Eclipses, Lunar Nodes, Alexander the Great, and Israel 5778/2018

The Total Solar Eclipse of 4 July 336 BCE was part of the Soros 60 Cycle [i] which was fully visible directly over Jerusalem [ii], and coincided with the ascension of Alexander the Great to the Macedonian throne, after the death of his father Philip [iii].

4 July 336 BCE was Erev Rosh Chodesh Av of the year 3425 [iv] The Eclipse reached Totality at 13:35:01 (1:35pm local time) and the length of Totality was 5 minutes and 53 seconds [v]. The latitude and longitude of the Center of Totality was 30.6 degrees N, 37.4 degrees E. [vi], which is situated in the southeastern desert east of the Jordan river [vii]. The path of Totality was 225 km (140) miles wide.

The Saros 60 Cycle began in the year 1020 BCE and ended in the year 260 CE (the Year 4020-4021 of the Hebrew Calendar). It contained a total of 72 Eclipses, of which 14 were partial, 40 were total, 14 were annular, and 4 were hybrid [viii]

The Saros 60 Cycle ended in 260 CE, the year which is sited as the end of the First Generation of Amoraim (225—260 CE) [i], as well as the establishment of academy of Pumpeditha in Babylonia by Judah ben Ezekiel in 260 CE [ii], the capture of the Roman Emperor Valerian by the Persians (with whom the pro-Persian Jewish opposition was allied) in 260 CE [iii], among other events. Although it is impossible to speculate regarding exact dates in antiquity, the Fall of Troy is dated at 1020 BCE, while religious historians put the beginning of the reign of King Saul, the first anointed King of Israel, in 1026 BCE [iv], shortly after the beginning of the start of the Soros 60 Cycle. This “bookending” of world events marked at the beginning by the fall of Troy to the Greeks and the beginning of the Israelite Monarchy, and ending with the firm establishment of the rabbinic enterprise in Babylon (which would eventually produce the Talmud itself) and the diminution of the tattered remnants of Jewish political activism which found itself backing Persia against Rome, continues to have a ripple effect on Jewish history due to the sensitive position of the North Lunar Node during the exceedingly powerful eclipse of July 336 BCE. 

The Lunar Nodes in Jewish Astrology

Jewish Astrological tradition gives enhanced emphasis and attention to the Lunar Nodes and the annual eclipses in natal charts for both individuals and nations. The North and South Nodes of the Moon are not planets, but theoretical mathematical points in space marking the intersection between the Sun’s orbital path around the Earth’s ecliptic, and the Moon’s orbital path around the Earth. The function of the Lunar nodes in astronomy is to predict the path of the annual eclipses through the constellations. Eclipses occur only near the Lunar Nodes. Solar eclipses occur when the passage of the Moon through a node coincides with the New Moon; Lunar eclipses occur when the passage coincides with the Full Moon.

The Nodes are the “head” (North) and “tail” (South) of the cosmic Dragon (“T’li” in the Sefer Yetzirah). Medieval commentators Saadia Gaon, Shabbtai Donnolo, and Ibn Ezra, among others, identify the “Head” and “Tail” of the Dragon in the Sefer Yetzirah with the Lunar Nodes.

The Sefer Yetzirah, which is the foundational text of Jewish astrology, states:

The Dragon (“T’li”) in the Universe is like a King upon his throne

The (Celestial) Wheel in the World is like a King in his province (country, land).

The Heart within the human being is like a King at war.

The Talmud and ancient Jewish mystical texts such as the Sefer Yetzirah (as well as other “magical” texts of the pre-kabbalistic literature belonging to the school of “Merkevah Mysticism”) are the foundation of Jewish Astrology’s close attention to the significance of the lunar nodes and eclipses. 

The Lunar Nodes during the time of the 336 BCE Eclipse were at 7 Capricorn (North Node) and 7 Cancer (South Node) [xiii]. The Zodiac Sign of Capricorn is ruled by the Planet Saturn (“Shabtai” in Hebrew), classical astrology’s Planetary Ruler of both Capricorn and Aquarius, strongly associated with the Nation of Israel and the Jewish People [xiv]. At the time of this Eclipse, Saturn was at 12 Capricorn, within a 5-degree orb of the North Node and therefore a powerful influence on the Eclipse.

There is no need to cite references to state unequivocally that Alexander’s reign, which ushered in the Hellenistic Era in Jewish History, had the most significant long-term impact on every aspect of Jewish culture, religion, and world-view than any other era in pre-modern history. Indeed, whether one believes the rabbinic enterprise which began at Yavneh was an adaption to or a rebellion against Hellenism, it was the Greek world-view, imported to post-exilic Judea through Alexander and those who came after him, which most profoundly influenced the development of Judaism until the Enlightenment. Taking the Solar Eclipse of July 336 BCE as the celestial portend of the ascension of Hellenistic culture and its subsequent impact on the Jewish people, the following is a brief examination of the latest phase of the historical trajectory of that event.

The 20^th Century

In the 20^th Century, the North Node at 7 Capricorn coincided with the outbreak of World War I in August 1917, the beginning of the Arab Revolt in Palestine and the deadly Arab-Jewish riots of April 1936, the ascension of Gamal Abdel Nasser to the presidency of Egypt in November 1954 as well as the birth of future Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on November 19^th, 1954.

The North Node was also at 7 Capricorn in June and July of 1973 during the time US President Richard Nixon’s secret Watergate tapes were discovered, as well as during the Lillehammer Affair and the formation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency.  Interestingly, the Total Solar Eclipse of June 30, 1973 (part of the Saros 136 Series), which was the last and longest eclipse of that Saros series (7 minutes and 4 seconds), took place when the North Node was at 7 degrees Capricorn.

February and March of 1992, during which the North Node was again at 7 Capricorn and Saturn was in Saturn-ruled Aquarius, saw the Bush-Yeltsin meeting at Camp David during which the Cold War was officially declared “over”, the signing of the Maastricht Treaty which formed the European Union (EU), the outbreak of the Bosnian War, and South Africa votes to end the Apartheid government. 

The 21^st Century

During September 2010, the last time the North Node was at 7 Capricorn, President Barak Obama met with Israel’s PM Netanyahu, PA Authority President Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Egyptian President Mubarak in a major push towards crafting a 2-State Solution in the Middle East. During the same month, Israel bombed Gaza’s smuggling tunnels and blocks the Flotilla headed towards Gaza, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Palestinian Authority, and PA President Abbas addresses the United Nations. Additionally, during this time North Korea dictator Kim Jong-Un takes power during the transition from his father, Kim Jong-Il.

Future Aspects

• The North Node will return to 7 Capricorn next in May 2029. 
• Saturn, which traveled through 7 Capricorn in January 1901, late October/early November 1930, December 1959, August-September 1989, will be at 7 Capricorn again during March, May, and November-December 2018.  
• Saturn and the North Node in Capricorn do not conjunct again until December 2047, during which they will be at the same astronomical positions they were during the Total Solar Eclipse of 4 July 336 BCE.

The Talmud [xv] tells us that while Solar Eclipses are a negative omen for the non-Jewish nations, the total eclipse of the Moon is a negative omen for the nation of Israel. The next Total Lunar Eclipse visible from Jerusalem will take place on July 27/28, 2018, which is both Tu b’Av and Shabbos Nachamu, 5778. Saturn will be at 4 Capricorn during that Eclipse, considered “conjunct” (with a -3-degree orb) of the sensitive 7 Capricorn degree, and the Full Moon in Aquarius (co-ruled by Saturn) opposite the Sun in Leo and the North Node in Leo is a significant omen for the Jewish Nation.

Immediately prior to the Lunar Eclipse on Shabbos Nachamu 5778, the Planet Mercury, the “cosmic messenger”, stations Retrograde at 23 Leo, closely conjunct the Natal Mars position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and halfway between the Natal Mars and Natal Saturn positions of the chart of the Modern State of Israel. Occurring in the “public” 10^th House of “career and vocation”, this Mercury Retrograde will not happen in a secluded corner or under cover of darkness; but front-and-center for all the world to see. 

Mercury’s Retrograde “message” for the Israeli government and the Netanyahu coalition, delivered via communication channels such as the Mercury-ruled media might go something like this:

Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin

As the Jewish Encyclopedia [xvi] explains:

Once when King Belshazzar was banqueting with his lords and drinking wine from the golden vessels of the Temple of Yhwh, a man's hand was seen writing on the wall certain mysterious words. Frightened by the apparition, the king ordered his astrologers to explain the inscription; but they were unable to read it. Daniel was then summoned to the royal palace; and the king promised him costly presents if he would decipher the inscription. Daniel read it "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin" and explained it to mean that God had "numbered" the kingdom of Belshazzar and brought it to an end; that the king had been weighed and found wanting; and that his kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians (Dan. v. 1-28).

How exactly this might play out on the political stage is anybody’s guess, but aspects to the Luminaries suggest a change in government, leadership, or political structure is indicated. A radical and sudden change in leadership may indeed be “in the stars” for the Modern State of Israel in 2018. Time alone will tell.

End Notes:

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[i] NASA Eclipse Web Site, Saros Series Catalogue of Solar Eclipses, Saros Series 60 https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros060.html

[ii] Ibid

[iii] Wikipedia, 336 BCE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/336_BC

[iv] Moon and the Molad of the Hebrew Calendar, Dr. Irv Bromberg, University of Toronto, Canada  http://www.sym454.org/hebrew/molad.htm

[v] NASA Eclipse Web Site, Saros Series 60 https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsaros/SEsaros060.html

[vi] https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/5MCSEmap/-0399--0300/-335-07-04.gif

[vii] GeoHack – List of solar eclipses in the 4^th Century BCE https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?language=en&pagename=List_of_solar_eclipses_in_the_4th_century_BC&params=30.6_N_37.4_E__globe:export&title=List%20of%20solar%20eclipses%20in%20the%204th%20century%20BC

[viii] SolarEclipseInfo.com, Saros 60 Cycle http://www.solar-eclipse.info/en/saros/detail/60/

[ix] Yohanan Aharoni, The Jewish People: An Illustrated History, p. 113

[x] Norbert Samuelson, Jewish Philosophy: An Historical Introduction, p. 95

[xi] Sylvie Anne Goldberg, Clepsydra: Essay on the Plurality of Time in Judaism, p. 86

[xii] 1020’s BC, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1020s_BC .

[xiii] Astro.com 5000 year ephemeris, 350 BCE – 300 BCE  http://www.astro.com/swisseph/ae50/ae__50_m0349.pdf

[xiv] M. Glazerson, “Above the Zodiac”, pp. 98-109, specifically the discussion of Planetary Rulership of the two Saturn-ruled Zodiac signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, and how they relate to the Jewish people. Also see Sefer Yetzirah.

[xv] Sukkah 29a

[xvi] MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN, by Isidore Singer, M. Seligsohn, Jewish Encyclopedia online, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10678-mene-mene-tekel-upharsin

·        All references to astronomical for the 20^th and 21^st Centuries are from the Astrolabe World Ephemeris series.

·        All references, unless otherwise noted, to historical world events of the past by year and month are from Wikipedia.

The Great #American #Eclipse of August 21st, 2017

The "Great American Eclipse" at 28 Degrees Leo, which takes place on August 21st, is directly opposite the natal Moon of the United States at 27 Aquarius. 

 This is a huge challenge for America, as the Solar Eclipse at the Cusp of America's 8th House (Shared Values, Shared Resources, Shared Intimacies) and 9th Houses (Higher Mind, "Foreign" or "Exotic" people, places and things, Long-Distance Travel, Religion/Philosophy/Higher Education) makes a direct opposition to the Natal Moon (Emotional Self) in Humanitarian Aquarius. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..." This is the Aquarian Moon of America, the generous, benevolent humanitarian persona of the American archetype. Opposing those humanitarian emotional instincts is the flash point of individual ego (Sun) in the Fixed Fire Sign of Leo, King of the Jungle, who tolerates no rival. 

It's the Pratt and the Claal, the Individual and the Collective, the Personal and the Universal. "Battle lines are being drawn / Nobody's right if everybody's wrong..."

In terms of the lowest common denominator: Prepare for a battle between value and belief systems, each sure they alone contain the sole truth. It's not going to be pretty.

PATH OF TOTALITY

Concerning those who are not living on the level of the lowest common denominator, but who are in fact developed in Consciousness and willing to rage, rage against the dying of the Light: We who are able must travel as close as we can get inside the Path of Totality to the Center Point of the Eclipse, and there we must draw down the power of the Eclipse and focus all our kavanah (intentionality) on the TRUE work of Leo: PROTECTION OF THE VULNERABLE, the meting out of JUSTICE to the abusers of women and Mother Earth, and the wherewithal to "TEACH YOUR CHILDREN" to repair this broken world.

The Eclipse also falls right on top of Trump's Natal Mars in Leo and his Leo Rising (Ascendant), and opposite his Parts of Fortune (his "Shefa Point", the source of his prosperity). It's also Inconjunct his Natal Venus in Cancer. Expect ENRAGED OUTRAGE from the Ego-wound, and perhaps some revelation concerning family & finance.

The T'li in The Sefer Yetzirah : The Karmic "Hook" in Your Natal Chart

I've been looking at the astrological materials in the Sefer Yetzirah. Of particular interest is the T'li, (  תלי ), the celestial dragon which is said to be "like a king upon his throne" in the universe. T'li is the Lunar Nodes, the North/South Nodes, which in Kabbalistic Astrology are indicators, by Sign and House, of the soul's primary Tikkun in this current gilgul (incarnation). 

Using A. Peter Hayman's critical edition of the Sefer Yetzirah, which examines the three medieval recensions  (K: Short Recension, A: Long Recension, C: Saadia Gaon's Recension), I looked at  Section 59, the only place in the Sefer Yetzirah where the T’li is mentioned in all three Recensions. With only very minor variations in one word, Section 59 as follows:

There is a law of ten, three, seven and twelve. They are (K: “Officials over”, A: “Present in”, C: “Have command of”) the Hook the celestial sphere, and the heart. The Hook in the universe is like a king on his throne, the celestial sphere in the year is like a king in a province, the heart in mankind is like a king at war.

חק עשרה ושלושה ושבעה ושנים עשרה ופקידים בתלי ולגלגל ולב

תלי בעולם כמלך על כםאו גלגל בשנה כמלך במדינה לב בנפש כמלך במלחמה

The striking thing about the T’li here is the power ascribed to it.  The T’li here is positioned as greater than and in fact encompassing of both the Gilgul (“Wheel”, translated by Hayman as “celestial sphere”) and the Lev (heart). The T’li in the universe has power over / controls all, like a king on his throne. The Wheel (the celestial sphere, or the array of constellations around the earth) controls time, which creates boundaries, divisions and sub-divisions indicating ownership, like a king in a province (“medina”, country, state, or sovereign province characterized by a distinctive or singular ruler, bounded by borders). The heart in mankind controls his actions, like a king at war who must focus all his strength and effort to overcome an enemy.

Speculation about what the T’li might be abounds in medieval commentary. Scholars and commentators don’t even agree on the source of the word itself. The word t’li seems to be related to the verb TLH ( תלה) – to hang. In the Torah it is mentioned in the context of Esau’s hunting gear, as Isaac asks Esau to “take your gear, your t’li and bow” (Genesis 27:3). The chief baker is told he will hang on a tree (   תלה), cursed is the one who is hanged on a tree (Deut. 21:23), Absolom was seen hanging in an oak by his hair (2 Samuel 18:10), etc. In these and the rest of the some 28 uses of one or more verbal stem versions of the root TLH found in TaNaCH, always in the context of hanging, being hung, dangling, etc. The translation of T’li into “hook” follows that meaning.   

Physician and commentator Shabbtai Donnolo, born in 913 at Oria in Byzantine Italy, discusses the T’li in his Sefer Hakhmoni, his commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah, written between 946 and 982 [i]. “And what is the T’li? When God created the firmament above us, which is divided into seven heavens, He created the T’li from water and fire in the shape of a great dragon, like a great twisted serpent, and made for it a head and a tail and put it in the fourth heaven, which is the middle heaven, the abode of the sun …it is…through learning handed down through ancient books that we can get to know the T’li, its power, its rule, how it was created, its goodness and its malignancy” [ii]. Donnolo’s T’li is the cosmic dragon, possessor of great power and dominant in the universe. Scharf states in regard to Donnolo’s interpretation of T’li as that of dragon:  “‘Tli’ is a word of doubtful etymology and several interpretations. It is comparatively rare; there are less than a dozen sources where it occurs instead of, or in addition to, the common words for a dragon – nahash or tannin” [iii].

Saadia Gaon, writing in 10th Century rationalist Babylonia, views the T’li in purely astronomical terms.  “I understand this to be a place where two orbits intersect …It is not a constellation resembling a dragon or any other creature” [iv]  Saadia’s perspective on the Sefer Yetzirah is a philosophical one, informed by the Muslim Kalaamist thinkers of his milieu, and in line with the prevailing doctrine of divine incorporeality seeks in his commentary on the Sefer Yetzirah to neutralize any magical or astrological elements, and proceeds to discredits the theory, of which he is apparently well aware, that the T’li refers to the celestial dragon.[v]

Donnolo’s T’li is “The Dragon, and it governs all the planets and constellations. The (celestial) sphere turns the planets, the constellations and the luminaries. This sphere is set within the depths of the firmament, and the constellations re permanently attached to it, never straying from their fixed position. This sphere surrounds the firmament to the south, the north, the east and the west, and the Dragon stretches within it from end to end, like a cross-beam…and it is stretched out in the middle of the sphere, from the central mid eastern point to the central mid western point” [vi].

This T’li, the “hook” upon which the universe itself hangs, is depicted as a serpent eating its own tail in illustrations, such as this one taken from the 9th Century aggadic Pirkei de Rebbe Eliezer.

Figure 2. T'li and Serpent Pole, R'Eliezer of Worms

Some have speculated that the T’li might be a reference to the axis mundi [vii], the Ptolemaic system’s imaginary line bisecting the spherical universe, which turns on a fixed axis (axis mundi) connecting the two terrestrial poles (north and south), passing between them through the center of the earth. Donnolo in his Sefer Hakhomi describes the Dragon’s position in the “Fourth Sky” which contradicts the Ptolemaic definition of the axis mundi [viii].  Donnolo’s dragon “darkens the light of the two luminaries and the five planets, it moves the luminaries forward and backward and the planets and constellations from east to west and from west to east; it draws the planets back and holds them in one place, preventing them from straying either forwards or backwards…it cannot be seen with the naked eye but rather it is by the study of ancient texts transmitted to us that we gain knowledge of the Dragon…and how the twelve constellations are attached to it” [ix].

The idea of a serpent connecting and controlling the universe and the importance of the North and South Lunar Nodes in predicting eclipses is illustrated in “The Dragon of the Lunar Nodes and the Eclipse Points”, from Kircher's Ars Magna Lucis et Umbra.

Figure 3 “The Dragon of the Lunar Nodes and the Eclipse Points”, from Kircher's Ars Magna Lucis et Umbra.

Looking at the text with an astrologically trained eye, the Dragon appears to be none other than the lunar nodes themselves.  The lunar nodes are not planets. They are points in space indicating the intersection of two orbits, the points where the orbit of the Moon crosses the ecliptic. The north node (“dragon’s head”) is where the moon crosses from south of the ecliptic to north of the ecliptic. The south node (“dragon’s tail) is where it crosses from north of the ecliptic to south of the ecliptic. Their glyph (symbol) recalls the tail-eating dragon in form:

Figure 4 North / South Lunar Nodes (Glyph)

The function of the Lunar Nodes in astronomy is to predict the path of the annual eclipses through the constellations. Eclipses occur only near the lunar nodes. Solar eclipses occur when the passage of the Moon through a node coincides with the new moon; lunar eclipses occur when passage coincides with the full moon.

Of the entire celestial phenomenon, eclipses are the most important and significant in Jewish understandings of astronomy and astrology (indistinguishable in their ancient, historically undifferentiated phase). Eclipses are tied to the fate of nations as well as of individuals. These beliefs are detailed the Talmud: “At the time when the sun is eclipsed, it is an unfavorable period for the world. A parable: This can be compared to a human king who made a feast for his subjects, and placed a lantern before them. When he grew angry with them, he told his servant, ‘Take away the lantern from before them, and place them in darkness!’"  (Talmud Bavli, Succah 29a). Succah 29a also says that solar eclipses occur for four different reasons: 1) If a Torah scholar is buried without being adequately eulogized; 2) If a betrothed girl is raped and nobody responds to her cries; 3) Homosexuality, and 4) Two brothers being killed at the same time. The Talmud in Succah 29a continues:

When the sun is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for the nations of the world.  [When] the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel,^. Since the gentiles reckon their calendar by the sun, and Israel by the moon. When it is in eclipse in the east, it is a bad omen for those who live in the east.  When it is in eclipse in the west, it is a bad omen for those who live in the west. When it is in eclipse in-between, it is a bad omen for the whole world.  When it turns red, it is a sign that punishment by the sword is coming into the world.  When it is like sack-cloth, it is a sign that punishment by pestilence and famine are coming into the world.  If they are smitten at its entry [into sunset], the punishment will tarry. [When they are smitten] when they rise, the punishment is coming fast.  And some say matters are reversed.

Just as the path of the lunar nodes predict the constellation and the degree therein an eclipse will occur, and in Jewish thought the eclipses are tied to the fate of nations, the function of the Lunar Nodes in astrology is tied to the fate or destiny of the individual.

Although references to the nodal function of predicting the fate or destiny of an individual abound in modern astrology [x]  and are used by many modern astrologers to describe the evolution of the soul in the present incarnation, Donnolo may well have been aware of ancient Arabic astrology’s teaching on the caput and cauda, the two lunar nodes described by Abu Ma’shar (787-886) who wrote extensively about their function in his Kitab al-mudhal al-kabir (“Great Introduction to Astrology”) and in Kitab tahawil sini al-alam (“The Book of Revolutions of the World-Years”), works that were greatly respected by the Byzantine astrological tradition in which Donnolo operated during the 10th Century [xi]. Whether Ma’shar drew on knowledge of Sanskrit (Vedic) astrology’s Rehu (“Dragon’s Head”) and Ketu (“Dragon’s Tail”), which may have reached Arabic astrology via Alexander’s foray into India (my speculation), which in Vedic astrology the lunar nodes take an even more prominent and important position than they do in Western astrology, is impossible to ascertain. Nevertheless, whether the association of the lunar nodes with the dragon originated with Ma’shar or if he derived them from a Vedic source, their function is the same: prediction of and control over the fate, “karma”, and destiny.

The celestial beast whose body twists and stretches across the universe, holding the stars in place, are seen through astrological eyes as “Caput” and “Cauda” in Muslim astronomy and “Rehu” and “Ketu” in Vedic astrology,  the means by which eclipses are predicted and tracked for the purpose of determining whether misfortune is about to befall the nations or Israel. The dragon upon whose undulating scales the starry universe is hung, holds the fate and destiny of all creation between his head and tail. “The T’li in the universe is like a king upon his throne” – sovereign over all, as the North and South lunar nodes in astrology are sovereign over human fate.

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[i]Andrew Scharf, The Universe of Shabbetai Donnolo, (Warminster, England, Aris & Phillips LTD, 1976, p. 11)

[ii]ibid, p. 34

[iii]ibid, p. 34

[iv]Sadia Gaon, Commentaire sur le Sefer Yetsirah, translated by Mayer Lambert (Lagresse: Verdier, 2001), p. 73

[v]Marla Segol, Magical Letters, Mystical Planets: Magic, Theosophy and Astrology in the Sefer Yetzirah and two of its Tenth-century Commentaries, (Societas Magica Newsletter, Issue 21, Spring 2009), p.2

[vi]Piergabriele Mancuso, “Shabbatai Donnolo’s Sefer Hakhomi”(Studies in Jewish History and Culture, Boston, 2010, Vol. 27), page 348

[vii]Karen Silvia DeLeon-Jones, Giordano Bruno and the Kabbalah: Prophets, Magicians, and Rabbis, (University of Nebraska Press 1997), p. 175 (among others)

[viii]ibid, p. 344, note

[ix]ibid, pp. 344-345

[x]For a modern look at the ancient esoteric belief about the lunar nodes, see https://classicalastrologer.me/2012/12/14/head-and-tail-of-the-dragon-the-lunar-nodes/ and http://www.astro.com/astrology/tma_article160706_e.htm . While no ancient esoteric astrological “cookbook”-style texts exist to my knowledge which describes the karmic functions of the lunar nodes, the internet abounds with modern astrology’s “New Age” version of the ancient belief. 

[xi]Examples include: https://cafeastrology.com/nodesofthemoon.html  

Trump's Transits and Progressions for Inauguration Day

Some notes on Trump's Transits & Progressions for Inauguration Day:

Transiting Saturn conjunct Trump's natal Moon in Sagittarius / 4th House (and opposes his natal Sun / North Node in his 10th House). YOU WILL NEVER SEE HIM AS SERIOUS AS HE IS RIGHT NOW. THIS IS THE PEAK OF HIS POTENTIAL FOR SERIOUSNESS. 

 Progressed Moon in Cancer conjunct his natal Venus/Saturn in Cancer conjunction in his 11th House. HE BELIEVES HIMSELF TO BE THE GOOD PARENT THIS COUNTRY HASN'T HAD (IN HIS OPINION) UP UNTIL NOW. SECURITY AND "PATRIOTISM" VERY EMOTIONALLY INTENSE AND MEANINGFUL SUBJECTS FOR HIM RIGHT NOW. 

Progressed Mercury in Leo leaving a conjunction with his natal Pluto in Leo / 12th House. HE MAY BE SLOWING DOWN A BIT IN TERMS OF THE EXPLOSIVE RHETORIC, BUT IT STILL COMES FROM A COMPLETELY UNAWARE/UNCONSCIOUS/SUBCONSCIOUS PLACE.

Progressed Sun at Zero Virgo in his 1st House. HE WILL BE SLIGHTLY MORE ANALYTICAL THAN HE'S ACCUSTOMED TO BEING BUT ESPECIALLY IN REGARDS TO HIS OWN EGO. DO NOT MISTAKE "ANALYTICAL" FOR "SELF-AWARE" OR "INSIGHTFUL", ALTHOUGH THOSE ATTRIBUTES MAY BE AN ACCIDENTAL BYPRODUCT - HOPEFULLY! 

Progressed Venus conjunct natal Chiron / Juno in Libra / 2nd House: EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE HAS TO BE BEAUTIFUL AND "NICE", IF SOMEONE ISN'T "BEAUTIFUL" OR "NICE" THEY ARE OF NO VALUE TO HIM. 

Progressed Venus applying to conjunct natal Jupiter in Libra / 2nd House: SUPERSIZED NEED FOR APPROVAL FROM OTHERS. 

Transiting Neptune, Venus, Chiron & Mars in Pisces in his natal 7th House: MYSTICAL UNION WITH "THE PEOPLE" - YOU SAW THAT TODAY. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU SAW TODAY AND IT WILL INFORM THE ENTIRE COURSE OF HIS PRESIDENCY. 

 Transiting Sun in Aquarius entering his 6th House: HE WILL FIND OUT WHAT IT IS TO BE HUMBLED WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH BECAUSE HE'S GOING TO FEEL REALLY, REALLY STUPID AS SOON AS HE STARTS TALKING TO ALL THE REALLY, REALLY SMART PEOPLE WHO ARE NOW HIS "EMPLOYEES" (6th House). WILL EXHIBIT DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOR WHEN HE THINKS OTHERS ARE SECRETLY MOCKING HIM AND ALSO MAY ENCOURAGE ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM DISGUISED AS "POPULISM". 

Transiting Uranus in Aries entering his 9th House: "FOREIGNERS" ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO COUNT ON ANYTHING HE SAYS OR DOES BECAUSE HE'S GOING TO BE AGGRESSIVELY AND WILDLY INCONSISTENT ABOUT "OTHERS" - WHO IS "IN" AND WHO IS "OUT" REGARDING "FOREIGN" POWERS.

COMING SOON - ASTROLOJEW'S 2017 OVERVIEW FOR DONALD TRUMP, THE USA, THE STATE OF ISRAEL AND BIBI NETANYAHU!

America's Toxic Soul-Sickness and the 2016 Election

Transits for November 8, 2016 reveal more about what's ailing America The Beautiful than they do about which of the two deeply troubling candidates might win the election. Pictured here is the USA's natal chart with transits for election day, as well as the natal charts of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald Trump, each with transits for election day as well (Natal positions within the chart circle in black, Transiting positions outside the chart circle in green).

The pain that we're all feeling is Transiting Uranus conjunct Natal Chiron at 19/20 Aries in America's 4th House - our national sense of "home and family". What a poignant illustration of the violent wrenching and rending of our collective identity as an American "family" which is currently the theme of the social and political unrest giving our country shpilkes in our common genektagazoyk.

Chiron is "The Wounded Healer". Chiron's backstory is that he was punished for his compassion by being given a wound that would never heal, and the only relief he could experience was by healing the pain of others. "The Wounded Healer" in America's natal chart is in Aries - ruled by Mars, god of War, aggression, violence. Positioned in our 4th House, it tells of the violent birth of our nation. The wound is in the place of our birth - and Uranus, symbolizing our sense of "uniqueness" and "individuality", transiting through Aries at this time, is conjunct (at the same degree) our natal Chiron. Uranus is also erratic, unpredictable, irregular, unstable, and prone to lightening-flash illumination (on the instantaneous intuitive level of "Binah") and one of the functions of Uranus is to shake someone/something out of complacency. There's no rest with Uranus until you've fixed whatever is broken - and Uranus won't let the status quo emerge until what's gone "wrong" is righted. 

Natal Chiron in Aries in America's 4th House is the violent family origin of the United States, violence done to the Native Americans during our conception and violence done to African slaves and their descendants during our birth. Uranus pressing down on that point in our national chart is the urgent demand for enlightenment and change, coming at a most crucial time.

This position does NOT favor the status quo, and there's nobody more status quo running in the election than Hillary Clinton. This aspect expresses the deepest sense of the injustice of our wound of origin, and demands acknowledgement. Without acknowledgement there is no path to healing - there is just more violence, unrest and dissatisfaction. Another aspect working against Clinton in the USA's natal chart is the Asteroid Vesta (the "Ideal Wife" - or as I like to say, "Betty Crocker in a push-up bra") at 20 Libra in America's 10th (most public) House - DIRECTLY OPPOSITE America's natal Chiron in Aries and Transiting Uranus. America has a Mommy Issue. Nobody personifies that more than Hillary Clinton. She won't be the "Betty Crocker in a push-up bra" kind of public female figure (10th House) we as Americans demand and expect from our female leaders. Americans who feel betrayed or disappointed in their own mothers will take their hostilities out on Clinton at the ballot box - this is illustrated by the Uranus/Chiron transit located in her 5th House (children). America's Inner Child is wounded and that means trouble for Mommy figures.

Interestingly, the rise in popularity of Donald Trump has a lot to do with the xenophobia he expresses on behalf of America. This is because the Uranus/Chiron transit happens in Trump's 9th House ("Foreigners"). Trump's ability to trigger overtly racist aggression in his followers is supported by his natal Mars in Leo, conjunct his Ascendant, which makes a trine (a supportive angle) to the Uranus/Chiron transit in the USA's chart. Trump embodies our collective anger and aggression against the "other", whom we blame for our own woes.

Transiting Jupiter (the Ruling Planet of the USA's Natal Chart because we have Sagittarius Rising, and Jupiter is the Planetary Ruler of Sagittarius) is conjunct America's natal Saturn in Libra on Election Day. Anything Jupiter touches, it EXPANDS. Jupiter conjunct Saturn in Libra is JUSTICE. What is fair, what is right, what is equitable for all parties involved, what is truly "fair and balanced", the very image of the blindfolded woman holding the scales of justice in her hand. This energy is in America's 10th House (public, career, vocation, ambition) opposing the Uranus/Chiron in Aries conjunction in the 4th House (home and nuclear family). It's possible to see Clinton as the archetypal "mother" in the Libra/Venus/10th House urging idealism / justice / fairness opposite Chiron/Uranus in Aries urging offense as the best defense against fear of impending chaos. 

Diagnostically speaking, America has trust and secrecy issues (11th House - the community, collective, claal - in Scorpio) and Hillary Clinton's own Scorpio cluster-bomb in her own 12th House (secrets) make it impossible for her to convince the collective mind of America that she isn't hiding something - something they perceive with their own Wounded Inner Child as being "theirs" and not "hers" to keep private. Clinton's own sensitive, easily wounded Moon in Pisces is so hidden deep within her own natal 4th House that nobody except her family & inner circle of "family-like" friends will ever see it. Externally she's the Queen of Scorpionic Self Control. Anyone who watched the Presidential Debates had to marvel at how she didn't roll her eyes at Trump, not even ONCE - a superhuman display of steely nerves and actually the very quality you'd think Americans would value in the person whose finger would be on the nuclear trigger button. But America can't really trust her because she conforms to the subconscious archetype of the secretive, scheming woman in the American collective unconscious. 

America's natal Sun in Cancer (on America's 7th/8th House cusp: "Bring me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free air") squares Transiting Jupiter conjunct Natal Saturn in Libra in America's 10th House (it's our BUSINESS to be fair, just, and righteous - it's our JOB). Unacknowledged and unrepented-for violence against others which accompanied our birth as a nation and our initial growth lurks in our family of origin background, and triggered by transiting Uranus in Aries, manifests as a demand for change - and social chaos is the price we are paying by ignoring that demand. The kind of "change" being offered by Trump is Devolution, "Make America Great Again" a code phrase for an era that, like the Confederate South, is no more. "Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization gone with the wind".  On the other hand, the change offered by Clinton is essentially no change at all - and America isn't in the mood to extend for four to eight more years a status quo already untenable to at least half the voting population. 

HRC Natal Chart w/Transits, Election Day

The Moon will be in idealistic Aquarius on Election Day - usually a rational, reasonable day motionlessly (Moon = Emotional Self), although by early evening out West the Moon will have moved into emotional, sensitive (paranoid, psychic, porous) Pisces.  Last-minute undecided voters may be more swayed by humanitarian and universalist (Aquarius) instincts when they show up to the polls. 

Hillary Clinton is a Scorpio-Pisces, and it will be Scorpio-Pisces when the election is called, within 24 hours of the closing polls. It will be her astrological birthday, and she'll be expecting a gift - the trust of the American people. 

Trump Natal Chart w/Transits, Election Day

The transiting North Node in Virgo is in Donald Trump's First House on Election Day. His sense of "karma" or fated-ness of his election is strong, enhanced by transiting Jupiter in his 2nd House conjunct his natal Asteroid Juno AND his natal Chiron - he values (2nd House) beauty (Libra), submissive sexy and physically perfect wives (Juno) and his original wound (Chiron) is in this area (as if we couldn't see that front and center in how he treats and relates to women). Transiting Jupiter is making him that way BIGLY.  The entire Scorpio transit (Sun, Black Moon Lilith, Mercury) happens in his 3rd House (communication). He'll be badmouthing Hillary (Mercury in Scorpio, 3rd House) and using her femininity (Black Moon Lilith) as a "scare tactic" in the days leading up to and including Election Day. Transiting Venus conjuncts Trump's natal Moon in Sagittarius (and opposes his natal Sun in Gemini) in the days before the Election, giving him unexpected "cover", possibly via the women in his family. 

So - which candidate will WIN the election? This will depend on America's collective fear factor. The more fear, the more chance Trump has of winning. The more "Mommy Issues", the more chance Trump has of winning. The more a feeling of "there has to be a change and we just don't care what kind of a change, as long as it's different", the more chance Trump has of winning. The LESS fear and the more idealism, hope, and pragmatic, rational sensibility prevailing on Election Day, the more chance Clinton has of winning. Either way, the winner of the election MUST address America's toxic soul-sickness or that sickness will be the death of our Democracy - quite literally. 

Hillary Clinton: The Ultimate Scorpio

#HRC Hillary Rodham Clinton s a Scorpio with her Moon in Pisces. Everyone who has described her has emphasized her Scorpionic traits: persistence, intensity, laser-like focus, long memory, loyalty, the passionate pursuit of that which is desired. 

Scorpios are also private, even secretive. When they speak about her compassion, empathy, lifelong advocacy, concern and care for children, they're talking about her tender Moon in Pisces, hidden way down in her 4th House, the most private place in her Natal Chart. Even if she wanted to - even if she used her mighty Mars in Leo ("fight" might be the most used word in her vocabulary: "I fought" / "I'll fight", etc.), she still couldn't succeed in exposing us, the public, to her most private emotions. 


Trump also has Mars in Leo. He's a "fighter" as well - but he fights for himself and his ego (Mars conjunct his Leo Rising). 

Everything people hate about her can be found in her 12th House. Sun, Chiron, Venus and Mercury in Scorpio, in the place of subconscious/unconscious, hidden enemies, secrets, confinements, dissolving of ego boundaries. Her intensity is seen as obsession, her focus as devouring greed, her sacrifice as selfishness. Impossible to NOT be misunderstood with a 12th House like this - also impossible not to be underestimated.

President Obama said of her: "She was doing everything I was doing, but like Ginger Rogers: backwards and in heels!"

The public may never really "know" Hillary, but for 40 years she's been the big screen for our collective projections (Neptune in Libra in her 11th House). We may never "know" her, she may never satisfy our curiosity. If she cries we'll call her weak, if she doesn't weep we'll call her cold-hearted. What's important about her chart and the way she's intrinsically wired is that she will NEVER give up. She just isn't capable of it.

When she addresses the DNC Thursday, July 28th in Philadelphia, the Moon will be in her 7th House by the time she steps onstage to make her acceptance speech. She will try to be all things to all people. Transiting Mars conjunct her natal 1st House Jupiter will expand her toughness. Transiting Jupiter in Virgo in her 10th House will enlarge her public image as rational and analytical, but opposes her tender (yes, tender) Moon in Pisces, "hidden" in her 4th House, where only her most intimate friends and family ever see it. Ironically, it's what America wants to see from her - will she give us a peek, or will her famous Scorpio Rising privacy fetish hold fast? 

Transiting Sun in Leo squares her natal Scorpio Sun, challenging her to rise to peak performance level and embrace the drama, making it her own. Transiting Venus in Leo conjunct her natal Saturn in her 9th House (AND squaring her natal Mercury) would vote for dressing the part - maybe something with a subliminal paramilitary theme, like Cersi's coronation dress in Game of Thrones. :) 

Sivan - Time to Sail the Seven Seas

Chodesh ‪#‎Sivan‬ Tov!

Sivan is the month in which we receive both the ‪#‎Torah‬ and the ‪#‎Ger‬, the righteous convert whose soul makes Claal Yisrael shalem (complete). Ruth the Moabitess, the great-grandmother of King David (whose birthday and yartzeit we commemorate on ‪#‎Shavuot‬) is the archetype of the righteous convert. ‪#‎Zevulon‬, the Tribe associated with the Month of Sivan and the "mazal" (Zodiac sign) of ‪#‎Gemini‬, travels by sea to gather up and bring back home the riches of other lands and peoples, in order to bless his family.

We too must "travel by sea", cross borders and boundaries, cultures and comfort zones, to find those treasures and bring them "home" to our own hearts and souls, to enrich and make whole that which is lacking. 

Sivan/Gemini's Planet is ‪#‎Mercury‬ ("Kochav"), ruler of both written and oral communication - apt indeed for the month Torah was given at Mt. Sinai.
(Pictured: "Zevulon" by Linette Joel)

Harnessing the Spiritual Power of Ramadan

Ramadan always begins on a New Moon / Rosh Chodesh  of the Jewish Calendar (Head of the Month). This year (2016), Ramadan begins on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, as it did in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1984, 1985, and as it will occur in 2017 and 2018 as well.

  
The Islamic calendar is a lunar system, and the annual occurrence of the month of Ramadan runs on an approximate 32 year cycle varying as to which Hebrew month it falls in, throughout the years, decades, centuries. Unlike the Hebrew solar/lunar calendar, the Islamic calendar has no feast or fast that must fall in a certain season (as we do with the Month of Nissan, Chodesh Aviv, which the Torah mandates must start in the Spring). 

The Sons of Ishmael enact great spiritual power during the fast of Ramadan. Their zealous devotion in fasting from sunrise to sunset during the entire month of Ramadan functions to stimulate, trigger and if needs be, to provoke the Jewish people, cousins of the descendants of Ishmael, to desire and even envy the Muslim level of devotion, surrender and commitment, stimulating us as we seek to emulate, and indeed, exceed it. 

The area we need to renew our commitment and passion in is indicated by the month Ramadan falls in each year. Last year (2015), Ramadan fell on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. During Tammuz years, we look at our patriarch Reuven, to which Tammuz corresponds.  

The tikkun of Reuven had to do with filial duty, and proper care for parents. The Jewish people were being provoked by our Ishmalite cousins to do tshuva this past year in the "Chodesh Tammuz" in the areas in our life, where respect and responsibility to our parents and elders are concerned.  

 Were we successful? How did last year go for us (for you, for me, for us as a community) in terms of "Kavod Av v'Am"?

 This year Ramadan begins on Rosh Chodesh Sivan. Sivan is the month during which we're given the Torah (Shavuot is the Chag which falls on the 5th/6th day of Chodesh Sivan). Sivan is associated with the Tribe of Zevulon, the Planet Mercury ("Cochav") and the function of Mutable Air - Transformative Thought.

Zevulon traveled the Mediterranean in ships, interacting and trading and conversing (Mercury / Gemini) with all the peoples and societies around ancient Israel, in order to bring back riches - both spiritual and material - with which to bless and support his brother-tribe, Issachar (those whose time was given to wisdom-learning, such as the Seasons & Times, and Torah study).

An important aspect of Chodesh Sivan is that of the "Ger", the righteous convert, the soul which enters Claal Yisrael to complete the fullness of our common soul-root.  Ruth the Moabitess is the soul associated with Shavuot, and as she is the archetype / soul root of all righteous converts, she is also the great-grandmother of King David, prototype Messiah and King of the Jews. The story of Ruth, who married Boaz and gave birth to Oved, who was the father of Jesse, the father of David, is read during Shavuot. King David, David the "Sweet Singer of Israel", beloved of the Lord, was born and died on Shavuot. 

The tikkun which Ramadan will trigger for us in 2016 is the test of how we treat the convert, how we relate to the one who desires to draw close for the sake of the blessings of belonging. Those who imagine themselves to be righteous in Torah will be challenged to experience transformative thought in relation to the convert. Indeed, anyone who falls outside our ghetto-mind will come under the category of "other" - and we are challenged as a People to transform our thought towards the "other" until we can see the "other" contains something we ourselves cannot be complete without! Just as the Jewish People were not complete until Ruth came to add her spiritual DNA to the mix, producing MOSHIACH in archetype - King David himself - Ramadan during Sivan years challenge us to SEEK that which is MISSING in our Claal, so that we all might be complete and shalem, whole. 

Just as the Hebrew Calendar and the Jewish Year is the manifestation of Sacred Time, our cousins have been given the Islamic Calendar to know the times and the seasons they are to enact their devotions, which are intended to arouse us to a purer and more passionate response to our own spiritual calling. It is a dance of devotion between root souls - Isaac and Ishmael, both sons of Avraham - and in the end, the time of one is the time of both and the time of both is the time of All.

To contemplate / meditate upon which Hebrew Month Ramadan has fallen in since 1930, I present the following data:

Ramadan in Nissan - 1957, 1958, 1989, 1990, 1991
Ramadan in Iyar - 1954, 1955, 1956, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2019, 2020, 2021
Ramadan in Sivan - 1951, 1952, 1953, 1984, 1985, 2016, 2017, 2018 
Ramadan in Tammuz - 1948, 1949, 1950, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2014, 2015 
Ramadan in Av - 1946, 1947, 1979, 1980, 2011, 2012, 2013 
Ramadan in Elul - 1943, 1944, 1945, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2008, 2009, 2010 
Ramadan in Tishrei (Rosh HaShanah) - 1940, 1941, 1942, 1973, 1974, 1975, 2005, 2006, 2007 
Ramadan in Cheshvan - 1938, 1939, 1970, 1971, 1972, 2003, 2004 
Ramadan in Kislev - 1935, 1936, 1937, 1967, 1967, 1969, 2000, 2001, 2002 
Ramadan in Tevet -  1933, 1934, 1966, 1998, 1999 
Ramadan in Shvat - 1930, 1931, 1932, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1996, 1997 
Ramadan in Adar (I and II) - 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995