Editor’s Note: this article appears in the Winter 2016 print edition of Hexagon. It’s also been turned into a YouTube video and uploaded to both Vimeo and Soundcloud. -Matt

Using its first public screening (July 21st, 2015 @ 7:30 pm in Philadelphia) as its date of birth, the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton has its Sun (identity) in Cancer (sign of family) and Moon (needs) in Libra (sign of melodies, justice). The film documents the rise and fall of an ad-hoc family (Cancer) of rappers best remembered for justice minded melodies (Libra) so controversial they drew the ire of everybody from the FBI and Focus on the Family to Oprah Winfrey and Tipper Gore. It’s one of the most anticipated musical biopics in history and, as coincidence would have it, astrologer Linda Goodman describes the biographical arc of the Cancer/Libra pairing in distinctly musical terms. In her 1978 book Love Signs she writes:

True to Ms. Goodman’s description of the Cancer/Libra pairing, Straight Outta Compton’s most enjoyable scenes are those depicting the group’s melodiously ribald musical performances. Those performances, all of which take place during the first half of the film, combine the smoothly restful, rhythmically mellow proto-G-funk style of Andre “Dr. Dre” Young’s producing abilities with the crashing intensity of O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson’s lyrical genius, all punctuated by the menacing irreverence of Eric “Eazy-E” Wright’s high pitched, rock-n-roll street drawl. The result is pure entertainment. In contrast, the second half of the film focuses on what happens when the musical duets stop and disputes over money begin. By the end of the film, those disputes have left a trail of innocent bystanders in their wake: wives and girlfriends, business partners, even Eazy-E himself.

In his book Moon Phases, astrologer Raven Kaldera describes the combination of Cancer Sun with Libra Moon as “The Black Knight” for whom:

As per Kaldera’s description of the Cancer/Libra pairing, the subjects of Straight Outta Compton are entirely “aware they are outside the law but consider the law corrupt.” Their anger at injustice meted out by the deeply corrupted LAPD explodes into music too powerful to be ignored. “They have the authority to kill a minority”, lyricist-in-chief Ice Cube hollers in “F**k Tha’ Police,” the group’s 1988 protest anthem as relevant to the Obama years as it was to the Reagan era.

As far as fashion goes, the group favors the all black attire of the L.A. Raiders (knights) professional football team. None of the young men own any horses like the knights of old but their leader Eazy-E is known for cruising around town in a 1964 model Chevy Impala, a high performance vehicle that is to rap musicians of his era what destrier charging horses were to knights of medieval times. He even records a hit song about it, the film’s depiction of which is both wryly humorous and deeply humanizing.

The members of N.W.A. may not be Kaldera’s “Black Knights” in the literal sense of the word but the film does depict them as low-rider driving anti-heroes who speak out about police brutality at a time when public discussion of such matters was kept under the tight control of corporate media. The film even engages in a bit of family (Cancer) lawyering (Libra). In one scene, Ice Cube responds to a reporter’s criticism of the group’s lyrics by citing the Constitution, “Freedom of speech includes rap music. We’re exercising our first amendment rights as far as I’m concerned.” He and Eazy-E then explain that the parties alleged to be responsible for gang warfare and the crack epidemic may not be the ultimate culprits they’re made out to be. “The cocaine comes from Columbia, the AKs [assault rifles] come from Russia. But none of us have a passport. So you might want to check the source,” they adroitly observe.

In their book Sun Sign Moon Sign, Suzi and Charles Harvey tell us that an “image for integration” for the Cancer/Libra pairing is, “Mother Goose recites a poem, surrounded by adoring fairy tale creatures.” Strange as it may sound, that’s actually an excellent metaphorical approximation of Straight Outta Compton. The film’s operative scene takes place inside a rented recording studio where Eazy-E recites the lyrics to “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” a bass-heavy, urban folk-poem that would become legendary for its unflinching depiction of life on the streets of Los Angeles at the height of the drug war. Eazy-E isn’t “Mother Goose” per se but the film does portray him as an ambitious, business-minded midwife to a group of artists whose life stories have since taken on such mythological levels of significance that the film is now the number one grossing musical biopic of all time.

While both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Straight Outta Compton is not without serious shortcomings. Astrologically, it’s a good example of the Cancer/Libra tendency to deny or ignore uncomfortable issues out of existence even as it confronts others. Most notably, N.W.A.’s rampant misogyny and homophobia are left unquestioned while Dr. Dre’s vicious beating of music journalist Dee Barnes is left unmentioned. The contributions of all-star girl group J.J. Fad are conveniently written out of the film even though it was money and acclaim from their hit song “SuperSonic” that established the group’s label as a legitimate player within the music world. With a few brief exceptions, women are depicted as little more than bitches, hoes, and “house-whores.” This is a systemic and not-insignificant blight on what, at times, is one of the more emotionally moving (Cancer), justice minded (Libra) films in recent memory.

Saturn in Scorpio: Planet of Challenges in the Sign of Underworlds

Straight Outta Compton’s Sun (identity) at 28 degrees Cancer (sign of family) receives a supportive contact from Saturn (planet of structures) at 28 degrees Scorpio (sign of underworlds). From beginning to end, the film is structured (Saturn) around a series underworlds (Scorpio). It starts in the underworld of a South Central Los Angeles dope house where we see a drug deal between friends go from bad to worse to even worse. It ends in another underworld, the AIDS ward of Cedar Sinai Medical Center. In between, it’s structured around the psychological underworlds of backroom business deals and joint financial transactions. Early in the film, a closed door agreement between Eazy-E and N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller is depicted as financially shortchanging other members of the group. Later, the strong arm tactics utilized by Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight in procuring the services of Dr. Dre prompt Eazy-E to consider having Knight assassinated, a course of action Heller dissuades him from pursuing.

In his book Myth Astrology, astrologer Raven Kaldera associates Saturn in Scorpio with the myth of Cerridwen, a Celtic goddess who assists others by regenerating slain corpses in her cauldron. Nobody depicted in Straight Outta Compton is able to regenerate corpses but we do see Dr. Dre persuade Eazy-E to invest money acquired from the corrosive dead end that is the crack trade into a cauldron of smoking hot musical acts that end up cracking the top of the charts. There’s no voodoo or magic in the film, but turning money accrued from an industry backed by bullets made of lead into records made of gold arguably qualifies as something akin to alchemy.

North Node in Libra: The Other Side to the Other Side of the Story

Straight Outta Compton was released as the transiting North Node (point of destiny) was in Libra, the sign responsible for providing the other side of the story. In many ways, the film accomplishes its North Node directive as there are numerous scenes in which we see police violence depicted from the other side of the boot or battering ram. It’s in these moments that the film operates as counter-programming to officially sanctioned narratives regarding the application and misapplication of justice (Libra) in our culture.

At the same time, even compelling counter-narratives often require additional counter-narratives if justice is to be truly served (Libra North Node). In regards to the counter-narrative offered by Straight Outta Compton, most reviewers have chosen to look the other way when it comes to the group’s appalling dehumanization of women and the film’s near total erasure of them. However, a few voices have come forward with counter-narratives to the counter-narrative. For instance, in an interview published by the Huffington Post, Sikivu Hutchinson reminds us that “N.W.A. was instrumental to the normalization of terroristic, misogynistic violence against black women and girls.” Writing in the Washington Post, journalist Jamilah Lemieux acknowledges the film’s cinematic brilliance but explains that the current mobilization against police violence is “far less driven by rap and rappers than it is by black women.” Critics and fans who celebrate the group’s anti-authoritarian valor but fail to question the injustice of music that treats black women as disposable commodities are thus “missing the other half of the story”, she points out.

About the Author: Matt Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or astrological consults via Twitter, his first YouTube channel, his second YouTube channel, SoundCloud, LibSyn or this site’s contact page.

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Editor’s Note: this is a 400 word article excerpt from Michael Lutin’s 2,000 word appearing on pages 24-to-27 of Hexagon #2. -Matt

In the case of the United States, we are facing a Plutonian confrontation that began before the United States was even the United States and was just a ragtag bunch of settlers.

Way back then, Pluto was also in Capricorn. So let’s look at that.

Pluto in Capricorn represents the landlord, archetypically speaking, and always involves the question of the rightful ownership of property. In fact, we could say that it represents invasion and the seizing of property. So while attorneys litigate their heads off in long protracted court cases, the issue is, of course, who owns any property on the Earth. No matter how well we disguise the motivation for war and dress it all up in ideological and moral righteousness, it is always about real property and the development of natural resources.

Viewed astrologically, the United States’ Sun in Cancer is at a pretty wide angle to be considered a traditional opposition to Pluto. I’m not so interested in that sort of orb. I’m interested in at what point in time and space such an alignment would become exact or partile.

In the case of the United States, by secondary progression, that was around the year 1791. That was the year the Sun opposed natal Pluto by secondary progression. 1791 marks a very big defeat for the Native Americans when the US won the territory of the Northwest at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It was also the year that the Bill of Rights was ratified.

Transiting Pluto, currently in opposition to the natal Sun, is echoing the progression of 1791 in current events. And here we are at the doorstep of our Pluto return natal position being 27 Capricorn.

The United States of America was born in confrontation. The fundamental issue in the history of this country is the control of property, and especially the illusion that you can invade, conquer, and seize property and pilfer someone else’s natural resources with no consequences at all.

If you do it in the name of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, nobody can say a thing.

But wait, think of everyone in the world right now. Isn’t this a mark of the darker side of Pluto in Capricorn? It is easy to name names and fire away at political leaders and “terrorists” for their encroachment upon foreign territory since the 16th century. But are we not, as members of the Earth community, being encouraged to shiver in fear as our leaders all over the world demonize the next group whose lands they jealously covet?

But wait again: those heartless murderers who kill innocent citizens in surprise attacks—who are they? Who are they really?

This is not new. This is not news. Is the population of the world truly resolved to end evil? Who is the terrorist? Is there a macabre plot to intimidate everyone and demonize all Xenos?

Who are the Xenos? What is a Xeno? Are you a Xeno? Am I a Xeno? The fact is, we are all Xenos to somebody.

With Pluto in Capricorn, it is not so clear exactly who the invader is.

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Sun sign horoscopes cannot replace a proper analysis of your birth chart and transits of the moment. They are meant to be a broad insight into certain time signatures. If you want a more detailed forecast, you can book a reading with me at 9thhouseastrology.com. It will be my pleasure to help you unlock and prepare for any upcoming opportunities or challenges. The rising sign is essential in understanding our personal dispositions, please read your Sun sign and Rising sign for extra clarity. Happy explorations! -Elodie

ARIES/ARIES RISING ♈︎

In the last few months, Aries, you spent a lot of time over-analysing your situation, yourself and everything that is possibly wrong with you. You might not have been aware of this ongoing internal critic, but I urge you to start the year with a clean slate in the self-esteem department. It’s ok to use a magnifying glass to look at ourselves,,all our little flaws and every little wrinkle, but sometimes you have to take a breather, take a step back and look around at what is going on outside of your immediate periphery. Make a New Year resolution to let go of a bad habit and then get your priorities straight. The urgent matter at the moment and the place where you need some restructuring have to do with your work, your career, and your place in society. The New Moon on January 9th is connecting you to “the boss that lives within”, your inner CEO, the person in charge. You are looking for more autonomy. You want to do your own thing. How bad do you want it? What do you have to let go in order to get more financial autonomy? The Full Moon is in Leo on the 23/24th, and it ILLUMINATES the part of your chart that connects you to your creative center. You want more freedom, more fun and you have a lot of creative juice brewing at your core. January is an excellent month to revise your ambitions, what you have to contribute to the community and the role you want to have in society.

TAURUS/TAURUS RISING ♉︎

January is a solid month and there is a lot on your plate to start the New Year. You have creative power at the moment. If there is someone able to bring ideas into reality this year, it is you. The New Moon in Capricorn on the 9th is happening in the part of your chart that deals with what you believe in, which to some extent has been under revision. How do your spiritual inclinations and what makes you rise above the mundane fit in with your surrounding, your friends or the people you associate with? Are they at odds or do you feel supported? Now would be a good time to take stock since you might be hyper aware of the disparities between your philosophies of life and the community you are a part of. A serious appraisal of the situation is called for. Mercury retrograde in Capricorn for most of the month is an excellent time to revise your overall direction and where you see yourself going in the long term. Your ruler Venus will conjunct Saturn which calls for maturity in all of your dealings and personal relationships. You might be working overtime and feel weighed down by responsibilities but since you are an Earth sign you can totally pull this off and come out strong at the end of the month. With all that work, your partner or loved ones could feel neglected, so make some time for them. The Full Moon on January 23/24th is in Leo and it is in your home sector. Take a breather, have fun and relax.

GEMINI/GEMINI RISING ♊︎

Oh the sobering effects and realisations that come with another year gone by and a new one beginning! This could be an emotionally churning period when you are asked to find the sweet spot in winter Gemini. Your personal relationships have been undergoing a huge transformational shift that has left you somewhat cynical about love but you are also learning to find faith within. The New Moon on January 9th is a heavy-handed one that makes you hyper aware of any structures that no longer sustain you. All work and no play can make Gemini a dull girl/boy. Your ticket to finding luck again has a lot to do with your foundation and your base of operation, your home and where you retreat from the world to charge your batteries. If you are setting New Year resolutions, I would suggest to set them around your home, your inner sanctuary and what that means to you. Where you would like your home to be, what you envision your home to look like or any actual renovations that would update your space and your living quarters. In order to expand and succeed in the world, we need to feel solid within. Your ruler Mercury will be retrograde in Capricorn for most of the month in the part of your chart that deals with other people’s money, taxes and inheritance. Be clear about your role within any partnership and anticipate possible misunderstandings. Double-check any paper work that involves taxes. I don’t want to make a big deal about Mercury retrograde but better to err on the side of caution. It might be a good idea to wait (if you can) till the end of the month to secure a commitment, a financial arrangement or sign a contract.

CANCER/CANCER RISING ♋︎

We are now 6 months away from your birthday, dear soft one. Most of the light you receive around this time of the year is coming from your partnerships, your sweetheart, the ones you love in your life or in your dreams. The New Moon in Capricorn on January 9th is making you aware of how much you need someone to support you and to a bigger extent how much you need others to support your work. How is your partnership helping you to express yourself and what role do other people play in helping you generate ideas? Acknowledge and give thanks to the people that matter to you. To bring luck in your future endeavours, show gratitude to all who have helped you bring your ideas to fruition. If you are not feeling supported, now would be a great time to voice your concerns and revise your partnerships and the roles they play in your life. Sometimes we expect that others will return the favour but not everyone is as caring or attentive as you are. Your generosity might go unnoticed if you don’t kick a fuss about it. You might have to spell it out or carve it in a rock for others to acknowledge or understand what you expect from them. Revise the systems you use for getting what you want and adjust. The Full Moon in Leo on January 23/24th illuminates the resources you have available to you at the moment. Remember what you are made of, what you already know and what you are good at. Remember that you have enough wealth, fortune and power within you to sustain yourself no matter what happens.

LEO/LEO RISING ♌︎

Sometimes it can feel like we are working for very little in return. January might be one of these months for you, Leo. Keeping in mind that all the work you are putting in now will most likely pay off later might be a good idea. Your financial well-being this year is closely related to how much work you are willing to put in right from the start. The New Moon in Capricorn on January 9th is in the part of your chart that deals with your habits and general routine. Set your intentions around health, and support your immune system with plenty of sleep and good food. Your health is your wealth so be willing to invest in it. Now would be an excellent time to weed out any bad habits that are depleting your wallet, your energy or that are not helping you get where you want to go. I am not going to lie to you: everyone will have to put in extra hours in January. You can make money but you will need to be disciplined, serious and committed about your objectives. Long-term investments is your magic formula. Since this is the time of the year when the Sun is at the opposite of where it is on your birthday, you could feel an all-time low. The end of the month will ease off and the Full Moon on January 23/24th is in Leo, which could bring some form of recognition. Soak it in, and bask in the glory. This is your Full Moon. Acknowledge your accomplishments, your creativity, your amazing brain and give thanks to yourself for all the hard work that got where you are.

VIRGO/VIRGO RISING ♍︎

For you Virgo, the year starts with your ruler Mercury going retrograde in the part of your chart that deals with your creative center, romance, children or any projects that are like ”your babies”. Whatever you are working on at the moment will need to be revised, restructured and solidified in order to get the lasting result you are looking for. Start 2016 with the intention to birth or create a lasting legacy. What are the structures that are currently in place within your projects and what methods are you using to ensure maximum creativity within them? What brings you joy and are you serious about your pleasure? If you are not sure of what that means for you, now would be a great time to define it more clearly. Where do you get your inspiration from? Do you have a muse? If you are single and looking for love, what would an ideal courtship look like? How did you spend your free time before you became an adult? The idea here is for you to connect with your inner child. Make some room for playing and re-invent how you use your imagination. Have faith in your creative abilities and monitor the persistent internal critic that lives within. Your capacity for enjoyment is closely connected to the vision you have of yourself and your self-imposed limitations. It can also be that your ability to have more fun, flirt with life and connect to that child like innocence has the power to transform you. What do you love?

LIBRA/LIBRA RISING ♎︎

On first impressions you might seem to be gentle and agreeable, Libra, but the people closest to you know that under your charming demeanour hides a fierce and powerful will. This somewhat hidden side might become a lot more apparent in 2016. Your initiation into the warrior mindset began last year and you have basically been in training camp since then. You have learned to connect to your own needs while liberating yourself from the demands of the external world. And that is not easy for the sign that is most often associated with diplomatic compromises. The New Moon on January 9th shows that you still have some work to do in regards to communicating what you need to the ones who are dearest to your heart. And to do that, you need to have faith in your intuition as a guiding compass. Trust that only you know what’s best for you. There are a lot of opportunities for you to become a voice of authority in your field. In 2016, your opinion and expertise will be in high demand and you can make money with what you know. But you have to be serious about knowing your worth and knowing what you know. Take this month to revise your internal dialogue, adjust your base of operation. Liberate the skeletons in your closet. Let go of stale beliefs about yourself that you have inherited from your family and early childhood experiences. Find rooting in a new soil, a fresh soil, the soil of your own wisdom.

SCORPIO/SCORPIO RISING ♏︎

Mars, your ruling planet will be in Scorpio for almost half of 2016. That means that whatever happens, you will be able to tap into your incredible reservoir of strength, resourcefulness and stamina. Not that it is not usually available to you but you can find some comfort knowing that the year begins with a strong footing. Your strength came with a price and in the last three years you have worked really hard to be where you are. Basically, you rock. Now the question is can you apply your endurance in order to make more money this year? How will you apply all the will power that is available to you to birth a cool project that could be financially rewarding too? If you are working on something already, January should be spent tweaking all the details of that project. Prepare yourself for a month that will be spent going back and forth over details in what seems to be a meaningless dance. Keep in mind that your ability to go over things is closely linked to your ability to generate income. Spend time organising your thoughts and find a system that will help you be more productive. There might be an increased number of correspondence, phone calls and trips. There is a momentum building but it is important not to skip any steps. Everything will come in due time. Find your allies, the ones that can help you with your ideas, your paper work or anything you don’t have time to get to. A lot of luck can be generated if you team up with others. Define your plan of attack and put your army in order.

SAGITTARIUS/SAGITTARIUS RISING ♐︎

Who is this person in the mirror? Who is this responsible and productive human being? The little centaur is all grown up, how does it feel? Sagittarius, I am so impressed with you and all that you are doing. It is amazing to see the tangible ways in which you go about being the coolest sign of the zodiac. If there is one sign that deserves to have their philosophies broadcast loud and clear, it is you. Everything you stand for is finding a way to becoming a real part of your life and that is awesome. The first half of 2016 will be spent pretty much on the same path as the one you undertook in late 2015. You are working relentlessly at making your dreams come true: keep going. A big part of the work has to do with re-aligning your work and career so that they are in tune with what you believe and what you would like to do in the long term. Spend January calibrating your finances, calculate how much money is coming in and how much money is going out. Be realistic about the workload you want to take on because there are many opportunities regarding your career or how you could be making money. Be selective because the choices you make now will have an impact down the road.

CAPRICORN/CAPRICORN RISING ♑︎

The year starts with your birthday; you are the first in the line because you know how to tackle pretty much anything. You also get the first New Moon of the year on the 9th of January. People put a lot of faith in you and in the way you do things because you know where you are going and you make a great leader. If you end up getting lost along the way, you’re still pretty good at pretending to know where you’re going. So the New Year begins and you are in the lead, where are you going and what are you looking for? This is a great month to revise your ambitions and write your plan for the year. Mercury will retrograde in your sign for most of the month, which means you can take a breather and solidify your foundation before you keep moving ahead. It would also be an excellent time to revise what you believe yourself capable of doing. It is very possible that you are still following a course of action that is not suitable for you anymore but you are still going through with the motion because you feel obligated? You have changed deeply in the last few years and your transformation is not over. How can you take your more “out there” visions and make them fit into your overall scheme. You might actually feel like throwing conventions out the window completely. Would you dare?

AQUARIUS/AQUARIUS RISING ♒︎

The New Year starts with a major internal reform that will mostly take part behind the curtain and in the dark. What does that mean, you ask? Well, you are shape-shifting but your new shape hasn’t really taken up an official form yet. You can start seeing the changes but you haven’t grasped entirely what it means. It is exciting, but it is also nerve-wracking because you are not clear yet on what is emerging. You can sense the major impact your decision will have in the long run but you can also sense the hand of destiny at work and how small you are in the overall picture. You want to do something meaningful, you want to be meaningful and you are willing to work hard to bring your dreams to reality. To connect to your center, I would suggest that you spend January in a semi-quiet and meditative state. If you can retire from the world and into a stilled place for a few weeks, do it. It might end up being the most productive move you will do. Study your visions, listen to what your dreams are saying, smoothen out your new wings. You will also need to clarify your intention in regards to your partnerships: what you need from them and why you need others to be a part of your projects. Because you do. You need to have faith in others to help you complete the puzzle. The successful outcome of your ideas and projects in the first half of 2016 is closely linked to your alliances and collaborations.

PISCES/PISCES RISING ♓︎

Happy New Year, Pisces! There is always a good reason to stay hopeful but wishful thinking alone won’t get the job done this month. January could feel like you lack the support that you need, so revise your alliances. Who is on your team? How are you going about getting the help that you need and is it working? Maybe it’s the way you go about asking for assistance. Are you invoking the right helpers and are you being precise? If you feel like people aren’t there for you, can you find a better way to formulate your desires to get what you want? The way you make a living is closely linked to your friends, your community and your genius. How it all ties in together has a lot to do with finding practical methods of putting it out there. If you can ground your vision, it will be easier for other people to see it. If you can build a bridge between what you imagine your role to be in your community and reality, you can make some pretty cool things happen. Being the most philosophical sign of the zodiac makes it is easy for you to find the silver lining in any situations. But that doesn’t mean you have to put up with difficulties. Others can really benefit from your set of skills, so be serious about the methods you use to promote yourself and what you know. It will be really worth it in the long run.

About the Author

Elodie Miaow blogs at 9thHouseAstrology.com

Horoscopes copyright Elodie Miaow, republished with permission.

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Editor’s Note: This is an 1,100 word excerpt from a 5,000 word article on the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the NSA’s partner in surveillance, a black budget version of NASA that runs space based operations and rumored to be the agency responsible for tracking UFOs as they enter and leave the Earth’s atmosphere. It was originally published in issue #2 of Hexagon. -Matt

A chart’s rising sign describes the immediate physical appearance of the chart’s owner. For instance, when a spy agency has its ascendant in Leo, the sign of royalty and monarchy, it’s likely to have a headquarters so distinctive you can’t possibly miss it. As explained in the Summer 2015 issue of this magazine, the NSA has its ascendant in Leo (the king), ruled by the Sun in Scorpio (secrets). In true Leo ascendant fashion, the NSA headquarters is so large and ostentatious you can almost see it from space while its all-black, Darth Vader style outfit practically demands you take notice of it.

In contrast, an agency that has its ascendant in Scorpio, the sign of the “Covert Operative”, will likely have a headquarters completely hidden from public view. I suspect, but cannot prove, that the infamous Area 51 base in the Nevada desert is a Scorpio rising installation.

A Virgo rising agency like the NRO won’t have a headquarters that’s highly visible like a Leo rising agency nor will it have one that’s completely hidden like a Scorpio rising agency. It’s going to have a headquarters that people can see but are unlikely to take notice of. The building(s) can thus be expected to simply blend in with other buildings in much the same way people in often under-appreciated Virgoan professions such as maids, mechanics, plumbers, janitors, and computer repair staff who anonymously blend in with their surroundings while on the way to work.

In true Virgo rising fashion the NRO is headquartered in a large, corporate looking office park in the Virginia suburbs that, while quite sizeable, looks like pretty much every other large, corporate looking office park in the Virginia suburbs. In contrast to the NSA’s ostentatiously Leonine headquarters, the NRO’s subtle Virgo style headquarters blends into its background well enough that for years even people inside the highest levels government didn’t take notice of it. According to a 1994 article in the Los Angeles Times, even “Leon E. Panetta, former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and now President Clinton’s chief of staff, had no idea that the four office towers belonged to the government.” (Source) Virgo rising can be sneaky like that.

In their book Skymates II: The Composite, astrologers Steven and Jodie Forest tell us that people with their ascendants in helpful, highly competent Virgo are the sort of people you want around should your jeep break down in the deserts of Africa. Along these lines, the NRO has developed a technology called “Red Dot” that utilizes spy satellites to detect improvised explosive devices (IEDs), home-made, landmine type weapons that have been the leading cause of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Source) In other words, the NRO is not literally out “fixing jeeps in the deserts of Africa” but they have designed technology to prevent Humvees and their human passengers from being destroyed in the deserts of Iraq. Virgo has an eye for the smallest of details and the “Red Dot” technology is thought to work by detecting energy emissions in IEDs as infinitesimally small as those given off by cell phone batteries all the way from satellites in geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above the planet. (Source) Even those of us opposed to the war economy, the surveillance state, the military industrial complex, etc. can acknowledge that detecting emissions that small from that far out in space is a pretty astonishing example of Virgo’s reputation for precision, service, and technical wizardry all rolled into one. Given the horrible carnage inflicted by IEDs, the NRO’s “Red Dot” technology can even be analogized to a form of preventative medicine, a practice Virgo has long been associated with.

Virgo rising people are often quite organized but also prone to “testiness.” For instance, the hissing cobras depicted in this NRO morale patch are believed to represent a series of classified spy satellites.

They also happen offer an excellent approximation of what happens should you mess with Virgo’s filing systems or database management protocols.

Pisces on the Descendant: Spooky Spouse(s)

While the ascendant sign represents the chart owner’s physical identity, it’s the sign on the descendant (7th House cusp) that represents “the other”, ranging from spouses and business partners to clients and patrons to rivals and open enemies. In the chart of an intelligence agency it will also refer to other intelligence agencies. With Virgo (analysis) on the ascendant, the NRO has Pisces (imagery) on the descendant. Symbolized as two fish, Pisces is the sign of the Psychic and the Seer, the Mystic and the Mist, the Specter and the Spook. People with Pisces on the descendant often partner with others who possess the ability to move in and out of unseen realms as naturally as a fish moves in and out of ocean currents. Pisces’ orientation to the non-material means it’s also the sign most likely to simply disappear from the radar of society, whether for tragic reasons or more strategic ones. Astrologer Linda Goodman warns her readers that once a Pisces disappears, “Don’t try to use your binoculars to spot them. Binoculars don’t work in the Deep.” The NRO’s 7th House partners include an armada of spooky, hard to spot (Pisces) defense contractors that can be likened to a large, predatory species of fish (Pisces) gorging themselves amid the oceanic depths of the black budget. Many of the NRO’s corporate partners such as Lockhead Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC) prefer to stay as deep beneath the radar of the body-politic as much as possible.

Furthermore, while the NRO is responsible for generating imagery, it’s the NRO’s partner agencies such as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency responsible for interpreting that imagery. In this way the NRO can be analogized to the technicians and repair people (Virgo rising) who handle the machinery at a sleep lab while the NRO;s partner agencies (7th House entities) can be analogized to the dream interpreters and mystics (Pisceans) who make sense of the imagery produced by the technicians at the sleep lab.

With Pisces on the descendant, the ruler of the NRO’s 7th House is Neptune (planet of imagery, intuition, and revelry but also deception) in Scorpio (sign of secrets), in the 2nd House (house of income and skill set). With the ruler of the house of partnership in the house of income, the NRO is married (7th House) to the contractors it pays money (2nd House) to for the processing of imagery (Neptune) regarding covert operations (Scorpio). Neptune (deception) in Scorpio (covert operations) in the 2nd House (money, resources) has “black budget” written all over it.

About the Author: Matt Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or consults at his contact page.

Photo Credit: Jari Hindstroem/Shutterstock

This is an 850 word excerpt from a 7,000 word article on the transit Saturn (planet of suppression) through the sign Sagittarius (truth) by Astrologer Willow of Willow’s Web. It’s scheduled to appear the second issue of Hexagon this January. -Matt

For more on GM alfalfa, make sure to check out the primer on GM alfalfa available at Willow’s blog. She also has several articles in the premier issue of Hexagon, including a feature length piece on the astrology of the feminine asteroids titled “Ladies of the Zodiac: It’s Showtime”.

The original Hexagon trilogy, now shipping:

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Sun sign horoscopes cannot replace a proper analysis of your birth chart and transits of the moment. They are meant to be a broad insight into certain time signatures. If you want a more detailed forecast, you can contact me at the9thhouse@outlook.com with your date and time of birth and it will be my pleasure to help you unlock and prepare for any upcoming opportunities or challenges. Note that the rising sign is essential in understanding our personal dispositions so please read your Sun sign and Rising sign for extra clarity. -Elodie

ARIES/ARIES RISING ♈︎

Your wish to break free and start anew is increasing by the nanosecond. You are tired of your old stomping ground and you want out. This is old news to you, I know.  You have felt this way for some time. The New Moon on December 11th is connecting you to a broadening of possibilities. It might not necessarily be a trip down to Costa Rica but there is an opportunity to widen your horizon and set your sights on something in the distance. This new chapter could very well be connected to a career opportunity. But you need to take part actively and seriously. This reform will only happen if you formulate a plan like a boss. There is a push and pull between the old and the new.  You are caught between your roots and your wings, between hiding within yourself in the safety of the known and some far away wonderland. You might be able to take a break from your own rebellion and enjoy some sexy times around Christmas. In the mean time, take care of your health, because  being fired up 24/7 is hard on the immune system.

TAURUS/TAURUS RISING ♉︎

Why is it so complicated when it comes down to sharing? Can’t we just get along? Can’t it just stay simple forever? Can you just do what I ask you to do? Can we forget about the extra hidden costs that come with that privilege? All you really want is your cozy and peaceful corner of the universe. You are not asking for much! Taurus, you like to be  in control because you know what you want.  It’s simple. Confusion arises when you have to give up the stirring weel.  It makes you feel uncomfortable to let someone else guide you. You would rather just do it yourself because you can predict the outcome. But this month, practice surrendering. Why? Because magic happens in the most improbable fashions when we let things unfold. Because beautiful things happen when we learn to open to others in a vulnerable way. This month, you are learning to flex your relating muscles in a whole new way.  You are undergoing a sort of relationship renewal. You are also learning to have faith in others and what they can do for you. Discover new ways of connecting with those who are closest to you. Let them show you what they know. Let them teach you a different way of doing things. Then you can go back to your way of doing things and show the world all the awesome things that you learned in the process.

GEMINI/GEMINI RISING ♊︎

Can you be wild and free within the confines of the house you have built for yourself? Your partnerships are on the verge of becoming a strange ritualised mating dance that you go through with your eyes closed. Would I dare say that perhaps you are bored? Gemini, you are dreaming of something bigger for yourself. Especially when it comes to the people who are close to your heart and the luke-warm affection they have been delivering. You can probably have what you want, but you need to communicate specifically. I know it might be difficult to put in words the exhilaration you are searching for, but try it, I dare you. Be serious about your darkest desires and listen to them. You can’t expect your partner to give you what you dont’t ask for. Cultivating faith and trust will help you keep the communication channels opened. In the meantime, some of the excitement you are looking for might come from groups or friends, associations and wider circles. If I have to take a wild guess, I would say that the most fun you will have this month will be in larger settings. Go out and join the party even if that only means offering your after-party driving services.

CANCER/CANCER RISING ♋︎

Your relationships are transforming, reaching a new level and you’re serious about doing the work that it takes to keep them. That’s a pretty big statement, but it’s true. When I say : you’re serious about doing the work I mean you know that faith and wishful thinking alone wont do the trick. You are entering a new phase. Keeping the communication channels wide open with your loved ones will help. Checking in. Your internal and external dialogues have to match. More than ever, what you whisper in your secret chambers has to be in harmony with what you express externally. To do that, you need your inner landscape to be clean, peaceful and energizing. Can you make time on a daily basis to worship at the altar of the most important temple-your body? Imagine that what you tell yourself is feeding every single particles that makes YOU. What type of words will you murmur in your prayers to find rooting within your body? Having a strong root system will help in dealing with any curve balls or wind gusts that might come at you from your professional life this month. On a side note, the Full Moon on the 22nd is in Cancer. Let other people spoil you a little.

LEO/LEO RISING ♌︎

It looks like there is some romantic potential in the air but you are not willing to settle for anybody. You might get some very strong hints but you’re also very busy with your own stuff. You will still need to make some time for your most important relationships. Show your loved ones that you care. Demonstrate what it means to receive your magnificent love and attention. There is a lot of back and forth communication or negotiation with others this month. If you can finish up on some important project, you might feel like entertaining at your house. That would give you the opportunity to invite someone special along without seeming too demanding. You have been more than dedicated to your work in the last 6 months. Take a break and have some fun, cook supper for friends or have a romantic movie night. Letting out some steam and recharging you battery should be a priority on your agenda. You still have a lot of work on your plate and relaxing might be the way to tap into your creative reservoir. To be at your optimum productive self, you will need to alternate work with pleasure. It’s a simple equation kick your feet back relax then tackle a difficult task. Take a bath with a glass of bubbly, then you can go out and conquer the world.

VIRGO/VIRGO RISING ♍︎

I hope that you can appreciate the person you are becoming Virgo and not just how far you still want to go. You are being initiated into your own mysteries in a big way. You have been relentless in the search for your own truth. Not the neighbour’s idea of the truth and not the mainstream media’s lukewarm and already chewed-up idea of the truth. Your very own, shiny and already perfect self is learning to have faith in the power of what you know and how you can use what you know. Don’t lose the perspective you have on your own potential right now. Me and you both know that you get easily caught up in nit-picking over the smallest details. But right now, you are being asked to have faith in your potential to expand and generate luck for yourself. Don’t lose your momentum over the things you haven’t figured out yet. It will come. A good exercise for you this month would be to examine your beliefs, their origines and how they influence your decisions. My guess is you are carrying some ideas about yourself and how you should act that have been passed down to you. How much of your opinions about the world have been inherited and how much come from your own experience? Now is a fantastic time to bring a reform to the inherited beliefs you carry and to align them with your own truth.

LIBRA/LIBRA RISING ♎︎

The downside of being a Libra is that you are so damn charming, that sometimes others don’t realise you are making an effort. Things seem to come easily to you but it actually takes a lot of your mental faculty to be lovely 24/7. And right now, you need all of your intellectual powers to be focused on what you are trying to achieve. And that means having to be short and not so charming when you need to. People will give you things (like their secrets) because you are warm and inviting and usually, you will graciously indulge them. The thing is, if you spend all of your time making other people feel good you start neglecting yourself. It’s ok sometimes to tell people what you think. Staying on the surface with others to keep the peace won’t help you AT ALL right now. Revise the way you communicate with others. What are you saying? Because you need to make sure other people understand where you stand and to do that, you will need to communicate clearly. First, you need to check in with yourself: clarify your intentions. You need to make the decision to prioritize yourself, your needs and what YOU value. Then be sure to communicate it to others. Find the right balance between being overly assertive or too passive with your statements. But the most important part is that you need to stick with it and don’t let other people make you doubt your own intentions.

SCORPIO/SCORPIO RISING ♏︎

Alright Scorpio, thanks to your charming disposition this month you can pretty much sneak into any milieu that you wish to be part of. You could be more convincing when it comes to your sales pitch and powers of persuasions. The stage is set to happen in your neighbourhood or close to home. Use it to your advantage and find alliances that can help you further any projects you are working on. You could be busy with proposal, research ideas or analysing all the incoming data, to convey a particular idea or message. This is to a large extent a theme that began in early Fall. But this month, you might be craving a reform on how you go about doing all of those things on a practical level. You might have to let go of some cherished habits to fulfill all your responsibilities. It could be that your need for efficiency is not compatible with some aspects of your routine. It could also be that your body is asking for different foods or different ways to exercise. You might feel like experimenting with different ways to bring your body to an optimum level. Make sure you remain objective when choosing any school of thoughts, health trends or gurus that claim to have found the truth.

SAGITTARIUS/SAGITTARIUS RISING ♐︎

”With great power comes great responsibilities” is an expression you should keep in mind in the coming months Sagittarius. There are many opportunities available to you at the moment, especially with regard to how you make a living. All that potential has to be channeled wisely though and that might be the tricky part. Your usual way of going about things might not work so well at the moment. Instead of relying on faith and luck alone, you need to set clear goals. I know I have already told you all of this but I will repeat myself. Creating a tangible plan for a certain vision you have, and drafting a trajectory will help you in attaining it. The New Moon on December 11 is in your sign so it would be a good time to set some clear intentions. All doesn’t need to be so serious though. Keep your creative channels open because some of your best ideas could come quite unexpectedly. The Winter Solstice on the 21st and the Full Moon on the 25th is linked to your core values shedding light on your own hidden motivations. Some elements might need to be let go to lay down a more solid foundation.

CAPRICORN/CAPRICORN RISING ♑︎

Most of the action in your life at the moment is happening behind closed doors. Those closed doors might not even open for you just yet. You can probably get a glimpse though the cracks but you will need a lot of silence and peace around you to see anything. The Winter Solstice is your time of the year and it might take until mid-month for you to see clearly or to hatch a creative project. Until the 21st, you can prepare the terrain by shedding, cleansing and sweeping any remaining attitude and beliefs that are blocking your path. It doesn’t need to be strenous. In fact, one of the ways you can create space is closely linked to your ability to let go. There are some elements at works that your rational mind might not be able to grasp fully and that is ok. You are undergoing an initiation in the realm of the unseen and it is better to let go of the desire to explain everything. The time will come when you can process all the incoming synchronicities and verbalise them more clearly. The Full Moon on December 25th highlights your partnerships and some surprises on the home front.

AQUARIUS/AQUARIUS RISING ♒︎

The recognition you are getting from your peers is coming at a cost. Yes, you have a certain edge in your field that is being acknowledge by your community. People are willing to listen to you and what you know and that can be satisfying. But the other side of the coin, is that it is making you re-question your own assumptions and that type of responsibility could feel heavy. Be mindful of the way you communicate with others because it could be taken the wrong way. Stay diplomatic if possible. You are arriving at a cross-road and you will need to make some decisions regarding things you thought were set in stone. You have invested a lot of your time in the last few years on ideas that might not be paying off like you originally thought. This month will require some discrimination between your beliefs and the beliefs of others. Spend some time processing the events of the last few months. Nothing needs to happen just yet but the cravings for a personal revolution are in the works. Your values are changing and with that the desire for new experiences is also increasing. If it’s possible find some quiet time around the Winter Solstice on the 21st and the Full Moon on the 25th. Your body will thank you.

PISCES/PISCES RISING ♓︎

Pisces, imagine you are like a battery at the moment receiving an electric charge. On one hand, your inner fantasy/spiritual life is fully activated and rich. On the other hand, you are aware of your responsibilities regarding your career and it doesn’t leave much space for disconnecting. You are dealing with two opposite currents. There is a need to reconcile the magic with the mundane. This can mean many things and it all depends on how you use the ”power” that is available to you. An ultra-fast charge or a strenuous discharging is harmful to the life of a battery. Can you handle being part of society, putting yourself out there, being recognized for your contribution and putting in the extra work hours without loosing your good juju? Can you manage the positive and the negative, the charging and the discharging while staying calibrated? Your genius is being acknowledged and that is a big part of why you are busy. People want your unique perspective and it is creating more work for you. Learning to discriminate the essential from the superfluous will help you create more time for yourself. Realigning with your core beliefs about who you are and who you want to be, will sooth and heal your soul. Pleasure and romance are on the radar this month. Go out and have fun.

About the Author

Elodie Miaow blogs at 9thHouseAstrology.com

Horoscopes copyright Elodie Miaow, republished with permission.

(Photo Credit: London Real via Youtube)

Editor’s Note: The following profile of Washington D.C. based human rights attorney Jesselyn Radack appears in our premier issue. Radack represents NSA whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Thomas Drake. She has also assisted CIA torture whistleblower John Kiriakou. She presents an interesting astrological case study for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that as the common denominator between multiple whistleblowers, she might be as high or higher on the government’s “list” as any of them. A copy of her natal chart can be found here. -Matt

Sagittarius Sun, Gemini Moon: The Roughneck Mahatma and the Robin Hood Ringleader

The Sun symbolizes a person’s conscious identity while the Moon symbolizes their deeper, unconscious emotional needs. These are the two sources of light (energy) in a chart, and together they comprise a person’s basic psychological architecture.

Radack’s Sun (identity) is in Sagittarius, the sign of the Traveler and the Truth Seeker, the Scholar and the Sage, the Philosopher and the Prophet, the Professor of High Adventure and the Department Chair of Intellectual Beatdowns. Astrologer Austin Coppock refers to Sagittarius as the “Doom Super Soldier” of the zodiac who “will stop at nothing once possessed by the spirit of a crusade.” (Source) Stella Hyde says this is the sign most likely to find work in highly dangerous professions such as bounty hunting, car-jacking, or crocodile wrangling. (Source) Radack is obviously not a literal bounty hunter, car-jacker, or crocodile wrangler. However, given that many of her clients are at the absolute top of the government’s hit list there is no doubt she is possessed by the spirit of a “Doom Super Soldier,” one willing to deliver intellectual beat-downs and brave extraordinarily dangerous situations in her crusade to defend clients, colleagues, and the Constitution itself.

Her Moon (emotional needs) is in Gemini, the sign of communication and cross-pollination, quick witted instigators and street smart information brokers. This is the zodiac’s resident Mercurial Mad-Hatter and the Multi-Lingual Multi-Tasker. For people with their Moons (emotions) in Gemini (communication), exchange of data rises to the level of a survival need. Radack, for instance, has an extraordinarily active Twitter feed with almost 21,000 followers. She’s also had to tap her instincts (Moon) for mental multi-tasking and mad-hat communication tactics (Gemini) in order to thwart the government’s efforts at surveilling her. According to a recent profile in Verge magazine, her professional survival now depends upon the use of highly dexterous, street smart communication tactics including the use of encrypted laptops, burner phones, and only paying in cash. (Source)

Combine a Sagittarian’s propensity for intellectual super-soldiering with a Gemini Moon’s instincts for dexterous communication and the result is a sun/moon pairing that is highly spirited, intellectually adventuresome, and can enthusiastically (Sagittarius) converse (Gemini) on pretty much anything. According to astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey, this combination is something of a Robin Hood type who can “play the devil’s advocates to the nth degree” and is “quite capable of making jokes at the vicar’s expense.” (Source) While working for the Department of Justice back in the early 2000s Radack attempted to blow the whistle on serious ethical violations committed by the FBI. For her efforts she was subjected to numerous criminal and civil investigations at the hands of shadowy vicars working in the employ of an extraordinarily evil king and his corrupt national security court. Today she speaks on behalf of others who find themselves targeted by equally shadowy vicars in the employ of another, equally evil king. Given that her clients such as Ed Snowden and Thomas Drake have been portrayed by the U.S. government as practically being in league with Satan himself, one could say Radack is the ultimate “devil’s advocate,” one willing to go to the nth degree for those she defends.

Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of philosophy and truth seeking while Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication and information transmission. The Sagittarius Sun, Gemini Moon pairing thus expresses much like a Mercury/Jupiter aspect which Adrian Ross Duncan describes as follows:

In Radack’s case, her hunger for knowledge and understanding first led her to Brown University where she was a triple major in American civilization, women’s studies, and political science prior to enrolling at Yale Law school where she graduated with honors. It was during her time in college that she begun to speak out about gross injustices. While at Brown she became a leading defender of the university’s “rape list” in which female students who had been sexually assaulted would scrawl the names of their perpetrators on bathroom walls as a way of warning other women. As a result she ended up on The Phil Donahue show, an appearance which is now archived on YouTube. From the position of hindsight she was easily 20 years ahead of her time in regards to both civil rights and free speech issues.

Venus in Scorpio: Queen Inanna and Her Entourage of Professional Demon Spawn

Venus is the planet of love, style, self-worth, and values. Radack’s Venus is in Scorpio, the sign of Shaman and the Spy, the Special Agent and the Super Sleuth, the Covert Op and the Deep Cover Cop. Astrologer Raven Kaldera associates Venus in Scorpio with the myth of Inanna, a Sumerian goddess who must “go down to the bottom of the pit and back up again, over and over, until it is a familiar place and has no power over her.” (Source) When Inanna finally emerges from her trip to the bottom of the pit she is accompanied by “an entourage of chittering underworld demons” Kaldera tells us. In Radack’s case, her work on behalf of whistleblowers has forced her to go down and confront the pit that is the modern American police state so many times that she is now totally familiar with it and able to effectively counter its power. She is not surrounded by an entourage of actual chittering underworld demon spawn, but she is known to cavort with dissident journalists such as Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, and James Spione—all individuals who have hounded the Bush/Cheney and Obama/Biden administrations as passionately and relentlessly as anything from Hades itself.

Radack’s Venus in Scorpio is conjunct (merged) with her Mars (how a person fights) and her Jupiter (planet of law, philosophy, and publishing). Mars/Jupiter conjunctions are considered absolute powerhouse combinations that confer enormous amounts of physical and intellectual stamina. Astrologers Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker associate this placement with “zeal, energy, and enthusiasm” when it comes to “defending the less fortunate.” (Source)

North Node in Aquarius: Point of Ultimate Fulfillment in the Sign of the Sh-t Disturber

Radack’s North Node—representative of her truest, highest, and most fulfilling path—is in Aquarius, the sign most likely to stir the pot or shake things up in service of democracy, freedom, teamwork, and humanity. Aquarius is the zodiac’s resident sh-t disturber and pretty much any reasonable person agrees there’s a whole lot of sh-t in this country’s socio-political power structures that really needs disturbing. Fortunately there are people like Jesselyn Radack who have fearlessly and ferociously jumped into the muck on behalf of us all—exactly what somebody with an Aquarian North Node has incarnated to do.

About the Author: Matthew David Savinar is a California licensed attorney (State Bar #228957), voluntarily inactive as of June 2013. He can be reached for questions, comments, or astrological consults via Twitter, his first YouTube channel, his second YouTube channel, SoundCloud, LibSyn or this site’s contact page.

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Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on page ten of our original issue. -Matt

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement got its start on July 13th, 2013 at approximately 8:00 pm as the result of a conversation between Alicia Garza of Oakland and Patrisse Cullors of Los Angeles. Using their conversation as the movement’s moment of birth, BLM has its Sun (conscious identity), Mercury (communication), Jupiter (good fortune), and Mars (fighting) all in Cancer — considered the sign of women — with its Moon (emotional needs) in Virgo, the sign of service. According to an article published by Al Jazeera-America, the movement was sparked by the deaths of black men but is being led primarily by black women (Cancer) who are motivated by a desire to serve (Virgo) their kinfolk.

Jefferson Anderson says the mission of the Cancer/Virgo pairing is “to use your inner strength, compassion, and understanding to be of help, whether as a counselor, teacher, or concerned humanitarian.” (Source) That’s exactly what BLM’s leadership is doing: using the strength, compassion, and understanding they have built up from years of living within a systemically unjust society to counsel, help, and teach others about humanitarian issues that should be of concern to us all.

BLM’s stellium of planets in Cancer (sign of food, family, clan, and country) is opposed by Pluto (planet of power and purging) in Capricorn (sign of big business, big government). Cancer is renowned for its elephant like memory while most astrologers agree that Pluto in Capricorn is the astrological signature for both the police state and the corporate oligarchy. The BLM movement is thus fueled (Sun/Mars/Jupiter) by ancestral memories (Cancer) of abuse at the hands of an oligarchic police state (Pluto in Capricorn) whose roots go back hundreds of years.

Cancer is also the sign most likely to shed tears for friends and family in the here and now. Due to the highly disparate nature of our criminal justice system, a disproportionate number of BLM’s leadership have likely shed tears for loved ones abused and/or snatched away at the hands of the prison industrial complex — a deeply corrupted institution (Pluto in Capricorn) that is to their families what slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow were to their ancestors (Sun/Mars/Jupiter in Cancer).

BLM’s Venus (planet of love) is in Leo (sign of theater, drama, celebrity) and receives a trine (support) from Uranus (planet of radical breakthroughs). BLM’s protests often include radically dramatic forms of street theater while the movement has received lots of love (Venus) from celebrities (Leo) including Dave Chappelle, Lebron James, and Samuel Jackson.

The BLM chart has a conjunction (merger) between Saturn (planet of karma) and the North Node (point of destiny) in Scorpio (sign of death) in the 11th House of tribal consciousness. In his book Myth Astrology, Raven Kaldera associates Saturn in Scorpio with the myth of Cerridwen, a Celtic goddess who assists others by regenerating slain corpses in her cauldron. (Source) BLM obviously is not of the Celtic persuasion and obviously can not literally regenerate the bodies of those who have been unjustly slain. The movement has, however, certainly combined free speech, community organizing, and grass roots activism into a potent socio-political cauldron that has regenerated the spirit of the civil rights movement(s) of the 1950s and 60s — something recent events have made clear is needed now more than ever before.

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The following is an 850 word excerpt from “Ladies of the Zodiac: It’s Showtime!”, a 4,500 word article on the astrology of the feminine asteroids that is one of the four features in our premier issue. It was written by Willow of Willow’s Web Astrology, republished with permission. -Matt

Introduction: The Feminine Asteroids

As a reflection of the patriarchal constructs of current human society, we deal in an astrological zodiac that is masculine-heavy, illustrating certain reinforced dynamics on the planet. Seven of the 10 major planets used in astrological analysis are considered masculine (the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) with one (Mercury) considered neutral. Only the Moon and Venus are considered feminine. Important as those bodies are, this is still a whole lot of imbalance.

Women and the feminine influence are far more multi-dimensional and diverse than the loving, pleasing, and supportive mate (Venus), the mothering nurturer (Moon), or the vindictive, vixen/seductress version of the dark feminine.

We pick up some of the slack as far as the feminine influence in the zodiac with the feminine asteroids and dwarf planets.

The four major “secondary” bodies most often used in astrological charts – asteroids Juno, Pallas Athene, and Vesta, along with dwarf planet Ceres – are considered feminine, though these bodies most often play second fiddle to the planets, doing their thing with little recognition or fanfare in mainstream astrology.

An invisible feminine force doing its work from a disempowered position for much less than its due share of recognition, respect, and reward. Sound familiar?

As with the planets, these four bodies have ties to Greek and Roman mythology, which color their themes in astrological analysis.

Unfortunately, the men who created and furthered the mythology that is used in current-day astrology have missed about 50% of the story. They missed the herstory of the history, as they say.

This missing feminine/female influence is apparent in Greek and Roman mythology as well as in much of the standard religious and spiritual imagery of the current day. We’re working with partial archetypal truth at best and straight up patriarchy-approved fabrication at worst, and we have to understand how detrimental these power-imbalanced units of cultural transmission can be.

The feminine bodies used in astrology have been saddled with an Old Boys Club mythology. There is widespread sexual violence, control, and misconduct toward women, among many other offenses, in the stories of those old Greek and Roman dudes. Women are most often in secondary roles with their stories told for them by males, through the male lens.

The threads of misogyny in the symbols and myths reflect current-day societies and structures where underlying hatred of and violence against women are woven right into the fabric. They simmer and poison, a little flicker visible here and there, until they are full-on confronted – repeatedly – and made wholly unacceptable by both men and women.

(The feminine force in men is also suppressed, oppressed, and damaged by the dynamics outlined in this article.)

Instead of carrying the half-truth, misogyny, and sexual violence of this mythology forward in astrological symbolism, it’s time to consciously address it, working the feminine energy free from the karmic weight of these myths.

By exposing this androcentric mythological misogyny, by adding a stronger and more fully-developed female perspective, and by calling the old “Gods” on their crap, we move beyond the old stories and dynamics, advancing an astrology that is more balanced, humane, just, relevant, and true-to-life.

As Saturn (structure) transits Sagittarius (religion, stories, truth) into December 2017, the time is ripe to open into new truth told through cultural symbols, where the experiences of women and the feminine aren’t filtered through a male-dominant lens.

It’s time to carve a new path, shedding light on the domination/subjugation dynamics that are wrapped up so neatly in these mythological images.

Spiritual and religious paradigms past and present have whitewashed out much of the female influence, making it invisible and subservient. But as Saturn transits Sagittarius, it’s time to stand up, speak up, and add the full wisdom and knowledge of the feminine to the scene.

That wisdom and knowledge doesn’t necessarily come in the form of easily-swallowed, non-threatening Glittery Goddesses and Angels and Mermaids and Faerie Nymphs, either. (Much of that was designed to titillate males, anyway.)

The feminine wisdom and knowledge to be integrated is white hot and will shake things up considerably. It requires something of people. It makes people uncomfortable at times. It’s not about being pretty or demure or seductive.

It demands its rightful place – nothing more, nothing less.

Women are used to having to compete with each other for a limited number of spots, for a limited amount of influence.

With Saturn transiting Sagittarius over the next couple years, women will be working their way into full cultural and structural representation – or at the very least, into a full understanding of the detrimental feminine shortfall. As Saturn in Sagittarius builds to a trine to Uranus in Aries in December 2016, we have a chance to unravel these fabricated units of cultural transmission, breaking their spells once and for all.

The Goddesses are breaking out of their fairy tale nightmares. They’re tearing at the Technicolor blue skies, ripping up carefully-manicured, lime green lawns, tossing matches into the castles. They’re standing back as all of creation – the feminine and the masculine – comes spewing forth.