Princess Diana and the Asteroids;

Holistic Perspectives and Asteroids in the New World of Astrology

AS ELTON JOHN SANG THE LYRICS OF BERNARD TAUPIN AT DIANA'S FUNERAL "NOW YOU BELONG TO HEAVEN AND THE STARS SPELL OUT YOUR NAME."

That's literally true! Lyrics so true, more than the writers and the Princess herself knew. At her birth, the asteroids named Diana, Paris, another for Dodi (Dido) and for Charles were all clustered together. On the same birth horoscope are placed the asteroids named by astronomers for Dodi's family, Fayed, her family name Spencer, and that of body guard Jones, as well as son William -- all on the descendant of her natal chart! The chart for her fatal wound on 31 August 1997 places the asteroid for Dodi on the ascendant, Paris on the descendant, Diana and the goddess Atropos whose shears cut the cords of life opposite violent Mars. Another name for the goddess of death, Moira, has another asteroid named for it, and it was placed conjunct the asteroid Mercedes and Venus is sociable and charming and loving Venus in Libra, a fitting ending and new beginning to a romantic couple now immortalized in our memories, immune from the human frailties of sickness and betrayal. . The royal family's asteroids for Elisabeth, Charles, Harry and William were all together at the time of Diana's death, as indeed the family was at Balmoral Castle, ready to respond collectively to the tragic news. In an earlier article in the July 1997 issue of Dell Horoscope Magazine, an article I wrote about the royal asteroids ended with "Diana's final separation from the British monarchy and the beginning of surprising affairs with foreign elites, ...she can be free at last."

 

Was Princess Diana's destiny described in the heavens by name? Indeed, and more eloquently than we human mortals could ever portray. Mythology plays a large part in the craft of the astrologer and the roles played by ancient characters like Jupiter, Uranus, and Mercury influence the meaning we ascribe them in horoscopes. Asteroid names, now exceeding five thousand, all assigned by astronomers meeting at Harvard University's Smithsonian Institute for Astrophysics, are now added to the astrological connection between cosmic events and human experience. This time, the death of Princess Diana, Dodi Al Fayed, and the driver Henry Paul will be our stage for this connection. Do the sounds and letters used in that drama relate to asteroids with the same sounds and letters? The vibrations and frequency of the spoken and written names given asteroids, chosen in a seeming arbitrary if not whimsical manner by astronomers who decide these things, play an equally important role in interpreting time and space astrologically as much as Mars and Pluto. Could it be that the astronomers and scientists naming asteroids are the most sophisticated, and certainly unintentional, channelers of cosmic truth for us humans integrating ourselves into a holistic universe -- a universe where everything is purposeful and part of a grander Truth. Diana and her romantic partner Dodi Al Fayed were fatally wounded together in a violently impacted Mercedes automobile driven by suddenly recruited chauffeur Henry Paul, whose blood alcohol content was several times the legal limit for operating a vehicle, and driving at several times the legal speed limit in a Parisian tunnel. A fourth occupant of the car, Diana's bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, was the lone survivor, suffering from major head injuries. They were being pursued by magazine photographers, and the driver was heard to challenge the paparazzi before entering the vehicle to keep up with his speed with the Mercedes, later clocked at 120 miles per hour at the moment of the crash. The crash was reported in the press as happening at about 23 minutes past midnight on 31 August 1997. Whether Henry Paul's blood alcohol came from drinking alcohol, or from excessive stomach acid deterioration, is a debate still waged at this writing. The asteroids, bearing the names of the persons, places, and things involved describe the event clearly. Blending the human names with the names of mythological figures representing merriment and death, the picture becomes even more eloquent. The asteroids bearing the names of the people, places and things involved in Diana's death were not distributed randomly, like so many numbered spheres in a lottery. No, the asteroids are arranged specifically to provide meaning and purpose in a universe that only seems chaotic. The pattern reveals, as it were, an awesome purpose to the distribution of heavenly bodies, and a purpose to the seeming accident of naming them. The horoscope with the names literally makes a glowing statement of Diana and Dodi's final journey together on earth, perhaps in preparation for a spiritual journey at other planes. The driver's death, the crash of the car, and Prince Charles playing the role of messenger to their sons William and Harry and his escort of her body to the land of their birth and wedding is described as well. Now to the hair raising, goose bump generating details. There is an asteroid named Diana, and another for Spencer-Jones combining her family name Spencer with the second part of the bodyguards' family name. The asteroids Dido and Fayeta approximate the sounds of her companion Dodi Al Fayed. There are asteroid names for the driver Henry and Paul, and another for the first part of the bodyguard's family name Rees. There is no asteroid Charles, and it was the custom in the early naming of asteroids to give them feminine names, so the asteroid Charlotte can represent the Prince, and Elisabetha his mother Queen Elisabeth. Asteroids Williams and Wil can equally apply to young Prince William (there is no asteroid William) and asteroids Harris and Henry can apply to young Prince Harry (there is no asteroid Harry), and the driver's first name. The god of death is represented by the two names for one of the three Fates controlling death, Moira and Atropos. There is a god of wine and merriment, Bacchus, and the driver's alcohol level, whether or not attributed to his consumption of alcohol, is often compared with drinking the equivalent of over a liter of wine. The paparazzi can be represented by the asteroid Photographia, Paris for the city, and Mercedes for the car. And asteroid Camilla represents Prince Charles' companion, a central figure in their estrangement and divorce, and an unlikely candidate for his wife as long as he is in line for the throne. Were these asteroids randomly distributed at the fateful crash? No. They were where they served a purpose to explain a holistic universe, with an opportunity for enlightenment for us all. Asteroids Diana and Paul were within one degree of each other, applying to the asteroid Atropos known for her shears cutting the cords of life (like the sharp edges of a crashed car) all in Taurus, just one corner of a grand square in unwavering fixed signs. Diana and Paul were opposite violent Mars and "wino" Bacchus in Scorpio, and that opposition was square excessive Jupiter and unpredictable Uranus in Aquarius opposite to a Leo Moon and the bright paparazzi lights of asteroid Photographia in flashy Leo. Asteroid Fayeta, sounding like Fayed, was one degree from restrictive Saturn, both opposite the asteroid for the vessel for their shared death, Mercedes. And asteroid Mercedes conjuncted the goddess of death Moira with sweet and romantic Venus in between in the romantic fifth house, as if to say their lovers' union in death would forever be undisturbed by mortal limits. Asteroids Dido and Paris were within three of the crash moment's ascendant axis, assuming 12:23 a.m. is correct, exactly square the karmic lunar nodal axis. The royal family of Elizabeth and Charles, along with Princes William and Harry were clustered together in Scotland at the time of the crash, and also represented by asteroids in the heavens with the royal Sun in Virgo along with the retrograde Mercury. Charles indeed was the Mercury like messenger and delivery escort, informing the young princes of Diana's death and bringing Diana's body home from France. Asteroids Elisabetha for the Queen, Charlotte for Charles, Wil for Prince William and Harris and Henry (either name a variant of Harry) formed a stellium with Sun and Mercury in analytical Virgo. The asteroid Juno named for the "queen of all the gods," daughter of Saturn and Rhea and astrologically interpreted as a measure of devoted loyalty and partnership dynamics was conjunct the Moon and in opposition to Charles' lover Camilla. Juno was married to philandering Zeus, also known as Jupiter, the planet then conjunct asteroid Camilla. Was the relationship between Camilla and Charles going through its own dynamics of growth, adventure, and flirtation? As for William, the absence of an asteroid with the same spelling complicates matters. The asteroid Wil was conjunct the Moon and asteroid Spencer-Jones at the time of the crash, and the asteroid Williams was conjunct Mercedes, the name of the vehicle entrapping his mother. This suggests that Prince William may be more attached to the symbols of Diana, than to Charles or the royal family. Was Dodi Fayed the true karmic lover for Diana? ls1 The asteroids certainly say so, even providing support for Diana's birth time of 7:45 P.M. rather than alternative times proposed by some. Given the birth date of 1 July 1961, at Sandringham, England (52N50, 00E30), asteroids for the family names of the couple, Fayeta and Spencer-Jones, are conjunct the descendant in late Gemini, and the asteroids for the first names, Diana and Dido are also conjunct asteroid Paris, a frequent rendezvous for then and the site of their final journey, all in mid degrees of intensive and transforming Scorpio. Was a violent death indicated in her chart? An eighth house of death and rebirth loaded with the lunar node point of destiny, and a violent Mars, plus sudden Uranus and transforming Pluto opposite the wombs-to-tombs Moon leave little room for doubt. Few would have ever thought such an ending was possible for such a model of charm and generosity with a romantic fifth house Venus in Taurus, an adventurous Sagittarius rising and a proud Sun and discursive Mercury in her social seventh house. The challenge of excessive wine and merriment was represented also in her eighth house of death with the asteroid Bacchus opposing Jupiterian largess. Perhaps the image of Charles and Camilla was never really expunged. Asteroid Camilla was also in her natal eighth house of death, square the asteroid for Charles, Charlotte. The two names for the driver, Henry and Paul, had a eerie correspondence with death as well: asteroid Paul was in Diana's natal eighth house, and Henry was conjunct her lower heaven, the point of endings and new beginnings. The goddess cutting the cord of life, Atropos, was but one degree from Diana's Sun in the partnership seventh house, and just 10 degrees from Fayeta and Spencer Jones as if to say that death would come with a partner whose name sounded like Fayed, in company with Paul and Henry. Awesome. We could proceed with many deeper analyses, and I hope many readers will find far more incisive insights into the Diana asteroids in the two horoscopes presented here. In her life and in her death, and the names of the persons and places she associated with, are told in the operation of this holistic purposeful universe. In many ways, these asteroid connections are as profound as the parallels between names and earthly events discovered by a computerization of the five books of Moses and described by Michael Drosnin in the best-selling book Bible Code. We may discover from this story of Diana, and the many previous articles on asteroid names and earthy events with the names, that the universe is indeed whole, and we are all part of the same body of the visible and the invisible. Everything, even the names we use and often assign arbitrarily, are part of the One. To paraphrase Elton John's Candle in the Wind, our names all belong to heaven, and the stars spell out all our names.

In an uncanny way, the names of asteroids connect to Earthly events, people and places with the same names. Remember, astronomers named Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto and astrologers have found those names, and the mythology surrounding them, useful in delineating horoscopes and making predictions. So, why not the thousands of light bodies called asteroids with their popular names -- names like Diana, Paris, Mercedes, Fayed, Dido, William, Harry, Charlois as well as the mythological figures prevailing over death like Atropos and Moira? With over 5,000 asteroids named so far, and many more added every year, your name and the unique collection of all the names around you are components of the human cosmic connection. Asteroid names are suddenly an element of a collective consciousness.

For example, when the singing group Peter, Paul, and Mary first performed in the summer of 1961, the asteroids with the same names were all together in the theatrical constellation Leo. When Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by Shane Stant, an accomplice of Tonya Harding, the asteroid Harding was rising in the East, the asteroid Tanya joined mysterious Pluto setting in the West, with the asteroid Shane directly beneath Detroit, the site of the attack, at that precise moment. A perfect triangle to the degree, no variance. And when scientist Carl Edward Sagan was born to parents Rachel and Sam, the asteroids with those given names were all together too.

The people, places are brought together not by virtue of press agents, blood and ancestry as we generally think of it, but by virtue of a holistic purposeful universe. In this new perception of life on our planet, all events are interconnected. Technology has made the world a smaller place in many ways, and events in remote parts of our planet impact with persons far removed. In fact, the concept of beginnings are changing too, and a connection between the births of Diana Spencer, Dodi Fayed, and the astronomers calculating asteroid orbits and naming them is not as far fetched now as it used to be. The idea of the universe as a solid whole is becoming more and more an acceptable hypothesis. So what does all this have to do with Diana? Let me explain.

Are all these coincidences? Or is the universe presenting a message that all experiences, even the naming of asteroids by astronomers, even the birth of two famous, assertive and creative women, physically distant are yet artistically and cosmically tied. These isolated events are not arbitrary but a part of the grand plan that most of us are just now learning to appreciate. Author James Redfield wrote in his The Celestine Prophecy, that new insights would begin to dominate world consciousness before the transformation at the beginning of the 21st century. Well, the first insight was the appearance of strange coincidences, events related to each other and making no logical sense. What could be more unlikely as asteroid names, astrological symbols, and events on Earth carrying those names. Perhaps astronomers in their selection of names for asteroids are unintentionally and unconsciously tapping into the vibrational frequencies of the asteroid, which triggers a sound vibration which in turn stimulates a name. What's that biblical phrase, In the Beginning was the Word...?

For more information and for copies of the horoscopes for Diana, send a check, money order for $10. (U.S. currency only) or credit card (Visa/MasterCard) information to e-mail jacob@asteroids.com or post to ASTEROIDS at P. O. Box 176, Oreland PA 19075, USA

The astrology we all know and love is macho. Yes, astrology has a male bias in its basic orientation, it's system of progressions, and even the way it looks at our actions.

Holistic astrology seeks to balance the dominant patriarchal systems of astrology by acknowledging that a zodiac and a progressions system oriented to both Sun and the Moon has equal merit to the present system based on a Sun-Earth orientation only.

The beginning point of the Zodiac is oriented to the point where Earth's equator intersects the Sun's path. Where's the Moon? Where's the bridge between Masculine Sun and Feminine Moon? The Draconic System uses the point where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's path as the 0 degrees Aries point. We also call that point the Lunar North Node.

The popular day for a year progression is based upon the day for a year system. In other words, one day after birth has equal to one year of life. And that system works very well to describe changes in your creative self, your physical manifestation of changes. But there's something missing. What are days and years? The day for a year system of progression uses Sun-Earth connections. A day is the time it takes the Earth to rotate once on its axis. A year is the time it takes the Earth to go around the Sun, so the popular progression system is one relating Masculine Sun and Neutral Earth measures only. Where's the Feminine Moon in this orientation? That's the day for a month progression. A month is the time it takes the moon to rotate around the earth, technically a lunation.

Another vacuum is the one between the "personal planets" Sun through Mars and the outer planets connected with social and transcendental matters, Jupiter through Pluto. That bridge is the asteroid belt where thousands of asteroids named by astronomers in a band of sky primarily between Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids include the names of mythological figures but also personal names like Alice, Beer, Beethoven, Chicago, Nicky, Santana, Richard and Toronto.

Research over the last few years have demonstrated an uncanny correlation between asteroid positions in the sky and events on earth with the names. When Peter, Paul and Mary first performed, the asteroids Peter, Paul and Mary were together in the constellation Leo, symbol of theater and performance. When Nancy Kerrigan was attacked, the asteroid Harding was rising, asteroid Tanya was setting (with Pluto, god of the underworld), and the asteroid Shane (the name of the man wielding the lead pipe damaging Nancy's knee, was directly beneath Detroit forming a perfect T-square. And there are lots of connections of asteroids with the O J Simpson case, Susan Smith's tragedy, and the Oklahoma bombing.

Have you wondered "why Sun signs and not Moon signs?" Have you asked "why is the zero Aries point at the vernal equinox -- where the Earth's equator intersects the Sun's path-- aren't there other beginnings including the Moon?"

Astrologers progress charts one day after birth for every year of life. Have you wondered why 'days' and 'years,' which are both Sun-Earth measures? Why aren't Moon measures included?

Have you ever asked why we go forward with transits, the moving planets in the sky? Can't we also go backward? The past represents a balance to the present and future? If you have questioned these things, the answer to all of them is found in the dominant patriarchal cultures for the last five thousand years. Traditional astrology reflects that patriarchy in its fundamental techniques. Assuming that Moon and Sun represent feminine and masculine energy symbols, the inevitable conclusion is that traditional astrology is sexist!

Moon and Sun are the most prominent bodies in the sky. Together they embody the principle of polarity both in our physical world and in our psychological nature. Their alternating rhythms regulate day and night cycles. As the Sun relates to the conscious, enlightened objective world of day, the Moon rules the unconscious and the inner intuitive instinctual world of night.

The fiery Sun projects its brilliant light and warmth, and centers our solar system. It too has cycles: subtle like sun spots, and others dramatic like solar eclipses when light changes to imitate Moon phases. The Moon lies between Sun and earth, and intervenes to prevent the full voltage of the Sun searing us. And the Moon distributes sunlight in rhythmic patterns of increase and decrease, tides of oceans and earth, and the flow of bodily fluids.

The Moon's constant movement, yet its ever changing shape, place, and color embody the truth of change and transformation. That power came to be associated more with the feminine inasmuch as menstrual and lunar cycles are coincident. The Moon undergoes death when it is new, only to show its immortality as it waxes again. The death is not a final statement but a pause for regeneration. The ending of moonlight is simply preparation for rebirth when the waxing crescent appeared again.

But the Moon is an equal with the Sun in apparent size. This is shown during a total solar eclipse when the disk of the Moon perfectly superimposes itself upon the disk of the sun. Two marriage partners, equal and necessary. If there were creatures on other planets, their satellites would either appear much larger or smaller than the Sun -- not the same size as our Moon and Sun. We are unique in the solar system in that way. Perhaps this is the only place in the solar system which could support life as we know it.

Moon and Sun are not opposite forces -- irreconcilably in conflict. Their constant dance -- pulling closer and then withdrawing, only to return in the embrace of their sacred marriage, creates the conditions for life to exist. Moon and Sun are complementary opposites. They are god and goddess, polar manifestations of the primeval, undifferentiated divine force. They combine to create the mystical dimension known as One-ness, union, illumination.

This perspective of partnership is hardly new in human thought, but it has been suppressed for about five millennia. There is growing evidence from art history, archaeology and theology of a transition in predominant political and religious structures governing cultures around 3000 BC.

Matriarchal cultures flourished for 30,000 years prior to that time. Moon goddesses such as Innana, Ishtar, Isis, Demeter and Artemis yielded to patriarchal solar gods such as Gilgamesh, AmenRa, Zeus, Apollo and Yahweh about 5000 years ago. Between 4000and 2500 BC tribes from central Asia and northern Europe swept across western Europe, the Near East and India. They were known as Aryans, Hittites, Mittani, Achanians, Dorians, and Semites. Modern science follows in the same tradition. Science too seeks dominion over earth, sky and seas, altering life and land to satisfy academic curiosity in the name of the religion of reason. Science, too, has its church-like structures and clergy.

The Great Mother was replaced by the great Father about 3000BC, suddenly in some cultures and more slowly in others. Sometimes the portrayed God was a son, lover or consort of the Goddess, growing in strength to the point where she became secondary in importance. Isis was mother to the god Horus, Mary was mother to Jesus. The source image of the mother then changed so the Father created the child, Eve evolved from Adam's rib, and Athena sprang from the head of Zeus.

And finally the patriarchal solar heroes not only destroyed pagan worship sites, but created folk heroes to slay, especially serpents and dragons who shed their skin, symbolizing the transformation. In fact, in Deuteronomy, the God Yahweh commands the followers to destroy all pagan sites. The war was characterized by light opposing darkness, words like good versus evil, purity versus sin. The libraries at Alexandria, Egypt, the last repository of the ancient wisdom were destroyed by monotheistic zealots. Patriarchal religions moved toward monotheism, identifying women's sexuality as solely a vehicle for creating offspring, and destroying the memory of energies used in ritual, healing, and regeneration.

Inclusions of the Moon in astrology's basic orienting calculations is long overdue -- it is more than "another planet." The Moon and the Sun combined can form the technical roots of astrology.

Scientific support for polarity comes from research indicating each half of the brain functions differently. The right brain is likened to feminine, Yin, and the matriarchal polarity, circular in motion, initiative in nature, audial in emphasis, holistic, the natural world united and interconnected with the human. The left brain is likened to the masculine, Yang and the patriarchal polarity, linear in movement, logical in nature, visual in perception, emphasizing differentiation of nature from humanity, distinguishing subject from object, nature is separate from human.

While the religion of the Goddess had an underworld, it was not a place of final punishment but a place of healing and purification before rebirth. The hell of the wrathful God, on the other hand, was filled with torture, darkness was death. Demetra George's book Mysteries of the Dark Moon details the historical support for goddess dominant cultures. She describes how the disappearance of the Goddess was not due solely to a conscious and intentional destruction by the patriarchy, but rather a natural and necessary factor in cycle of waxing and waning phases.

When astrologers talk about sexism, the focus usually is upon Sun signs dominating the popular culture compared with the less popular Moon sign. That bias is just the tip of the iceberg! Sun Signs easily lend themselves to the mass media. Dating the Sun entering and leaving each zodiac signs is easy because the Sun reappears on the same days each year. Moon signs change every two and a half days, and only massive print space could identify everyone's moon. Sun signs only require 12 pairs of dates, moonsigns would require over six thousand for 50 years alone.

But far more basic: the patriarchy is reflected in the very zodiacs we draw, the progressions and directions we use, and the transits we look forward to. In summary, popular tropical astrology is male, day for a year based progressions and directions are male, and direct transits represents patriarchal linear thinking. Negative attitudes and interpretations of retrograde planets is another manifestation of this thinking. Let me explain.

The tropical zodiac itself reflects a Sun bias. Zero Aries is defined by the plane of the earth's equator intersecting the apparent path of the Sun. The Moon is not considered at all as a point of orientation. In fact, there is no single word, like ecliptic, referring to the lunar plane.

Some authors consider the planet Earth feminine since soil and water absorb and are necessary for fertility. However, planet Earth also supports two masculine elements: fire and air. Fires lies deep beneath the planet surfacing in volcanic eruptions, hot springs, and earthquakes. Fire is the energy required to survive and grow. Air is the strong force in tornadoes, hurricanes, windstorms and in drying out things, but also required for communication and travel, conversations, thought and perception. The planet Earth is both masculine and feminine.

The time has finally arrived, after thousands of years, for astrologers to realize the influence of the patriarchy in their very calculations, in the assumptions implicit and unquestioned in the basics of zodiacs, horoscopes, progressions, directions and transits. Indeed, the traditional methods have stood the test of time for the last 5000 years. But the times are changing. The millennia of the patriarchy is ending, the goddess awakes from her sleep stronger and better prepared to live and work with the gods. The time has come to acknowledge the strength of both patriarchal and matriarchal techniques, and integrate them in this balanced approach.

If you want to see how these factors impact upon your life, contact Jacob Schwartz at jacob@theastetoidman.com. Jacob has been a professional astrologer since 1974 when he left a successful career in market and public opinion research. His Masters and Doctorate degrees are from the Universities of Chicago and Illinois at Urbana. He teaches astrology currently at Temple University's center city campus and at Lower Merion High School (Montgomery County PA). His monthly column appears in Visions Magazine, and he frequently contributes to The Mountain Astrologer. He was the first Western astrologer to lecture in the former Soviet Union. He maintains a practice currently in Wyndmoor PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, and in Monmouth County NJ.