Will Zaza recover?

Zaza is the eldest of our two cats. She is 15 years old. The day we returned home from our Christmas trip, Zaza fell ill suddently. She vomited and lost her orientation, falling over. Her eyes were rolling from side to side as if she could not focus them. We took her immediately to the animal ER. The vet told us she was having a “vestibular episode” and needed to be observed for 24 hours. I felt terrible leaving her there, but it seemed necessary.

The next evening I brought her back home. She seemed “dulled,” as one of the vets put it. There was no clear diagnosis.  Without further tests they could not rule out stroke or brain tumor. She seemed fine physically, but didn’t respond to us much—very unlike her. Our other cat didn’t even seem to recognize her.

On Wednesday I was home to monitor Zaza, and she did improve a bit mentally, but she was not eating or drinking. My question was, “Will Zaza recover?” Dec 28, 2011, 4:13 CST in Milwaukee:

I am the querent, and the cat is my small animal:  Lord 6, Jupiter, signifies her. Jupiter is hot and moist by nature. Here, Jupiter is in Taurus, a cold, dry sign. This confirms Zaza is ill. What is causing the illness? Jupiter disposes to Venus, so we could consider Venus the offending party. That is as far as I can go without further reference materials related to medical astrology.  It is also possible that Jupiter itself signifies the illness.  As Jupiter rules the blood, this could mean a stroke.

The essence of my question is, "Will Zaza die?"  When considering death, we need to examine both the radical 8th house and the turned 8th--in this case, the 8th from the 6th, which is the 1st. Lord 8 is Saturn, and turned Lord 8 is the Moon. This leaves us without a significator for me, the querent, but that doesn't matter here.

Any contact by aspect with Saturn or Moon will signify Zaza’s death.  Thankfully, there is no aspect with either. Nor is Jupiter in station or combust, two other indications of death.  Moon will sextile Jupiter but only after it changes sign. Once it does, Moon “loves” Jupiter, and as Jupiter is exalting the Moon in Taurus, we will have positive mutual reception. This is protective. Zaza will live, but her illness appears permanent: Jupiter is in the very beginning of Taurus, and Taurus is a fixed sign contrary to Jupiter’s nature.

The Moon, death, changes sign immediately; what might this signify? Last night, at the vet’s recommendation, I took Zaza in for a cortisone shot to jump-start her appetite. She improved immediately, and a few hours later ate some food with gusto. Although the Moon does not signify her treatment (that would be the turned 10th), perhaps this shot saved her in the short-term and that is why death, the Moon, becomes her friend.

Looking ahead for the longer term, Zaza’s condition eventually will worsen. How do we know this? Once Jupiter leaves Taurus it will enter Gemini, its detriment. Moving into detriment means things get worse. This is no surprise, given how old Zaza is.

For now, Zaza is alive and eating, comfortable at home, and responding to us. We will continue to shower her with love, the best medicine of all.

Culling

I’ve just removed several posts from the archive. They were analyses of event charts—set for occurrences such as an earthquake, plane crash, etc. Just lately I have learned that analyzing such charts in isolation is invalid.

Let’s look at why this is. To take an earthquake for an example: The planetary positions in the sky for the date and time of an earthquake are the same all around the globe.  The only difference is house placement, which is determined by the latitude and longitude of the location. For the chart to mean “earthquake” in one location, it would have to mean “earthquake” everywhere else in the world, and clearly this isn't the case.

Events of magnitude are an obvious focus of interest for astrologers; we wish to understand how the alignment of planetary bodies in the heavens relates to what is happening on Earth. However, the analysis of an event chart by itself is essentially the astrologer reading meanings into the chart. As my teacher, John Frawley, recently put it to me, "No one could look at such a chart and deduce what happened, because it simply isn't there. If it were, we would also be able to look at someone's birth chart, which is the chart for an event, and deduce that the obstetrician was making eyes at the midwife, while the nurse had stepped outside for a cigarette."

The correct approach for analyzing events is to see them as a part of much larger cycles.  The branch of astrology that examines these cycles is called Mundane. I don’t know much about mundane work, yet. As far as I understand, we begin with a starting point—such as the most recent Grand Conjunction (of Jupiter and Saturn)--and work from there. I believe one can also begin with the birth chart of a nation, casting progressed charts and solar returns just as we do for a person, and examining these against the radix. (As an aside, I’m sure that obtaining correct birth data for nations is a tricky business, if the chart for the USA is any indication.)

As fascinating as I'm sure mundane work is, I have to leave it alone for now—just not enough time. But you can count on more posts about horaries, sports events, and natal work in 2012.

The Timing of Solstice

My friends who celebrate the Solstice were confused about the date this year. Isn’t Solstice always on December 21? Well, no:  The actual date can vary from Dec 20 to Dec 23, depending upon the Gregorian calendar.

Furthermore, Solstice technically is a moment in time, not an entire day. The moment of Solstice occurs when the Sun enters 0 degrees 0 minutes of Capricorn. Put in scientific terms, Solstice is when the Earth reaches its maximum axial tilt away from the Sun.

For those of us in the Midwest USA, the moment of Solstice was Wednesday, December 21 at 11:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). The official Solstice date, however, was December 22. Why? Because the convention is to use Universal Time (UT) for such events. UT is measured at the Prime Meridian, or 0 Longitude on planet Earth. At 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday in Milwaukee it was 5:30 a.m. in Greenwich, England, the current site of the Prime Meridian. (The Prime Meridian used to run through Paris, but that is another story!) Solstice Day--the day that contains the Solstice moment, UT—is the first day of winter. In old times this day was called Midwinter, in the same way that Summer Solstice was known as Midsummer.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” then, takes place on the Summer Solstice. Summer Solstice is to the solar year as the full moon is to the lunar month. That’s why the play is full of such antics—it is like full-moon time, but much stronger! Winter Solstice is the rebirth of the Sun, just as the Moon is ‘reborn’ at each new moon.

For some interesting info on the Gregorian calendar and how/why it came about, check this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar