Wednesday, March 02, 2011

REFLECTIONS of 1968

There have been some clear "tipping points" throughout the world's history. Whether we're presently living through another of these remains to be seen....it's starting to have that smell about it though. Yesterday's guest post by Gian Paul reminded me of one year that has since become known as a "tipping point", and led me to dig around in the 2007 archives for a post about the year 1968. It was originally sparked by a reference to journalist Dahr Jamail, author of Beyond the Green Zone. I discovered that Dahr Jamail was born in 1968, into the atmosphere of tumult, unrest and change that year brought with it. From a book review (now disappeared) of Beyond the Green Zone:

"Soon after the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Jamail emptied his savings, bought a plane ticket to Iraq, and began writing about what he saw as an independent reporter from the war zone. His missives were sorely needed by those people looking for a side of the story not being told by the so-called embedded media and soon his stories were being published in multiple internet outlets, radio programs and even some newspapers....... the book is a riveting and clearly written piece of journalism that puts the pap most US residents consider as news to shame."

A re-airing the rest of my 2007 post:

Without much astrological knowledge, it is possible to see astrology at work. Here's an example of how the qualities of a single year can be crystalised and reflected back many years later by some of those born within that time frame.

How about that year, 1968? Anything special about it? A synopsis of Mark Kurlansky's book 1968, The Year that Rocked the World threw some light on this.

"1968 was a year of political upheaval and protest around the world. In the U.S., there were the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the antiwar protests, the Chicago riot at the Democratic National Convention, and the Apollo 8 mission around the Moon. In Vietnam, the Tet offensive was underway. Protests in France began the downfall of Charles de Gaulle's government. Soviet tanks rolled into Prague to quell the rebellion there. Mexico City police opened fire on university protesters. Mark Kurlansky documents these events and more that occurred in 1968, and examines the cultural forces that drew them altogether across the world."

An exceptional year! 1968 is described elsewhere as "a benchmark of unrest, tumult, and change."

Astrology tells us that those born during that time are bound to bear its imprint - some more clearly than others.

From a list of birthdays in 1968 , among the usual gaggle of actors, musicians, sportsmen, three names leapt off the screen: Mohammed Atta (said to have masterminded 9/11 attacks, and died in them), Timothy McVeigh, (the notorious Oklahoma City Bomber), and Ramzi Yousef (mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing). The astrology of that tumultuous year had certainly left its imprint on those three characters, and in the worst possible way! Dahr Jamail, however, carries the positive side of the same imprint.

It's necessary, for a moment, to blank one's mind to the horror and tragedy that Atta, McVeigh and Yousef individually caused, and look at their motives. They each had what they saw as "a cause" which they sought to further. They chose the wrong route - a route of destruction and death. Dahr Jamail too has a cause, but in him it is manifested in a noble and more enlightened way. His "cause" is to let the public see the truth. He furthers it in a way dangerous only to himself. The causes of these four men spookily reflect qualities of the year of their birth, 1968, when numerous events, both tragic and noble occurred, all in pursuit of "causes".

Pluto's transit during 1968 took in 22 to 25 degrees Virgo, with Uranus retrograding from 29 to 25 Virgo then proceeding into Libra by October. Neptune started the year at 25 Scorpio and after some retrograde motion finished in December at 27 Scorpio.

All the outer planets, then, were in the last ten degrees of Virgo or Scorpio for most of the year, often within conjunction (same degree or near) and/or sextile (60*). In the summer months Saturn at between 21 and 25 Aries would have been inconjunct (150*) some of the outer planets.

I'm not going to attempt to interpret those configurations, except to describe the qualities of the three planets involved. Pluto is known as the planet of transformation (sometimes involving death). Uranus is planet of change and revolution. Saturn is planet of laws, rules, structure, representing the establishment and "status quo". Neptune is planet of illusion, delusion, and dreams. The fact that these astrologically powerful planets were so closely aligned during 1968 has to have a very significant connection to the world changing events happening then, as well as to the qualities born into some of the year's natives.

9 comments:

Kerrie said...

Great post! I was born July of '68. It's so interesting how the outer planets reflect such a wide extreme of behaviors.

An astrologer once told me I should never work for someone else because it was so destructive to the group. The configuration you described forms a yod in my chart. Nep in the 1st, Ur/Pl in the 11th and both inconjunct Saturn in the 6th. I wonder if she's right- I haven't stayed in a job longer than 4 years, mostly because I can't stand to associate with the people anymore! Isn't that terrible? It's like I have this much time to wait for you, and if you're not making a move, I will. I work with a lot of Virgos (I teach school), and I suppose having my Ur/Pl on top of your personal planets isn't that pleasant, either. But geez louise, all that nitpicking and step-by-step, "calm down, inside voices" is a strain. Great ideas and opportunities pass by while we're still defining terms.... :-)

Gian Paul said...

Gave a look at the horoscope of "Islam" (published on this blog on October 12, 2010).

Why? The troubles in the Middle East appear little connected to religion, as little as those in Wisconsin, China, France, Tchecoslovakia in 1968 etc.

There is a common factor however: URANUS. In the chart of Islam he is at 1 degree 18 of Virgo. And consequently he received recently the opposition of the Mars/Sun/Neptune stellium at the end Aquarius-beginning of Pisces.

He also is inconjunct with Uranus in transit at soon the beginning of Aries. In 1968 Uranus was also inconjunct to itself in the Islam chart, but at 30 instead of 150 degrees it is now.

Uranus in the Islam horoscope is conjunt the Moon (at 27 degrees Leo) and therefore more "sensitive" than he would be if standing alone.

One can speculate that the ongoing opposition of Neptune to Islam's Uranus (and this will be the case for around 2 years counting from today) will bring about mighty changes in that region - and who knows - also in China/India/Russia/Indonesia/Philippines etc. which all have important muslim elements in their overall population.

That Uranus is the champion of change is accepted by all astrologers. Neptune being the "diluter suprême" of idealogies is also commonly accepted (remember the dismantelling of the USSR under very Neptunian Pisces Gorbachev?).

The field for astrological investigation (and attempts to understand the why's of things happening) is therefore wide open...

Twilight said...

Kerrie ~ Hi there. Thanks.

Dang! I wish astrologers wouldn't be so adamant about such stuff !

It's a pity that you now have this idea fixed about yourself, and your career style.

There's need for the whole range of styles in any job scenario, the key is for each to appreciate what the others are contributing.

To waffle on a bit here - the movie Ben Hur always comes to mind when I think about this topic. There's a scene where an Arab horse trainer explains to Ben Hur how the team "works". (His gorgeous white horses are named after stars by the way). He explains that in the chariot races, on a wide circular track the horse on the outside has to gallop fast and furiously, while the inside horse needs to be more of a slower plodder - an anchor to stabilize the team.

You are akin to the outside horse, while some of your colleagues probably relate more to the "anchor" type - checking and re-checking, making sure things don't go off the rails - in their particular working sphere.

Appreciation of the strengths of others is key to getting on and getting ahead.....absenting oneself from this "learning curve" isn't wise.

Having said all of that though, I'm a bit of an outside runner myself, and I can sympathise with your problem. Tolerance and a feeling of good will have to be called in again and again, so as not to make our lives unpleasant and uncomfortable.....has to work the other way too - from "them" of course.

Twilight said...

Gian Paul ~~~ Thanks for the additional input. Interesting!

The outer planets have gathered specific interpretations as a stone gathers moss, and most of them seem to fit pretty well. However, I often think that, because outer planet cycles are so long, and humans or other entities (eg. national charts) receive a "visit" from each very infrequently, if at all in recorded history, when such a visit does occur it will inevitably be a flag for something special, something very noticeable. Often change is the most noticeable (or only) thing for the outside world to recognise. 2 of the outer planets have an element of change in their interpretation

Uranus: change, unexpected change.

Neptune: ??? Illusion of change? Attempted change from drug/alcohol use?

Pluto: transformational change following breakdown of circumstances.

So, whenever any of the outers strike heavy aspects we're going to see something - somewhere, and probably something change-related.

My thoughts.

Christina said...

Super post - and well worth republishing. In France they still call counter culture types 68ers and when you say les evenements, it doesn't mean the events; it still means Paris May 1968.

Some years are just special. I wrote a post about 1848 - another year of sweeping events - a while ago, which might interest you, because it seems to bear some comparison with 2011.
http://oxford-astrologer.blogspot.com/2011/02/2011-springtime-of-peoples.html

I also agree with your brilliant Ben Hur analogy. keep it up

Twilight said...

Christina ~~~ Hi there!

Thanks for your kind comment.

Yes, that's an interesting post you've linked (re 1848) - thank you!
And yours is an interesting blog which I have missed 'til now.
I've added it to my list of "Trines" in the sidebar.
:-)

The current waves of unrest fit so snugly into astrology's theories and cycles. It's almost scary !
But not quite. Yet.

Kerrie said...

Thanks for your comments~ you're absolutely right that astrologers need to be super-mindful of their comments. That person was extreme! I mean, we can speak in generalities about aspects, but treading lightly and acknowledging divergent options is more appropriate~ Thankfully, it wasn't the first time I'd had my chart read, so I didn't run off and quit my job the next day.

Love the Ben Hur analogy and the horses named for stars!

Twilight said...

Kerrie ~~~ Good - I'm glad!
Thanks for popping back!
:-)

Christina said...

oo thanks for the trine