8 North: The Great American Eclipse 2024

Looking Back at Two Earlier 8 North Eclipses

by Jude Cowell, partisan for the common good

With 'Nazism' now re-raising its barbaric head, and having previously considered the Great American Eclipse of April 8, 2024 in the 8 North Saros Series, let's consider two previous 8 North Eclipses, one of which perfected during the harrowing days of the Republican Great Depression in the US, and the Hitl*rian era of hate-filled authoritarianism and prejudice in Europe.

1934: criminal activity was a major problem as it is now

Among the significant Events of 1934 were arrests and multiple deaths of criminals across America such as Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, and the Lindbergh baby kidnapper, thanks to the work of the FBI. The invention of the machine gun was not such a positive development imho, although of course you're welcome to disagree.

Plus, with multiple workers' strikes happening in the US, a larger event in 1934 seems important in that "history rhymes" kind of way: the 1934 Textile Workers' Strike of September 1934. Although 1934 began with an 8 North Eclipse @25Aquarius (horoscope displayed below), the strike actually occurred under the influence of the 8 South Solar Eclipse of August 10, 1934 @17Leo with its themes of loss and separation. The textile strike lasted from September 1 to September 23, 1934 resulting in 18 deaths, 162+ injuries, and the death of one mill guard; therefore, loss and separation afflicted an undetermined number of families in 1934 just from the strike alone.

What the murderous psychopathic narcissist, Herr Adolf, was up to in Europe in 1934, I shall leave to the curious reader. Grievous loss for all of humanity was certainly part of his stock in trade, as his current-day anti-societal fanatics are hoping for now while the destructive spirit roams the Earth.

The point of this post is: any of the significant cosmic conditions in effect during all 8 North Eclipses may be carried forward, as noted, in that "history rhymes" kind of way - if conditions are right - so that similar events and circumstances may reoccur. Cyclically this gives humanity opportunities to better deal with issues "this time around" and bring karmic progress where we can. Yet the most prominent clues belong to the initial eclipse in a series - you'll find notes concerning the very first 8 North, below.

So for historical context, and lest we assume that the Great American Eclipse of (election year) 2024 will bring along only happy visions and great ideas suitable for the common good - and hopefully it will! - above you see a dual image of the 8 North of 1934 (lower left) and the 8 North of 2024 (upper right) which precisely conjuncts centaur Chiron, the wounded healer archetype in Astrology, and, for some, a symbol of Jesus Christ, the key to Eternal Life; as you see, a bunch of my study notes are squooshed upon the charts (mea culpa!).

The initial 8 North occurred on May 16, 1501 @4Gem51 and is the lens through which all subsequent 8 North Eclipses may be considered via Gemini and its ruler Mercury. Therefore, issues of logic and communication must be involved.

In the May 16, 1501 Horoscope (not shown in this post), Mercury @26Gem46 conjuncts Chiron (26:50) suggesting curiosity and restlessness. In addition, Mercury also inconjuncts Pluto (Rx @26Sco10). Then given that Mercury rules the 1501 eclipse, and considering the huge amounts of demagoguery, propaganda, and deception the world is now afflicted by, I believe the Mercury-Pluto inconjunct of 1501 will carry forward along with the 8 North of 2024 and will ruffle America's 1776 Mercury-Pluto opposition across the security-and-business-minded Cancer-Capricorn axis - particularly since the 8 North of 2024 manifests as the third of our three total Great American Eclipses visible across the country. For details see Eclipses: Jan 2024--Dec 2026.

Influences of a Mercury-Pluto inconjunct include but are not limited to:

Obsessive thinking, clinging to 'old ideas' and the past with intellectual rigidity, promoting an uncompromising dogmatism, exhibiting an attraction to doctrinaire people, and spotlighting serial liars and gossips (A. Epstein). If the inconjunct sounds like anyone in politics operating current-day, dear reader, then we're on the same page. Ruffled is the US Mercury-Pluto opposition, descriptive of corrupt actors who work to undermine and sabotage existing conditions and institutions such as the US government. And we know who they are, don't we?

Aug 1981 Reagan Fires 11,359 Air-Traffic Controllers

Monday October 18, 2021

by Jude Cowell

Considering how many workers' strikes are in process across the country, a look at the planets of August 5, 1981, when newly inaugurated President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 air-traffic controllers whose strike he had "branded illegal," could be interesting in comparison with Reagan's natal planets. Apparently in making this decision, and with the usual Republican aplomb, difficulties caused for workers' families and the safety of all Americans were of no concern. For the GOP, the massive firing was a bottomline issue of finances, plus the usual political power play of exerting control (1981 MC = Mercury-Mars).

So below is a bi-wheel which is set up "backwards" - in other words, Reagan's natal horoscope (1911) is outside the 'noon' horoscope of August 5, 1981, a speculative hour when he did the deed (probably under orders from his corporate financial backers who finagled him into the Oval Office by cutting out President Jimmy Carter from his second term and using America's 66 hostages held in Iran to finesse it - his infamous, conspiratorial October Surprise).

Now as you see, multiple study notes are messily penned upon the bi-wheel including the significant fact that 1981 Pluto @21Lib52 sat prominently atop Reagan's natal Midheaven ('MC' = The Goal Point: powerful ambitions) and the controlling pair of Pluto-MC was rising on that day at noon and was a major factor of his presidential manipulations against Mr. Carter:

August 5, 1981 12:00 noon EDT Washington DC with Ronald Reagan February 6, 1911 4:16 am CST Tampico, IL RR: A from a family member

Note that 1981's chart-ruler is the 11th house Venu$ (highlighted in blue if you can see it) yet she makes no applying aspects to other 1981 planets which emphasizes her sign, degree, and house position. Venus in Virgo is supposed to be concerned with morals and ethics so perhaps her detached condition kept her concerns from informing or affecting the other actors (planets). Then for Mr. Reagan, his natal Jupiter-South-Node conjunction (in green) is prominent here (his first to rise) and reveals his lifelong clash of ethics with societal norms which tends to create conflicts of interest.

So perhaps The Gipper (greedy and materialistic as he was with Jupiter in Scorpio) didn't mind so much acting the role of POTUS in a way that oppressed members of society because the wealthy class could somehow gain. And with his Jupiter-SN conjunct the speculative 1981 Jupiter-Neptune midpoint we see the actor's 'preference for feigned or staged performances' and from his Jupiter conjunct 1981 Saturn-Neptune we find potentials for 'deceptive practices further concealed by religious ceremony or implication' and/or 'expanded ideas that reality is just a vision' (M. Munkasey).

These days, it seems that Politics concealed by religion (aka, Theocracy) has only increased its ability to damage US society and undermine America's original secular principles upon which our nation was founded. For as you know, our dreary Puritan streak had an early start in 1620 when the group landed at Plymouth, determined that religion would be the State - all the while emigrating to America in order to escape religious persecution themselves.

In closing, recommended for further reading is Salon Magazine's The evangelical presidency: Reagan's dangerous love affair with the Christian right.