Katrina and the Sun Neptune Conjunction

[Author's Note: The following article appeared in the December 2005 edition of The Mountain Astrologer magazine.]

One interesting and novel way to see the Katrina disaster is to examine the chart of the Sun-Neptune conjunction. This is a mundane technique that reduces the need to consult national horoscope for predicting major events since it involves only transiting planets. This is especially helpful when considering matters in the US where the "correct" US chart remains an intractable issue of debate that divides astrologers into longstanding warring factions.

The idea behind it is simple: cast a chart for the moment the Sun conjoins the position of Neptune. We take Neptune here as the significator for water-related events such as hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of the Gulf coast, while the Sun is used as a sort of benchmark constant, a time measure that allows us to gauge the direction that Neptunian energy will take in the one year after the conjunction. The planetary positions will be nearly identical for all places in the world except that the angles, the ascendant and midheaven, will change according to location.

Interpreting the charts of these mundane conjunctions is done according to standard aspecting and whole sign houses. Although I normally work in the sidereal zodiac, I have chosen to use the tropical zodiac here so that readers will be able to follow the ideas more easily. I also take a page from the Vedic approach and regard nodal aspects as largely malefic, depending on other factors. Planets on angles have greater influence and close aspects deserve special attention. The greater the influence of malefic planets on angles or luminaries, the greater the likelihood that Neptune's negative side will become manifest. If benefic planets such as Venus, Mercury and Jupiter are dominant in the chart and otherwise unafflicted, then we can surmise that Neptune's malefic energies will be supressed and its positive side enhanced.

Look at the horoscope for the last Sun-Neptune conjunction on February 3, 2005 1.29 pm CST for New Orleans. Gemini rises and the Sun-Neptune conjunction falls at 19 Aquarius 04 in the 9th house. Right away, we can see that this is a heavily afflicted chart for a number of reasons. First, malefic Pluto is just two degrees from the descendant and suggests that Neptune's influence in the coming year will have a destructive Plutonic energy on a mass level. The close proximity of Mars just four degrees away makes this an even more dangerous combination since Mars rules violence.

Another potentially malefic planet, Uranus, can be found just one degree from the midheaven. This intensifies the energy in the whole chart and perhaps lends a Uranian air of suddenness to Neptune's watery damage. Although Katrina was expected by many to come ashore and cause damage, it was the sudden breaking of the levees later on the first day that made a bad situation worse and unexpectedly flooded the whole city of New Orleans. What's worse about the Uranus influence here is that it is involved in a close square with the Moon. This further ramps up the energy contained in this chart. Since the Moon represents the people as a whole, the difficult Uranian aspect here may well represent the massive relocation of the thousands of people who lost their homes and livelihoods in the wake of hurricane Katrina.

So we know that the annual Sun-Neptune chart was afflicted for New Orleans. Clearly, if we had the foresight to check this chart beforehand (no mean feat!), we could have had a good idea that something untoward would befall the city for the period between the Sun returning to Neptune's position. To get more specific on timing, however, there are two approaches we can use. First, we can compare transit positions on August 29, 2005 when the hurricane struck the city of New Orleans to this base chart. Transit Saturn at 5 Leo was applying to an opposition to chart ruler Mercury 7 Aquarius within two degrees, a sure sign of destruction and loss. Transit Pluto was just days away from stationing less than one degree from the descendant. More exactly, however, transit Sun 6 Virgo was exactly opposing natal Uranus while transit Mars 16 Taurus was squaring the Sun-Neptune conjunction within one degree. Together, these influences showed a simultaneous release of malefic energy within a Neptunian framework.

Directing the base chart by one degree per day (or more precisely, 360*/year) also produces useful results. If we direct the conjunction chart to August 29, we note that Mars has moved to an exact conjunction with natal Saturn at 22 Cancer, a clear signature of a rupture of structures (like levees perhaps) and the application of violence. The other great malefic, Saturn, has moved just one degree past the degree of the Sun-Neptune conjunction itself. This is perhaps the clearest indicator of the destruction (Saturn) caused by water (Neptune). Both of these measurements show a clear pattern of affliction that manifests strongly on that day. Other malefic aspects can be seen in the directed Uranus/Moon square moving into a difficult aspect to natal Mars.

The robustness of this technique can also be seen when a comparison is made to the 2004 Sun-Neptune conjunction which was in effect for the tsumani that struck Asia last year. The chart of February 2, 2004 at 4.29 pm at Banda Aceh, Indonesia features several noteworthy signatures for trouble. First and foremost, Saturn rises just three degrees from the ascendant, perhaps the most harmful place for Saturn in any chart. Also Venus is closely squared by Pluto, while Jupiter is aspected by malefic North Node (or Rahu as it is known in Vedic astrology) What's particularly fascinating about this chart is that different malefics come to influence the angles in the other locations where the tsunami had the greatest impact. In Sri Lanka, the Pluto-Venus square is brought up to the Midheaven, while in southern Thailand, the malefic south node (or Ketu as its known in Vedic astrology) tightly aspects the ascendant while Saturn still afflicts the ascendant albeit with a wider orb.

Mundane planetary conjunctions can be used in variety of ways. For example, I have found that strongly focused Sun-Mars charts signal war, while Sun-Saturn suggests loss and destruction, and Sun-Uranus revolution. These topics are, however, beyond the scope of this brief article. Clearly, more research is needed into this technique. One of the most important areas of clarification will be finding the most efficient way to use this technique for predictive work. In the case of hurricane Katrina, unless you specifically looked at the New Orleans chart of the Sun-Neptune conjunction beforehand (and I did not) , there is little chance you could have predicted it using this chart. Casting mundane conjunction charts for national capitals is one possible way around this conundrum, since they at least cover an entire country and would give some general indication of the energies at play. In this case, however, the Washington, DC chart was not as clearly afflicted as one set for New Orleans and therefore would have been harder to use to forecast this event. Of course as astrologers well know, there is no golden key, no single technique that can provide us the answers we are looking for. Only by working with a wide range of techniques and charts, can we hope to gain even a fleeting glance into the future.