Summer Solstice - UK Weather

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I discussed the solstice chart with two separate groups yesterday and we came up with a couple of ideas of what weather indications were present.

Wondered if anyone had anything to add?
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We thought that Mars ruling the IC, in the fourth and in Aries would indicate heat. You've also got Sag on asc and Jupiter in 1st adding more fire. These two together may be quite drastic - if that's the right word - weather with thunder storm and lots of humidity. We were split on whether Mars or Jupiter gave us the thunder. Jupiter fits mythologically but I'm sure I've seen Mars as an indicator of thunder. Any ideas?

If you want to bring in the outer planets you get confirmations of this from Moon opposite Uranus and Mars trine Pluto.

You can also see that Moon in 9th indicating the customary exodus through our airports to "exotic, foreign places." Although it is in Virgo so more likely to indicate british phobias about drinking the water...

Anyway. Weather. Currently writing this in a thunderstorm in North London and it sounds like the thunder is about to be joined by some hail.

What does anybody think?
Claire

<b>Claire Chandler</b>
http://www.clairechandler.com
http://www.astrolodge.co.uk

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Hi Claire,

I'm interested, rather than expert, in astro-meteorology, but the weather is always a good discussion topic, and a great exercise for astrologers!

Yes, Mars in Aries ruling the 4th tightly trine Pluto in the 1st, weakly trine Saturn in the 9th, with Jupiter in Sagg rising all seem to indicate stormy heat, moderated perhaps because neither Mars nor Saturn is angular. Jupiter rising in Sagg indicates fair summer weather, and he's trine Venus in Leo here, another moderating influence, so I'd expect at least a few perfect, hot summer days in between storms!

I note that Nina Gryphon: http://gryphonastrology.wordpress.com/ in her recent forecast for the western states of the US comments:

The old authorities say that Mars in Aries causes wind, but not rain, as well as thunder and lightning.

Storms aside, I'm a little envious of your summer prospects, given that the Cancer ingress for NZ has the Moon in Virgo close to the IC, opposing Uranus in Pisces near the MC! After a much warmer than usual May around the country, temperatures have fallen sharply this week, and although we've had several clear, cool days, today was very damp & dreary, as well as cold. But it is winter, after all, and NZ's pattern in recent times seems to be long, mild summers that start in late January and go through the autumn, and long, grey and unsettled winters that stretch out to December!

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Hi Claire

Currently wondering whether to start building an ark, the words ?drastic? and ?thunder storms? leap out from your initial post, but with so much rain I can?t see any sign of heat. Maybe the Saturn-Neptune opposition deserves more attention?

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Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your contributions.

I was trying to read the chart as a strict exercise without bringing in your usual assumptions such as "start of Wimbledon = rain" and "Glastonbury = mud" using the classical planets. But it seems - and we shouldn't be surprised here - that we get the same information from different places.

I'm trying to use the Outer Planets as little as possible. So, yes, Moon Uranus describes this very well but can we see the same violent rain story without them?

Does Jupiter in its own sign, in 1st ruling the ascendant give us the answer?

John Frawley describes Jupiter weather as good defined by farmers rather than tourists as it has a fair bit of moisture associated - good for growing.

Perhaps we can stretch this a bit farther by bringing in Sun in Cancer as the fire triplicity ruler? This would dampen both Jupiter and Mars. And we could also bring in retrograde Mercury in Cancer as the Moon's ruler but that may be pushing it a bit far.

I did say heat based on the Mars position. It may be wet but it isn't cold, in fact it's quite humid in London.

The only other thing I can say is that this is the base chart for the quarter so there's plenty of time for it to warm up.
Claire

<b>Claire Chandler</b>
http://www.clairechandler.com
http://www.astrolodge.co.uk

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I?m skeptical about using these charts for weather. I?ve never been impressed by the work I?ve seen done with them, which admittedly isn?t all that much. Here?s a mishmash to play with. I focused on rain. Color is added for clarity and to make it prettier.

Mars and Jupiter look interesting as indications of rainy periods and humidity: Such a tight sesquisquare between the ASC ruler and the IC ruler. I personally can?t place Mars in the 4th, however. Five degrees, you know. We lose some heat and dryness by moving Mars to the 5th.

Using the al-Biruni weather parts [http://www.skyscript.co.uk/alparts.html] Mars is opposite the Parts of Water and Rains (27 Libra 41) with an orb of 02 minutes. I have no experience using those parts ? or doing weather astrology ? but maybe Mars counts here as an activator of rainy periods. Mars is at home in Aries, but its almuten is Sun in Cancer, so maybe we pick up some points toward moisture. Mars is almost exactly opposite the Moon-ASC midpoint at 27 Libra 41, which I suppose is tied to the parts.

Moist Venus, as ruler of the Parts of Water and Rains is trine the 1st house ASC ruler Jupiter (moist). Venus is in Leo, so maybe that dries her out quite a bit - an indication of the rain not continuing all summer. I always forget to consider conjunctions to cusps, except angles, but could the Mars-Venus-Parts configuration conjunct the 5/11 axis (Placidus) be meaningful in weather work? Maybe mundane aspects are more important in weather than in natal work: the 'earthly plane' sort of thing.

Mars rules the 4th house, but the Sun is the 4th almuten. Sun in Cancer has Jupiter as exaltation lord and Venus as triplicity lord (Dorothean). Those two moist planets figure prominently. Sun and Venus (ruler of Rains) are strongly linked together. There is plenty of Sun-Venus mutual reception: Venus is Sun?s triplicity and face ruler; Sun is Venus? domicile and triplicity ruler. And these two are in a tight semi-square, its not often we get such an aspect. The Sun is ruler and almuten of Venus in Leo, so it doesn?t look like our usually moist ruler of Water and Rains can be moist for long. Has the moisture been squeezed out of Venus for the summer?

It doesn?t seem right to talk about the weather and leave the Moon out. We?ve seen that the Sun is the 4th house almuten and has a strong link to Venus and the Part of Rains. The Sun?s links to the 4th house and Part of Rains (with its ASC factor) pertain to the locality. With the Sun being important in this chart and locality, the applying waxing square of the Moon to the Sun in its wet 1st quarter might bring moisture to this location through a season-long Sun-Moon aspect relationship, but Moon is in dry Virgo, so there?s not much moisture to be had. Another indication of less moisture once the first few weeks have passed?

Anything useful here?

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I decided to give this chart a bit more attention, given the record breaking floods we have suffered this year. The Moon?s elevated position is significant, and if we followed Lilly?s approach to these kinds of charts, the Moon?s separating opposition from a malefic (Uranus in Pisces in the 3rd) would show an unfortunate period of sea or water-related events until it met a more friendly aspect. (Not much prospect in this chart since its only application is to the square of Pluto in the 1st house). The Moon is conjunct Denebola, which is the same nature as the Saturn-Venus conjunction in this chart. Ebertin and Hoffman claim that in mundane charts, major catastrophes are triggered by it, and Robson says that it prenotes despair, regrets, public disgrace, misfortune from the elements of nature.

Jupiter looks strong in its own sign in the 1st. That describes the country as being well equipped to withstand any problems it faces, but the retrograde motion points to some kind of reversal, and the square to the nodes suggests drama or unfortunate events.

The Saturn-Neptune opposition has to be given attention, because this, and the Mars-Pluto trine, are the two closest aspects in the chart. Saturn-opp-Neptune speaks for itself regarding the floods. Saturn is peregrine, in detriment and also conjunct a star with an unfortunate Saturn-Mars nature (Algenubi), so anything it signifies is going to be in danger of damage or affliction. It rules the 2nd and 3rd houses, but the 3rd house is the most emphasised in this chart. We have had major damage to roads caused by the floods, some places becoming cut off from the rest of the country, and our communication systems came so close to shut down in some areas that it became a state of national emergency. On top of that we have the ongoing series of postal strikes ? these issues are also mirrored in the afflicted state of Mercury on the 8th house cusp. The 2nd house issues can be seen in the number of crops, homes and resources that have been destroyed, leaving the prospect of future rising prices and a need to balance the economy.

Mars rules the 4th house, so represents our buildings and issues concerning foundations. Being a malefic, it symbolises damage from the ground. (Venus, ruling the MC, describes what comes ?from above?. Rainfall is a kind of ?wealth? but Venus is conjunct Saturn in the 8th house, so destructive in its influence). The Mars-Pluto trine relates to how the heavy rains have thrown the emphasis on our country?s drainage systems, with everyone now seeing a major investment in drainage and sewerage as a priority, whereas such things usually get tolerated and ignored.

So all-in-all this does seem to be a very descriptive chart as a general statement of national issues during this season. Ingresses are not meant to purely relate to the weather but it was clear from the start ? as Claire?s post shows ? that something dramatic was expected.

A few other issues:

The smoking ban that was introduced on the 1st of July was quite a significant event for the nation. The focus of attention fell upon ?no smoking in pubs?, which I see as relevant to the position of Mars (tobacco) on the 5th house cusp. (But I also see this as very descriptive of the recent hit of homosexual films and dramas on TV, and coverage in the press of 40 years since the legalisation of homosexuality. All of the dramas I saw highlighted the plight of male homosexuality and seemed to leave the issue of female homosexuality untouched upon, and all of them contained quite brutal scenes, depicting violence, in the sexual act itself and in society ? Mars trine Pluto again; this time as the sexual revolution as opposed to how we need to rethink the disposal of our waste). Oh and Mars conjunct 5th, we have a continuing news stream of attacks against children ? teenagers stabbed or carrying guns, the announcement that Britain?s children are the worst in Europe (for swearing, underage sex, yobbish behaviour, etc); and the ever front page picture of Madeleine McCann, which reminds parents on a daily basis of threats against children.


Back to the smoking ban ? this is also seen in the close opposition between Saturn and Neptune; or rather Saturn conjunct MC-ruler Venus, opposite Neptune ? a definite depiction of authority clamping down on drug-related issues. This is still playing out and progressing into a more stringent assessment of related themes (cannabis discussions seem pretty constant nowadays and this morning the news highlight was on tightening the law on drivers who have taken drugs).

Mars is about to leave its sign of rulership and enter its sign of detriment. Since Mars rules the 4th house of property, will this lead to the property crash that everyone seems so nervous about? (Personally I hope so, to give the younger generation a chance to get into the property market, but it could just be showing other kinds of difficulties connected to the shortage of homes, so I?m not too sure about this one.)

Probably the main political event of the season was the change of Prime Minister. Gordon Brown is signified in this chart by Venus, which is separating from the trine of Jupiter in the first and moving to the conjunction of Saturn in the 8th. I think the ?straight to the point? nature of his acceptance speech showed us all what we should expect. He will take the tough line, and events will be tough on him too.

Overall, it seems that Jupiter retrograde in the 1st house, and Pluto in the 1st house trine Mars, shows we?ve all been given notice of the need to be more wary of waste, focus on reinvestment in infra-structure and sort out why our lack of parenting talent has left our teenagers so troubled.

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Probably the main political event of the season was the change of Prime Minister. Gordon Brown is signified in this chart by Venus, which is separating from the trine of Jupiter in the first and moving to the conjunction of Saturn in the 8th.
There is so much in Deb?s post to talk about, but for now I?ll limit myself to one interesting thing ? which many of you may already be aware of.

A] The ingress MC is 1 Libra 05. Saturn is the MC almuten for the ingress chart, with rulership by exaltation, triplicity and term.

B] Brown?s natal Saturn is 1 Libra 03 ? only 2 minutes orb. Saturn is Brown?s MC ruler (and almuten).

It looks like Brown was celestially expected.