Articles
|
When
Uranus Meets
Mars
by
John Townley
A little less than every two years on average Mars conjoins Uranus, and
when that combination of explosive force and targeted energy meet,
often all hell breaks loose in the period surrounding. A good example
is the conjunction of August 17, 1945--Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened
just days before, and the first pictures of the Hiroshima blast went
public that day. It happened to be my birthday--my mom used to tell me
Japan surrendered as soon as they heard of my arrival--which may be why
I have a fondness for it, despite its bad rep.
Although its usual passage is brief, this year we get an extended dose,
as Mars goes retrograde a month after the conjunction of June 23rd,
4:03 PM EDT and makes it all the way back to within half a degree of
Uranus to go stationary direct September 27, 3:52 AM EDT. So we really
get two for the price of one and a whole summer full of potentially
troublesome action in between, aggravated by the usual frustrations and
delays of a retro Mars.
What's it all mean? Is it time to redecorate the panic room and the
fallout shelter? Probably not, at least not for everybody, but there
are some traditional places to look--to look to avoid, actually. That
wonderful curmudgeon Al. H. Morrison once told me that where the exact
Mars-Uranus conjunction rose and culminated would be the places on the
globe that would be hot spots of wars, natural disasters, and general
catastrophe for the next two years. Like so much of astrology, that
seems to work more often than not, but sometimes misses the boat by a
mile. This year you can probably count on results, as the June 3rd
conjunction rises over central Africa, up through the Middle East and
on to Chechnya, and it culminates over Western Australia, Indonesia and
the Philippines, and China. Bound to be lots of action in most of those
places. The Sept. 27th near-conjunction as Mars goes direct rises over
Western Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, and Japan and
culminates over Hawaii and Alaska. Well, you be the judge, and make
travel plans accordingly, but I'd certainly put that trip to Indonesia
and the Philippines on hold, and just buy a nice gamelan music CD to
tide me over…[N.B.: the great tsunami that wrecked Indonesia
came along during this 2-year cycle-starter]
That's fine for mundane forecasters, but how about the personal stuff?
How are either of these events going to affect you, personally?
Minimally, if you are careful, but perhaps critically, if you are not.
I remember running into Al Morrison (again) on the way back home from
St. Vincent's hospital with a just-repaired broken nose gleefully
declaring that he had finally rectified his chart--he had been hit by a
car exactly as Mars conjoined his Ascendant! And that was without
Uranus being in play…put them together, however, and you
might
describe this cautionary tale:
It's about my hit man. Seriously. One day in the spring of 1980 my
friend Harry Stathos, then night city editor of the New York Daily
News, referred a client to me. This was in the days when Al Morrison
was secretly ghosting the daily horoscope column for the New York Post
and Charles Jayne was doing the same for the Daily News (betcha hadn't
heard that tidbit!). The client's name was Wayne Eckhart, and when he
walked into my apartment I was more than taken aback. He was fully
six-and-a-half feet tall, with a scarred, stove-in face and fists the
size of hams. If all you had was a visual of him, you'd be
terrified--but in person he had the air of a gentle lamb, like this
hulking giant would never hurt a flea.
Actually, Wayne hadn't always been like that. His troubled and violent
childhood began in the Midwest (1/24/30, 2:30 AM, Marion, Iowa) and had
led him through multiple troubled and troubling careers first in the
military (thrown out), then in boxing, robbery, and finally as an
enforcer for the mob. The police knew his work by his signature: one in
the head, three across the chest. That's one way to use a natal
Mars-Pluto opposition.
But not the only way. While serving time in Greenhaven Prison in
Connecticut, a force more powerful entered his life. He had a vision of
the Virgin Mary, whose burning tears fell scalding on his back (I'm
quoting him) and he converted to become a follower of Padre Pio. A long
way from his Seventh Day Adventist upbringing. Later he teamed up with
another inmate, ex-financier Roberto Tomarkin, and together the two
helped pressure prison reform legislation after the murderous 1971
prison fires at Attica. By the time he made it to this astrologer, he
was dating a blonde Playboy bunny and looking to turn his experiences
into a book.
Alas, time for that project was running out faster than anyone
imagined. One Monday in September (9/29/80) he came by for a reading
and advice on what might be coming up. I noted that the Mars-Uranus
conjunction was exactly hitting his 23 Scorpio Ascendant that very
week. My advice was to stay home and above all, do not visit any of his
old haunts (he had hinted earlier that might have been developing). In
Godfather terms, go to the mattresses, and stay there until the heat's
off.
Apparently, he didn't, or maybe it was just too late, anyway. The
following Wednesday (the very day of the conjunction) over dinner I
received a call from the Homicide Division of the Bergen County, New
Jersey, Prosecutor's Office, asking me if I knew a Wayne Eckhart. They
found my business card in his wallet when they discovered his murdered
body, dumped on the Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge. What
did I know about him? they asked.
Not much, truthfully, that would help--de mortuis, nil nisi bonum,
after all--except that sometimes, you should really listen to your
astrologer...
From:
Llewellyn Journal, 2003-06-16
|
|
|
|
Cycles of
the Moon & Sun