. There is some hope here that serious disaster may miss New Orleans this year, however, since none of the above problematical planets aspect the angles, as happened in 2005.
And the fixed stars? Wasat, of the nature of Saturn, is right on the Ascendant. According to Robson, the constellation to which Wasat belongs (Gemini) indicates “trouble and disgrace, sickness, loss of fortune, affliction and danger to the knees.” Wasat itself brings violence and malevolence. This obviously is cause for concern. Let’s see what the preceding eclipse is doing: this is the total solar eclipse on March 29, which fell on 8.30 Aries, two degrees away from the Cancer Ingress MC. Despite this strong and malefic contact, it may not bode too badly for New Orleans. The eclipse chart itself shows the eclipse below the earth, on the cusp of the 2nd house, so its effects are not nearly as strong as they would have been had the eclipse occurred above the earth or at least in a cardinal house. The 2006 eclipse does not pass over North America, which further mitigates its effects.
Lilly writes: “you shall usually find that where the Ascendant or Mid-Heaven of those Cities or men doe concurre with the place of Heaven Eclipsed or defective, that in a great measure the effects shall appear and manifest themselves upon those men, Kings, or Rulers, Kingdoms, or Cities, especially if the Eclips be above the Earth, for all Eclipses are held to extend their effects most forcibly when above the Earth, weakly and not so vigorously when under the Earth; but that they have also then some manifest operation greater or lesser, I could manifest by many examples of Eclipses in this age, and confirm my own judgement by the opinion of severall learned men; I shall instance only Cardan Seg. 7. Apho. 81…Eclipses in the fourth House or Heaven are more forcible than those in the eighth or eleventh, those in the first more strong than they in the ninth or twelfth, and it must be acknowledged that although Eclipses in the first House cannot be visible, yet we are by no Author prohibited to judge them…”
So 2006 will likely not pack the same punch as 2005 did for New Orleans, due to the lack of angular contacts in the Cancer Ingress and the “invisible” and succedent preceding eclipse So what can we expect this year? Probably a good, healthy storm over New Orleans, but this time with far less water than before. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
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