June 23, 2013: Same Day, New Location

Edward Snowden and his WikiLeaks escort had escaped the clutches of the United States, and with his now-canceled passport had managed to leave Hong Kong on a flight to Moscow. He hoped to be able to go on to Cuba and then Venezuela where he could find asylum.  Later, on that same day of June 23, 2013, Snowden landed in Moscow.  While his plane landed, Snowden himself did not appear.  He remained in some unidentified part of the airport. His chart for this date, in Moscow, appears below.

What I first note in this chart is that the angles are close to the relocated natal angles.  In a few days the chart’s angles will advance and align with those relocated natal angles.  This will mark a potential life-changing event.  The t/Moon-opp-n/Sun is from the 4th to the 10th house, and includes t/Jupiter at the n/Sun location.  The book cites a theme for this location; Difficulty with plans . . . Public imageis affected by stated plans. . . private and public life clash.  Renewing something essential to one’s well-being is considered.  Doing the unexpected. This is appropriate.  Snowden was having difficulty with his plans, he was being held incommunicado with no access to public media.  Russia did not know what to do with him.  Putin later referred to him as “an unwelcome Christmas present.”  The world’s press were waiting, but in vain.  

Note n/Mercury-MC opposite n/Uranus (and, n/Jupiter) at the IC, square t/Chiron-Desc.  We can twist the keywords to this pattern in many ways.  Mercury; news, talking, meeting, travel.  Being natal Mercury, this suggests that Snowden has something to say. The n/Uranus; individualism on display.  At the IC, Snowden wishes to set his story in a new light.  The square to t/Chiron-Desc.;  Snowden hopes to use the occasion to make an adjustment in his relationship to the public and his supporters and detractors.  With t/PoF conjoining t/Chiron, he sees the confusion and surprise as an opportunity.

Sucn an opportunity was to be denied for the moment.  On June 30, 2013, opportunity emerged into the light.  Snowden was allowed to apply for asylum in 20 countries.  How this would legally be managed was something else.  He was in Moscow without a valid passport and would have trouble visiting or stopping enroute to any asylum provider without a passport.  His chart for this date is shown below.

The chart angles are now closer to the relocated natal angles.  n/Mercury has passed into the 9th house, t/Mars is close by in the 10th, close to the n/MC and square the n/Asc.  This is a date when Snowden made his appeal and stood in defiance against the misuse of U.S. law and constitutional rights.  In Advance charts, we always check for the t/Sun, t/Moon and t/Part of Fortune and any patterns they may be part of.  t/Sun opposes t/Pluto; fighting the valiant fight, trying to destroy principles in defence of other principles.  t/Moon-t/Uranus in the 7th, square t/Sun, square t/Pluto;  Snowden’s whole identity and need to reaffirm that identity is visible at this moment.  He has the world’s attention.  t/PoF conjoins t/Mars and n/Mars near n/MC and the day’s MC.  Snowden will fight to make his case, to plead his position, to hope that somehow change will better affect his future.

The effect of his appeal would be quickly felt.  On July 1st, a day later, Russia was hosting a summit for Gas Exporters.  The next day, the press asked the President of Bolivia what he thought about Edward Snowden arriving in Moscow and seeking asylum.  He know nothing about this.  Upon further conversation, he indicated that Bolivia would be pleased to offer Snowden asylum.  Upon leaving Bolivia, and enroute from Moscow to Bolivia, the President’s plane was denied access to the airspace of several European countries.  Those governments, allies of the U.S. did not want Snowden to escape to Bolivia.  It was later learned that Snowden was not on the President’s plane.  The U.S. was embarrassed by an intelligence failure.  The chart for that date is shown below.

The relocated natal angles and Advanced chart angles are aligned.  This is a crucial day for Snowden.  Again, for Advanced charts we first look at angular planets and their aspects, then t/Sun, t/Moon and t/PoF, finally we can look for ‘doubled up’ planets.  t/Mars-MC-MC is angular;  a decision as to act or not to act is at hand.  The angular realignment always requires a decision, it seems.   t/Sun opposite t/Pluto, square t/Uranus;  will Snowden act in his own interests or will he shake up his world.  What will result from whatever action he takes?  t/PoF conjoins n/MC; his status is of high importance to him. He has a mission to continue his pressure on the U.S. government and its misuse of intelligence gathering.  t/Moon-square n/PoF, square t/Venus;  His feelings are guided by his values and attempt to achieve balance between intelligence gathering and the legal uses of it gathering.  He will have to change his tactics to suit the situation.

Snowden did not take the planet with the Bolivian President.  We don’t know if he could have or if the Russians wouldn’t let him go.  He would stay in Russia for awhile, at least.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snowden Indicted, Leaves Hong Kong

After leaving the Mira Hotel, Edward Snowden went into hiding.  He was aided by an unknown-to-us person according to his local legal advisors.  He moved from house to house on a daily basis, afraid of being picked up by agents on behalf of the United States.  He was aware, according to Luke Harding, author of The Snowden Files, of a 2004 incident where another refugee had been deceived and was put on the wrong plane. That refugee and his family ended up in Libya where he was tortured and interrogated on behalf of the British Government.

During the following weeks, efforts were made to determine if he could remain in Hong Kong without being deported, or could he gain political asylum in another country?  Hong Kong was nervous about him staying there, not able to guarantee protection. They did not relish being put in a position of opposing U.S. interests in Edward Snowden.  How would the Chinese authorities react?  They would like to have Snowden in their custody as the U.S. had hacked many millions of their messages.

On Friday, June 21, 2013 the U.S. government formerly indicted Snowden for espionage. The pressure was quickly mounting on Hong Kong to comply with the rule of law.  A new player now entered the game.

Julian Assange, a refugee in the Ecuadorian Embassy in Britain, wanted to help someone whom he perceived to an ally in terms of releasing information against the interests of the U.S.  Assange sent his ‘sometime’s girlfriend’, Sara Harrison to Hong Kong, carrying safe-passage papers for Ecuador.

Snowden wished to reach Iceland, but that would require passage through countries that would likely cooperate with the U.S. and have him arrested.  Ecuador could be reached through stops in Russia and Cuba.  On June 23rd, Snowden and Harrison went to the Chek Lap Kok airport and boarded flight SU213 to Moscow.  Snowden’s t/Moon-n/Sun Return chart for this day is shown below.

Snowden’s relocated natal MC and Asc. (for Hong Kong) are coincidental with the Return chart’s angles, marking this day as a significant life change.  The match up of natal or relocated natal angles with any cyclic chart’s angles is always a major sign of a life change within the context of that particular chart.  t/N.Node-Asc.-opposite-t/PoF-Desc. places the day’s focus on taking action.  With the n/Moon also involved, we can see that Snowden was seeking support (n/Moon) with the help of another (t/N.Node, Ascendant) to cause a change (Part of Fortune).

The Return t/Moon opposite n/Sun from 2nd to 8th house offers us a ‘theme.’  The book’s theme (Personal Moon-to-Sun Returns 2) for this Moon-Sun position has to be modified for this unusual event.  Instead of “Managing investments brings conflicts if one strays from areas of capability” we would state that Managing joint endeavors can raise conflicts and complications if one doesn’t understand the situation.  The part of the book’s theme statement that states “Confidence in the face of competition.  Emotions are kept in check.  Others may show stress, you have to show assuredness.  Drawing upon one’s own resources.” is applicable.  Snowden and Harrison were very nervous at the airport, seeing suspicious faces everywhere, fearing they would be stopped.  They boarded the plane and were soon airborne for Moscow.

With n/Moon opposing t/PoF across angles, we naturally look for the opposing versions of those two and find t/Moon (2nd) square n/PoF (5th).  t/Moon-2nd identifies Snowden’s self-assurance and confidence being tested (square aspect) relative to the ‘chance-change’ nature of his gamble in going to Moscow (5th house).   This use of “doubled up” planets as a means of refining our interpretations works well with Return and cyclic charts.

If we turn our attention to t/N.Node-Asc. and astrologically hopscotch over to n/N.Node, we find the N.Node between Mars and Sun.  Ebertin notes this combination as “the cultivation of good fellowship, the desire to succeed in teamwork, joint plans or undertakings.  Confederation and association in working or fighting for certain objectives.”  (Ebertin is the author of “The Combination of Stellar Influences”.  This book may be the most purchased book in astrological history.)

At first glance, some of us may seen this Return chart as sparse in meanings relative to the event being examined.  Cyclic charts are often like that — only a very few planets or points-of-interest (Nodes, Part of Fortune) are angular.  Yet, those very few factors do tell a story.

We can now look at expanding our chart interpretations.  There are planets in angular houses even though they are not close to the angles.  We have the following:

• n/Jupiter-n/Uranus in the first. This pair is squared by t/Neptune, suggesting that finding opportunities, taking advantage of them involves great uncertainty.
• t/Neptune and t/Chiron in the fourth. t/Chiron squares t/Mars-n/Mercury in the 7th house.  Taking action relative to travel (Mars, Mercury) is subject to adjustments and uncertainty about the choices made.
• t/Mars, n/Mercury, n/Chiron in the seventh. n/Chiron is inconjunct t/Moon.  Snowden will feel uncomfortable about his resources and choices (2nd-7th) houses.

So, these more-remote-from-the-angles but still angular house factors also play well into the story, supporting and adding detail.  This is similar to peeling an onion, one layer at a time.  Yet, the focus on the closely angular factors, no matter how few there are, forms the basis of the story and starts us along the correct interpretation.

We will continue our Snowden story from his Moscow location where he landed and where he has stayed these many months.  Also, I will soon be posting an essay of Doubled-up Planets and playing Astrological Hopscotch.  From my daily reports I can see that very many of my readers frequently delve into the many essays that I have posted.  This one on doubled-up planets and the use of jumping or ‘hop scotching (to use the children’s name for their game) represents a different way of interpreting charts than what mainstream astrologers use.  I receive many comments on how easy it seems to others.  Dave

PS  several nights ago Edward Snowden did a live video interview on StartPage.com in which he expressed my answers and opinions on what the U.S. government did, and has been doing relative to spying on terrorist and world Internet traffic.   He was very articulate and knowledgeable about every question asked and subject involved.  The U.S. continues to avoid any talk of issuing a pardon to him before he returns and faces legal actions.  I’m not sure how this will play out.  I do know that there are many who support his receiving a pardon and offer Internet access to expressing opinions.  Dave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snowden’s Revelations Spread to Britain’s David Cameron

Three days before Edward Snowden vanished within the dense urban jungle of Hong Kong to avoid arrest, the Guardian digital news team released an Oct. 2010 Presidential Directive to create a listing of targets for a cyber attack.  This news release was scheduled for June 7th, 2013.  The White House was also advised that their program called Boundless Informant would be the next release subject.  “Boundless Informant” was a program that allowed NSA to collect the volume of information transmitted by any country.  As an example of how penetrating this program was, in March 2013 the NSA collected 97 billion (with a B) data points from computer networks worldwide.  This story was so complex to explain that it was actually not released until several additional days of work could be put into it in order for the story to be easily understood.  It was at this time that Obama was meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.  There had been difficulties between both countries as the U.S. was accusing  China of cyber-spying.  Now a new perspective was being added to the charges and counter-charges.

The White House was now paying attention to the Guardian’s release and management of these documents acquired though Snowden.  It was against this backdrop of a panicked U.S. Administration trying to cope with embarrassing and hurtful releases of sensitive information, and their efforts to find and apprehend the leaker, that Snowden left his hotel room.  In the following days he worked with his lawyer to find asylum in other countries while also making arrangements to leave Hong Kong.

Prior to his being able to leave Hong Kong one of several more stories of cyber-spying can be introduced.  On June 16, 2013 the U.S.Guardina released a story about TEMPORA, a program which interacted with other programs and involved the UK’s part in spying.  Britian’s GCHQ (their NSA function) was tapping into transmission cables that passed between Europe and the US and was a full blown partner with the US.  Some of these documents revealed that Prime Minister David Cameron was about to host a G8 Summit.  It seemed that the delegates at other conferences had all been individually hacked, allowing the US and UK to have advance information about programs and bargaining points.  This proved to be a real embarrassment   David Cameron’s charts for that June 16th, 2013 information release are given here.

Chart for June 3, 2013 t/Moon opp n/Sun Return for David Cameron.

Of immediate note is Cameron’s natal angles very near the Return chart’s angles.  This always signifies a major crises point in one’s life.  The t/Moon opposes n/Sun in the first house; Cameron’s actions are seen to directly affect the integrity of others.  This is a highly personal situation.  This t/Moon had conjoined t/Uranus earlier that day, t/Uranus opposes n/Venus, his ability to relate to others was being challenged suddenly.  t/PoF conjoins n/Jupiter-n/Moon; one’s openness and receptiveness to/from others will be upset during this cycle.

Let us now move to the Advanced chart for June 16th, 2013 to see what this embarrassing day offered Cameron.

The Asc. conjoins n/Venus while the MC approaches t/Venus.  Obviously, his ability to relate with well with others is at stake.  How will he handle his personal actions relative to the professional-diplomatic requirements of his representation of his country?

We can note t/Mercury in the 10th conjoining n/PoF; his words will not be well received.  Playing astrological hopscotch, we can jump our attention over to n/Mercury and find that it is conjoined by t/Saturn; communication will be limited on this date.

In fact, t/PoF-IC-t/Pluto implies that personal trust in Cameron will be shattered.  t/Uranus at the Desc. angle backs this up.  A frost will chill relations on this day.

These charts are an excellent example of how clearly the events of the day are shown and explained so clearly within the context of the subject’s life.  For any person, on any given day, the Return and Advanced charts show the areas of life and the energies of life that are in play.  Typical key words for each/any of the angular planets suffice to describe what is going on.  The Mercury cited here relates to talking, communicating, documents, news and information being shared.  Venus cited here relates to trying to balance life, finding bonds with others, establishing valued relationships.  It is all that simple.       Dave

Snowden Again Vanishes

Once the several meetings between Snowden and the Guardian Staff had filmed an interview and arranged for the encoded transfer of documents to the Guardian in New York, Snowden made plans to disappear from his hotel in Hong Kong before the U.S. authorities could arrest hi,.

Pictured above is one scene from Hong Kong harbor.   We have been reviewing Snowden’s actions in Hong Kong and the U.S. Guardian’s actions in New York and with the White House during the first days of releasing documents on the government’s use of phone and data records.  Let us take note of these incidents:

• June 3, 2013.  Documents are shared with the Guardian’s staff.  The first release of a document occurred at 7 PM in NYC following a notification to the White House.  Verizon was specifically named as a cooperative party.
• June 4, 2013.  The Guardian notified the White House that more releases were coming.  More companies would be tagged as cooperating with the government.
• June 5, 2013.  Snowden was happy that CNN, among others, had picked up on the story of phone records being shared with the government.
• June 6, 2013.  Snowden’s demeanor and attire changes as he views the results of his work to reveal government programs.  A video was prepared of him.
• June 7, 2013.  The Guardian published the Presidential directive of Oct. 2012 that identified specific overseas targets for U.S. retaliation.
• June 8, 2013.  The NSA program, Boundless Informant’ was revealed.

On June 9, 2013 Snowden had a t/Moon-n/Sun Return in the 4th house.

This offers a ‘theme’ of fundamental changes involving (from the book) . . . “promoting yourself, changing your personality, making an effort to work through a transition . . . expanding one’s place.  Something ends, something begins.” All this would be in question over the next two weeks.  t/Nepune-Asc. indicates a vague, idealistic or misunderstood set of actions.  t/Mars-IC-t/Sun conjoining n/Mercury indicates action, intentions, news and movement.  Having both the natal and transiting Suns in the fourth house does strongly point to shifts in one’s life.  t/Jupiter is deeper into the 4th and conjoins n/N.Node and n/Jupiter, again augmenting the feeling of major changes involving others.

I would like now to move to an Advanced chart for the next day, June 10, 2013.

When evaluating an Advanced chart we typically pay attention to the t/Moon, t/PoF, t/Sun and angular planets.  We also note any “doubled-up” planets.  Sometimes the answers are evident.  At other times we have to dig a bit.

t/Neptune-Asc. is most striking.  Drama, illusion, deceit, ideals all come to mind.  We need to look for more indicators.  t/Mars-IC-t/Sun squares t/Neptune; strong actions and intentions initiate a new game in Snowden’s life.  t/Venus-t/Moon-t/Mercury oppose t/Pluto, all squared by t/Uranus.  This complex pattern involves a strong and personal statement (Venus-Moon-Mercury) playing a role in a social bomb-blast (Pluto square Uranus) that causes great upset.

So, we have looked at this Advanced chart and noted the angular planets, t/Moon, t/Sun. We now look for t/Part of Fortune.  We see t/PoF conjoining n/PoF in the first house.  Since we are looking at a ‘conjoining’ we can say that Snowden himself is the cause of a great amount of change and chaos.

So, what changed on this day?  Snowden packed his bags and computers, then vanished from his hotel.  The U.S. authorities were trying to reach him, legalities were involved in seeking his arrest and return to the U.S.  Hong Kong was dragging its feet, wishing this situation would resolve itself.  t/Neptune-Asc. is most symbolic for this date when he moved out of his hotel and vanished from the sight of the authorities.

Snowden was in hiding.  He did not leave Hong Kong on this date.  He was working with a lawyer trying to set up an asylum situation.  He had planned on establishing the release and publication of his material.  He had planned on making himself known to the public.  He had planned on finding a safe haven but could not do that prior to the release and publication of the secret documents he provided to the Guardian and would continue to feed to the Guardian.  During this period from when he went into hiding and the date when he actually chose to leave, Snowden frequently changed his location, often staying in private houses to further thwart tracking.

Having established procedures for communicating via encrypted messages, the Guardian staff and Snowden parted company.  Yet, the story continued and it touched many people and leaders around the globe.  We will next explore some of those happenings.

More of his story will continue in the next posting.

 

 

 

 

The Guardian Releases the First Snowden Story

This post will provide these charts and a video of Snowden speaking from Hong Kong where he was being interviewed by the Guardian staff while providing them with secret documents.

• t/Moon-opp-n/Sun Return chart for the Guardian News in New York prior to releasing Snowden’s first story.
• Advanced chart for the Guardian’s June 5, 2013 digital broadcast about Verizon providing the NSA with America’s phone records.
• A “double-diurnal” Advanced chart for the actual time of the first digital broadcast of the Snowden story.
• A video of Snowden’s remarks about his motives in releasing this material.

Edward Snowden; First Release of Material by Guardian-US

And, now, the story.

During and following the first meeting with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, the staff there was working hard to transfer information back to the New York office.  There, Editor Janine Gibson, Spencer Ackerman, Miller and others were also working furiously to both ready the release of the news while also putting in place a strategy for dealing with the expected reactions of the various government agencies.  There were both legal and journalistic considerations.  Let us first review a little background information.

The Guardian went into operation in July of 2011.  A staff of 31 was very small when compared to other papers such as the New York Times having thousands of employees.  On June 3, 2013, Spencer Ackerman had just been hired and was spending his first day of ‘orientation’ at the Guardian’s offices.  For that whole first morning he just sat waiting as the top staff seemed unbelievably panicked over some issue.  Ackerman had spent a decade chasing down government secrecy stories, uncovering tid-bits here and there and trying to weave it all into a pattern.  At lunch, he was invited to to join Editor Gibson and Miller for lunch around the corner from the news office.  As they sat in the crowded Ed’s Lobster Bar, Ackerman was told of Snowden’s story.  He had been brought aboard the staff because of his background in working such stories and his contacts within the U.S. government.  Once the Snowden material about Verizon giving the NSA access to all of its phone records was crafted, and the plan to deal with the government had been developed, Ackerman’s first task was to return to Washington, DC and contact the White House to give them a ‘heads up’ on the story that was to be released.

On Wednesday afternoon he called Verizon followed by a call to the White House for Caitlin Hayden, the chief spokesperson for the National Security Council.  Hayden could not be reached, an e-mail was sent.  At mid-afternoon Hayden returned his call and was told of the Guardian’s upcoming story involving a secret FISA court document due to be published at 4:30 pm that day.  The Guardian’s plan was to leave the government little time to react while they made every attempt to ‘play fair’ by providing a ‘heads up’ policy of being cooperative and sensitive.  Hayden was shocked and went into action.  At four she requested a little more time to put a staff together for the government.

Ackerman and the Guardian gave her until 5:15 PM.  A whole range of agency officials were mustered for the meeting.  The government’s idea was to intimidate the Guardian with all of their heavy hitters, hoping to stretch out the process and bring further pressure against the release of the story.  After a half hour it was obvious that any mutual approach was going nowhere.  The government staff was getting irritated, shouting ensued.  Just after 7 PM the Guardian published its story.

Following are two charts, a Moon-Sun Return and an Advanced chart for that June 5th date when the first Snowden story was released.

In the Guardian’s t/Moon-opp-n/Sun Return several striking features are noted.  Keep in mind that this is based on a corporate chart, the date at noon that they went into business.  t/Mars is at the MC indicating an aggressive nature in their plans.  t/PoF conjoins t/Sun in the 10th house; they were taking a risking course of action.  Note that n/Mars is opposed by n/PoF; risks and boldness was part of their character.  Other challenges are indicated in this chart.  Note t/Moon opposing n/Sun from the 8th to the 2nd house cusps; the values of the news organization and its financial basis was  dependent upon the public’s reaction to its work.  Finally, we have t/Neptune conjoining the n/MC, the n/Chiron at the Desc. angle while t/Chiron squares t/Sun-t/PoF in the 10th.  A very integrated ball of wax showing the need to make adjustments and to keep a balance between principles and ideals (t/Sun square t/Neptune).

Although there was an espionage act in place it had not been used against journalists and the Guardian felt that their rapid release schedule would not provide the government with the time to put a restraining policy in place when considering the expected public outcry over learning of this story.

The date of the news story’s release and the meetings with the government was June 5th. An Advanced chart is shown below.

Slight but interesting changes have taken place in the chart during the past five days which indicates how useful these forms of charting are for tracking day-to-day activities.  t/PoF opposes n/PoF; this is a hall mark pattern for taking great chances.  Also, t/Moon conjoins n/Jupiter in the 9th house; the public’s reaction to something ‘big’ is linked to news from a foreign location.  The chart’s Descendant angle has edged up to contact t/Neptune; the deceit of others is an issue on this day.

The story that broke was about Verizon’s participation in providing the NSA with access to millions of U.S. Citizens phone records, as well as other records involving contacts from around the globe that involved a United States source or destination, and, as it later turned out, any data that crossed U.S. held communication circuits.  The public was shocked, the government was in full panic mode.  While no details had been given, they understood that there was other similar material that would likely become public news.

The story went “viral” as they say, being picked up by all of the major news networks and the nation’s news papers.

To further examine this important moment in the Guardian’s news-life, we can employ a technique I call the “double diurnal” advanced chart.  In this case the t/Moon-opp-n/Sun Return is diurnally advanced several days and then on a particular day we advance the chart’s calculation time, in this case 11h48m23s AM by 7h12m to reach, approximately, 7:00 PM when they put up the story digitally for all the world to read.

Rotating the Advanced chart to reflect the 7:00 PM time brings t/Mars to the Desc. angle; being aggressive with others.  t/Chiron-IC points to making adjustments in one’s practices and base of support.  n/Mercury near the MC suggests that this news outlet is fulfilling its founding goals of informing the public.  Its opposition to t/Chiron may portray its unique format of digital on-line presentation rather than the printed news.  Transiting Mercury seems to add to this picture, opposing t/Pluto which makes a square to t/Uranus; the news will tear apart the hidden nature of the NSA.  We can stretch the interpretation further but this gives us the basic story.

This story represents one of new-journalism’s finest hours.  The courage of Janine Gibson, Editor of the U.S. Guardian news, Edward Snowden and the Guardian staff who worked in secrecy to reveal the gaps between public statements and private policy and actions was astounding.  Below is a link of part of the Snowden interview filmed by Laura Poitras in Hong Kong before Snowden left that city to avoid capture.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/may/22/edward-snowden-work-not-finished-video

The purpose of this blog site it to both bring interesting stories before my visitors as well as to demonstrate various forms of Return and cyclic charting practices.  I feel that it is appropriate for most capable and professional astrologers to recognize that there exists other effective forms of astrological practice that offer life-tracking and predictive tools.  I call this approach “day-to-day” astrology.  It seems more helpful to work with a client using these charting techniques with clients so that their life in the near-term can be forecast and plans made to adjust to the upcoming changes they will encounter.  Having a balanced life is preferable to chaos and running to an astrologer after the fact.  Dave.