So recognise your age it's a teenage rampage

(Anyone who remembers Sweet will know what I mean!)

The following chart presents the approximate time for the start of the parade which appears to have degenerated into, what the media are calling, a "rampage". The parade is an annual event organised by the Students' Union at the local university to welcome new students. There is some confusion as to what actually changed this from a fun event to an expensive cleaning operation, but the chart tells its own story. According to reports eggs were thrown by or at the students in the parade, as were bucket loads of faeces and vomit. The resulting damage hasn't been costed, but local shopkeepers, businesses and politicians are calling for the parade to be banned and for the Students' Union itself to pay the costs of cleaning and repairing. Note that New Zealand generally is rated as a very civilised place to live in, that the crime rate is low and contentment high, I think anyone hearing this story would be surprised that it happened there of all places.

This link gives the full story:

http://www.odt.co.nz/on-campus/university-otago/45119/retailers-call-toga-ban

A lot of students gathered about an hour before the scheduled 7.30pm start, with the parade setting off at about 7pm.

I'm going to apply rules for a journey to this chart among other things because it does have a departure point, a middle section away from 'home, and a return to base. A sign of long ascension rises, so any small differences in the time won't change anything very much. So the very early Ascendant describes the premature departure of the parade. As this is the beginning of the journey, signified by the 1st house, the South Node there is interesting because it has been said that the trouble may have been brewing because of the students assembled so long before the official start time. It also indicates obvious scandal which certainly did ensue. Looking at the middle part, the journey or parade itself, the 10th house provides that information. It is ruled by detrimented Venus indicating that it will be a loud, fairly brutish and ill-mannered event; Venus naturally rules parties, fun activities and alchohol. This one planet shows that a fun event is going to degenerate into some fairly unpleasant, the other side of the Venus coin. Venus in the 8th is describing something 'shady'.

Mercury, naturally signifies young people and students, it is very closely conjunct Jupiter. Mercury is the strongest planet in this chart by a long way and, although Jupiter is accidentally dignified, it is peregrine and so the students behaved in an inflated and undignifed way – they went too far, 'high jinks' became 'low tricks'.

Venus applies to Mars, ruler of the 4th house of the journey's end. Venus is very slow as it moves towards its first station and so Mars is separating from it thus completion is not achieved. However, the parade does get to its destination because the Sun is in the 7th, but in a different sign to that descending, so this destination was not that originally planned, it was somewhat different. Saturn rules the 7th cusp and is retrograde and in a dual sign, so there were two destinations: the planned one and that which ended with the main shopping street being damaged. Saturn's close conjunction with the 2nd cusp describes breakages, damage and their cost. Saturn disposes the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and is in mutual reception with Mercury – for some at least, mayhem was the intention. In any case, with Saturn so much involved with a party, how much real fun could be expected?

The Moon separates from void of course and applies to square the MC which describes the very bad publicity both the university and the town have received. It then applies to conjunct the Sun after its change of sign; a New Moon. I suspect that this will be the last Toga Parade for a long time, perhaps forever.

Perhaps you can find more to say about this event chart.

Broken Nails

Women are frequently lampooned for the "disaster" of a broken nail - the fantasy of some men in their efforts to diminish women. However, I was struck by the following news item from America in which the 'broken nail' situation was very real and, in all likelihood, a true disaster. Ms. Lee Redmond had not cut her fingernails since 1979 which, at the time of the report, had been measured at 33 inches (about 84 cms) long. The following link shows a photograph of Ms. Redmond displaying her fingernails when they were somewhat shorter, and I have to say that they looked in very good condition; it's usual for nails to begin to twist and curl at a much shorter length. Her claim to fame was that she had the longest fingernails in the world and was entered into the Guiness Book of Records.

However, the owner of the nails was involved in a car accident at around the time shown in the chart. Having been thrown from the car, she sustained a broken ankle and several broken fingernails; the report states that all were lost, perhaps the paramedics cut them so that she could be transported on a stretcher, or even fit into the ambulance itself. Perhaps she had her nails insured, they were quite obviously very important to her, and no-one would admit to relieving her of them. In any case, she is no longer the world record holder and her fame is merely about her having been one.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705284649,00.html




The time of the accident is approximate, but for my purposes it is enough. The Ascendant is late, but we can't rely upon that because Gemini is a sign of short ascension and so moves quickly. The first notable configuration is angularity and here the Moon and Saturn are in the 4th house of endings, the end of death and the beginning of new life - apt, don't you think? Saturn is the significator of breakages and it is retrograde, so it might be that the broken nails were collected and will be maintained for posterity (or the insurance claim)! The victim looks to be beyond retirement age and so perhaps doesn't have another 29 years in which to grow them back to their former glory, but I wonder if she might consider trying to glue them back on?

The Moon is in a mutually applying conjunction with Saturn and this could fit such a description. The next placement is a clear indication of the loss and that is the South Node conjunct the 3rd house cusp of hands and arms. This house is ruled by the Sun of glory and so the reason for her fame is diminished or lost. Jupiter, the ruler of the 10th of fame, opposes the 3rd house cusp which describes the reason for her current newsworthiness. The 6th house is ruled by Mars of violent accidents and is placed in Aquarius which corresponds with the ankles. We should not ignore the fact that her significator, Mercury, is in the 8th house and her condition was described as "serious". So, while we might find the loss of fingernails amusing, Ms. Redmond was seriously hurt in this accident. The Sun, ruler of the 3rd house, is disposited by Saturn which corresponds to dead cells of which fingernails are composed. Neither Mars, ruler of the 11th of assistance, nor Jupiter, ruler of the 7th of the physician, afflict the Sun, the fingernails, but both do afflict the 3rd house itself, so perhaps my suspicions are correct and fate wasn't the only destructive factor.

I'll leave you to consider the phsyical and psychological implications of such a claim to fame because I have too fertile an imagination!

Lecture Tomorrow

Because I keep forgetting to update my web site, I'm mentioning this here.

For those in the Essex area, tomorrow night, Tuesday 17th February, I'm speaking at the Southend Astrology Group at the Parish Rooms, Rochford (opposite railway station). The subject is: Mundane Astrology: the Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions - Predicting Change. Doors open at 7.30pm.

I rarely speak on the Conjunctions, so this will make an interesting change for me.

In case I forget again, I'll be lecturing at the Astrological Lodge of London on Monday, 9th March. Their web site has all the details.