Solarscope
The total lunar eclipse (4° Aries 40’) on 28 September 2015, the last ‘Blood Moon’ in the second (2014-15) of eight tetrads
due this century, is a potent Full Moon whose effects may last three to six months. A suggested capsule message for each
of the signs
Aries
Leo
Sagittarius
The once fashionable ‘inner child’ is still
alive and kicking in you – and demanding
full respect. A bond is tested as you restore
full power to self.
Of course you know it all. Yet even a Leo
needs to study before embarking on a
new adventure. ‘Travelling’ physically or
figuratively is the theme.
What looks like a ‘risk’ to others is just you
being you in the grip of inspiration. Life is
gently steering you towards some kind of
excellence.
March 21-April 20
July 23-August 23
November 23-December 21
Taurus
Virgo
Capricorn
Emotional vampires feed on listeners
- and Blood Moon invites you to put on
headphones and just get away to the gym,
spa or sauna.
A financial benefit, not involving Lotto, is
the most likely outcome of this lunation, if
you have not been greedy. Possibly a case
of who you know….
Is there anything wrong in wanting to
“spend more time with the family,” beyond
political euphemism? What delights await
in that place called home.
April 21-May 21
August 24-September 22
December 22-January 20
Gemini
Libra
Aquarius
Taking charge of a group, with which you
are familiar, could go some way to satisfy
a growing need to be part of a social
professional structure.
This eclipse plays to your diplomatic
strengths if you have reached the wise
conclusion that perpetual war is really
tiresome. Celebratory champagne may be
required.
A priceless lesson is learnt from an
unlikely sage – be s/he an innocent tot or a
decrepit street drunk. These are examples:
keep that mind open.
May 22-June 21
September 23-October 23
January 21-February 19
Cancer
Scorpio
Pisces
Recent big, surprising changes in work or
status inevitably impact on home or family
conditions. This could be challenging or
simply part of self-liberation.
A restrictive bind can be untied simply by
analysing the hostile thought projected on
you. Growing self-awareness disempowers
any attempt to thwart.
In law, a contract requires ‘consideration’,
an exchange of value. This eclipse reminds
you that something is owed as part of a
deal, whatever that is.
June 22-July 22
October 23-November 22
February 20-March 20
The Moorgate Crash
Guided by William Lilly’s work, and blending traditional and modern approaches,
Jonathon Clark examines the astrology of the London Underground Moorgate Crash of
1975 in which 43 people died and 74 were injured. Among other things, does the event
chart support the claim that the driver deliberately crashed the train?
Picture of a Crash
The chart of a specific event can provide
a very clear demonstration of astrological
principles – the language of symbols may
be at its most graphic in such moments.
A good example is the rail crash which
occurred on 28 February 1975 at Moorgate
underground station in London.
The first train ran on London
Underground on 10 January 1863 and, of
the major disasters which have happened
on the system, the Moorgate crash is the
only one not due to external attack.
There were three bombs in the Second
World War (at Balham, Bank and Bounds
Green) which resulted in significant loss
of life. And the multiple bombings of
July 2005. Other major disasters were
the crushing to death of 173 civilians at
Bethnal Green in 1943 and the Kings
Cross Fire of 1987.
What makes the Moorgate crash even
more interesting is the doubt about its
cause which still exists forty years on.
The bare details of the crash are that a
southbound train was driven through
Moorgate station and did not stop until it
hit the wall at the end of the tunnel. The
tunnel was designed to accommodate the
larger overground trains and therefore
afforded enough space to allow the second
and third carriages of the doomed train to
ride up onto the top of the front carriage.
43 people died and 74 were injured.
Witnesses spoke of seeing the driver
sitting upright facing forward as the train
sped through the station, so it appears
unlikely that he suffered a heart attack or
stroke - in which case he would probably
have been slumped forward.
Forensic
evidence
regarding
the
possibility that he had be en drinking
was inconclusive – although alcohol was
found in his body at the post-mortem
this is thought to have been caused by
natural decomposition as he was not
26
Sep/Oct 2015 The Astrological Journal
Moorgate Crash Natal chart
28 Feb 1975 8:46am GMT London, UK Regiomontanus
removed from the train for four days due
to the difficulty of cutting through the
wreckage.1
The suspicion remained that the only
explicable cause was a suicide by the
driver although why he would want to
have killed himself in such a way with
the attendant loss of life has never been
established. The enquiry by London
Transport found no conclusive evidence
of fault by the driver or other staff on the
train. Further extensive investigation was
carried out by Laurence Marks, the TV
scriptwriter, who was a journalist at the
time of the crash and whose father was one
of the victims. His preferred conclusion is
that it was, indeed, a suicide.2
A chart drawn [see Moorgate Crash chart]
for the moment of the crash describes
the situation and also provides some
fascinating links to other related charts.
Eerily, 8.46 am is exactly the same minute
as the first impact of the planes into the
Twin Towers on 11 September 2001,
although there is no obvious connection
between the two incidents (a probability
of 0.069%).
William Lilly, in Christian Astrology,
offers us guidance to the signification
which should be used in these sorts of
charts – adapting his description as they
apply to ships in the 17th century, we can
use them for trains and for accidents.
“The Signe ascending and the Moon are
significators of the Ship and what Goods
are in her, the Lord of the Ascendant of
those that saile in her.”3 Lilly also notes,
at the beginning of this passage, his
Sep/Oct 2015 The Astrological Journal
27