Big Oil's Horoscope
Several news reports issued last week featured a stunning comparison between the current oil spill and the explosion of the Ixtoc on June 3, 1979. Both were huge ecological disasters in the Gulf of Mexico, and efforts to plug the leak failed repeatedly. In Ixtoc's case, the ultimate remedy was the drilling of relief wells, which took nine months to complete.
Comparing the charts for the two blowouts shows virtually nothing in common. What the two events do share are ties to Rockefeller's original oil monopoly, Standard Oil (January 10, 1870; 12:00 pm; New York, NY). This horoscope features the Capricorn Sun opposite independent Uranus and square Neptune, the natural ruler of oil. The Sun is also trine a Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Taurus, indicating its immense wealth.
Transiting Pluto was exactly opposite Standard Oil's Neptune when the Ixtoc disaster hit. The progressed chart also shows very tight connections (P2 Mars conjunct Moon, P2 Venus square Saturn), which reflect the explosive nature of the event and the tremendous cost. Although the original Standard Oil (SO) was broken up by anti-monopoly laws, this corporation as the founding entity for Big Oil remains valid and useful.
When BP's rented rig blew up on April 20, transiting Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were all closely aspecting SO's Lunar Node axis and Chiron in watery Pisces, the symbolic Achilles Heel of offshore oil drilling. Also, transiting Neptune was conjunct SO's Juno, showing deception and buck-passing problems with partners in the oil business. In both Gulf disasters, Standard Oil was undergoing a progressed New Moon, indicating an ending and a new start. But what have we learned since the last new start?
David Tepper, Speculator Extraordinaire
As sociologist Les Leopold wrote last week*, David Tepper made $4 billion last year, making him the top hedge fund investor in America. "You earn more in one minute than the average entry-level teacher earns in one year!" The word on Wall Street is that Mr. Tepper is a financial genius, and most recently, that he's buying the most expensive house in the Hamptons.
David Tepper was born with a Sun-Mars conjunction in hardworking Virgo (September 11, 1957; Stanton Heights, PA; time unknown), giving him plenty of energy and drive to be the best. Like Virgo billionaire J. P. Morgan (Sun quincunx Neptune), Tepper has a strong Neptune influence: Mercury (ruling his Virgo planets) is retrograde and octile Neptune, showing that his intuition plays as much a role as his analyses.
Tepper is blessed with a good deal of luck: Jupiter, the planet of luck and opportunity, is favorably sextile Saturn on one side and Uranus on the other. These harmonious links also happen to be aligned with key placements in the U.S. horoscope, notably, Uranus conjunct the U.S. North Node and square the Scorpio Ascendant. Uranus symbolizes his freedom to leverage the financial system unimpeded by socially responsible regulation.
Last year, Tepper's progressed Sun squared natal Uranus when he vaulted from a top-tier speculator to the best on Wall Street. Over the next few months, as Jupiter conjoins Uranus and opposes Saturn, we might expect some crazy gyrations in the stock market. Since Tepper has these three business-cycle indicators in harmony, we can expect that he will find a way to make $billions more for his clients and himself.
Dennis Hopper, the Archetypal Tormented Maniac
As transiting Mars opposed the U.S. Moon last week, Americans lost two favorite celebrities, Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper. Fans of the Sagittarius Rising U.S. chart, please note: Mars was at 25º Leo, not 26º Leo. Orbs are important, and major events happen when transits are within ½ degree from being exact. In the Sagittarius Rising chart, the Moon is at 26º Aquarius; in the Scorpio Rising chart, the Moon is at 25º Aquarius.
We have accurate birth data for Dennis Hopper (May 17, 1936; 8:45 pm; Dodge City, KS), which gives him a stable Taurus Sun in sextile to Saturn and Pluto. This altogether reliable and calm planetary pattern is not how we remember Easy Rider star Dennis Hopper, who was renowned for his drug binges and counter-cultural ways.
Hopper's Mercury-Chiron conjunction in multifaceted Gemini resides in the 7th house of partners where it squares Neptune. This planetary signature easily captures his interest in mind-altering psychedelics as well as his multiple marriages and unrepentant philandering. In his later years, as Hopper mellowed out, he expressed an interest in playing evil characters and their underworld ways. His Aries Moon square Pluto captures this anti-hero vibe.
Hopper's Jupiter squaring Saturn in the 3rd house might indicate phases of mental anguish and isolation. Saturn is in the suffering sign of Pisces, and afflicted in the third house of mental attitude. This combination points to a hidden side, distinct from the enthusiasm and exuberance often shown in his films which is depicted by Jupiter rising in Sagittarius. Hopper's passing was foreshadowed by the January 15 Solar Eclipse perfectly aligned with his 8th house Pluto.
* Les Leopold is the author of "The Looting of America". See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/an-open-letter-to-the-ten_b_593096.html
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