“Great Sagittarius Conjunction” charts for selected nations

After having largely neglected it for some time, recent weeks have seen me more into astrology and charts than for a long time.

Six years ago I did two posts on the little-known 1899 “Great Sagittarius Conjunction”, and a request from the second post has made me decide to print up charts for various nations at the midpoint of the conjunction. This should show to some extent how these nations relate to the world’s culture today, but are mainly intended as illustrations.

Europe

The “Great Sagittarius Conjunction” charts for Europe, below, shows the conjunction in “small” (in zodiacal longitude covered) eighth and ninth houses, with Pisces rising in Britain and Aries or Taurus (example not shown) on the continent. These house positions, along with the assertive Aries Ascendant, symbolise the passionate cultural conflicts and tight relationship with government (people voluntarily sacrifice economic freedom for protection of personal rights) that have typified twentieth-century Europe.

Arab World

In the two representative charts for the Arab World below, we see the conjunction in the seventh house in the east of the Arab world and in the ninth and tenth in the west. The seventh-house location of the conjunction for Saudi Arabia shows the status of the Middle East as the centre of the world’s wars and diplomatic conflicts, whilst the Taurus Ascendant symbolises the role of the eastern Arab world

Russia/Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

In this chart for Moscow, we see the conjunction in the seventh and sixth houses with Gemini rising (an Ascendant that was very common at the midpoint of the conjunction throughout the vast Eurasian landmass). This may on one level symbolise the decline of Russian art as the planets are setting, whilst the worldly, sceptical Gemini Ascendant and the materialistic, internationalist seventh house presence symbolises how Russia dedicated itself to extremely secular ideologies via the Bolshevik Revolution and Comintern.

The eastern parts of Russia (not shown) have Leo or Virgo Ascendants, which may symbolise their role in the industrial growth of Russia in the former case, and their continued remoteness and enforced isolation with the Far East – accessible only to resident Soviet citizens during Stalinist times.

East Asia

Most of East Asia had Leo rising during the conjunction – located in the natural house of Leo as shown below for eastern China (Japan and Korea are too similar to show).

This fifth house position suggests strong creativity as well as the power implied by the Leo Ascendant and the Aries Midheaven, which shows East Asia breaking new ground and discarding old traditions– not always in a positive manner, as seen by Maoist China’s mass murder and the cruelty of Japan during World War II.

South and Central Asia

As shown below, South Asia and Central Asia had late Gemini or early Cancer on the Ascendant during the “Great Sagittarius Conjunction”. Together with the conjunction’s position entirely in the sixth house, this shows how this region’s ambitions have been much more modest than East Asia. With Pisces on the Midheaven in most of the region, there has been greater retention of spiritual traditions in India than in East Asia, especially with Neptune right on the Indian Ascendant.

Australia

As illustrated below, Eastern Australia had powerful Leo on the Ascendant during the conjunction, and Western Australia (along with Tasmania, which is not shown) motherly Cancer. These symbolise Australia’s position as a future superpower with its vast lithophile metal ores that have allowed the spread of the Industrial Revolution.

The Taurus Midheaven symbolises Australia’s role as the world’s low-price breadbasket with its monopoly on the world’s exploitable flat land – once its severe chalcophile nutrient deficiencies were understood and corrected. The Aries Midheaven of Western Australia symbolises, on one level, the constant exploration of the ancient craton for lithophile minerals, and on another level along with the Cancer Ascendant continuing prejudice against the Aborigines – who were specially adapted to a relictual continent more akin to the pre-Oligocene “greenhouse” Earth than to other extant landmasses.

The Western Hemisphere

As shown in the attached file to the left, the contiguous United States had either Scorpio or Sagittarius on the Ascendant. Having these signs on the Ascendant, vis-à-vis those signs found there in the Eurasia, symbolises the more religious nature of American culture. The presence of the conjunction in the Eastern Hemisphere suggests the US is more able to place religion in the public sphere than Eurasia, except for the East with its Libra Midheaven.

Latin America mainly had Capricorn on the Ascendant, as shown for Colombia, but true for most Andean and Southern Cone nations as far south as Punta Arenas. This symbolises a more subtle secularisation than found in Eurasia, but equally definite despite the conjunction being at least partly in the hidden twelfth house. Brazil and Argentina (not shown) had Aquarius rising, which symbolises the inflexible and often original (e.g. liberation theology) popular movements of these regions.

New Zealand and nearby Pacific islands had Virgo rising, which fits in with their relatively modest role and lack of global ambition in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

100 Most Wanted Out-of-Print Books by Abebooks: fascinating even with nothing I’m eager for

Today, the book seller Abebooks put together its annual list of the “100 Most Wanted Out of Print Books”. The list was first published in 2003, and has become an annual event.

In my younger days, the fact of a book being out of print attracted a lot of attention especially if I could find it in a library. With the exception of certain special topics (and by no means all specialist topics) where the perspective of the past time is critical – for example football or rugby club histories – this is not so much the case nowadays. In most cases, an easily-found book will do “the trick” just as well as something that is rare and expensive – though, again with old Wisdens there is a conspicuous exception and even the Willows reprints can be costly.

Most of the books listed below have been on the list for a number of years and in many cases the authors – sometimes very well-known people as with Sex’s author Madonna and for vice-President Dick Cheney’s wife’s Sisters – will refuse requests for a reprint or even a print-on-demand copy.

1. On the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman F. Dixon
2. The Lovely Reed: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Building Bamboo Fly Rods by Jack Howell
3. Sex by Madonna
4. The Body by Stephen King
5. Rage by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
6. The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
7. The Road We Are Traveling by Stuart Chase
8. On the Nature and Existence of God by Richard M. Gale
9. 365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert
10. Collector’s Guide to Colt .45 Service Pistols by Charles W. Clawson
11. Dark Carnival by Ray Bradbury
12. The Harvard Classics (51 volumes) edited by Charles W. Eliot
13. A Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent and Mary Price
14. Promise Me Tomorrow by Nora Roberts
15. The Jerusalem Bible by Salvador Dalí
16. Vibration Analysis for Electronic Equipment by Dave S. Steinberg
17. Fast Times at Ridgemont High by Cameron Crowe
18. Mastering Atmosphere and Mood in Watercolor by Joseph Zbukvić
19. The Thwarting of Laplace’s Demon: Arguments Against the Mechanistic World-View by Richard Green
20. Arithmetic Progress Papers by H. Henry Thomas
21. Racing Toward Judgment by David R Wilkerson
22. My Pretty Pony by Stephen King
23. Cards As Weapons by Ricky Jay
24. History of Art by H.W. Janson
25. The Angelique Series by Sergeanne (Anne) Golon
26. Murmurs of Earth by Carl Sagan
27. Ilsa by Madeleine L‘Engle
28. The Modern Gunsmith by James Virgil Howe
29. Mandingo by Kyle Onstott
30. The Afronauts by Cristina de Middel
31. Airport by Arthur Hailey
32. British General Staff: Reform and Innovation by David French
33. 102 Favorite Paintings by Norman Rockwell
34. The Pink Dress by Anne Alexander
35. An American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion by Dorothea Lange
36. Sisters by Lynne Cheney
37. Unintended Consequences by John Ross
38. War in the Modern Great Power System 1495-1975 by Jack S. Levy
39. Pookie by Ivy Wallace
40. Fly Fishing: Memories of Angling Days by J.R. Hartley
41. Analysis of Beam Grids and Orthotropic Plates by the Guyon-Massonet-Bares Method by Richard Bares and Charles Ernest Massonet
42. Cyborg by Martin Caidin
43. Golden Book of the Civil War by Charles Flato
44. I Go Pogo by Walt Kelly
45. Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth by David Wilkerson
46. A History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt
47. Hell, I Was There by Elmer Keith
48. A Pattern Book of Tatting by Mary Konior
49. The Book of Indians by Holling C. Holling
50. Phoebe and the Hot Water Bottles by Linda Dawson and Terry Furchgott
51. Women Are Beautiful by Garry Winogrand
52. Basic Building Data: 10,000 Timeless Construction Facts by Don Graf
53. In A Dark Place by Ray Garton
54. A Complete Guide to Learning and Understanding Chi Mind Control by Mike Dayton
55. Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words by Johnny Cash
56. The Bumper Book, A Harvest of Stories and Verses by Watty Piper
57. The Act of Creation by Arthur Köstler
58. Be Not Conformed to This World: a Narrative History of the Weaverland Mennonites, 1900-1975 by Roy Burkholder
59. The King Ranch by Tom Lea
60. The Riddle of Steel : Roleplaying with an Edge by Jacob Norwood
61. Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman
62. The Holy Bible by Rev. Alfred Nevin
63. The Big Country by Donald Hamilton
64. Open Water Swimming by Penny Lee Dean
65. Mastering Atmosphere and Mood in Watercolor: the Critical Ingredients That Turn Paintings into Art by Joseph Zbukvić
66. Anglo-French relations and strategy on the Western Front 1914-18 by William James Philpott
67. Crochet Lace: An Illustrated Guide to Making Crochet Lace Fabrics by Mary Konior
68. First Lessons in Drawing and Painting by Jack Hamm
69. Stuart: A History of the American Light Tank by R.P. Hunnicutt
70. Turkish Delight by Jan Wolkers
71. Categories, Bundles and Spacetime Topology by C.T.J. Dodson
72. To Drop A Dime by Paul Hoffman
73. Anybody Can Do Anything by Betty MacDonald
74. Kalinda by Evan Green
75. Lost Tribes and Promised Lands: The Origins of American Racism by Ronald Sanders
76. Professional Pattern Grading for Women’s, Men’s, and Children’s Apparel by Jack Handford
77. Sam’s Sandwich by David Pelham
78. The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth Nathaniel Taylor
79. Kelso’s Shrug Book by Paul Kelso
80. The Negro motorist green book: an international travel guide by Victor H Green
81. We by Charles Lindbergh
82. The Story of Civilization by Will Durant
83. The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur W. Upfield
84. The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy
85. Isms and Ologies: A Guide to Unorthodox and Non-Christian Beliefs by Arnold Kellett
86. Precious Souls: A Culture Unraveling by Nazareth V. Asorian
87. Impact Dynamics by Jonas A. Zukas
88. The Theory of Isotope Separation as Applied to the Large Scale Production of U₂₃₅ by Karl P. Cohen
89. This World and That: The Autobiography of a Diver by Thomas Ferris Milne
90. Directory of Alternative Communities in the British Isles by Michele
91. The Erotic Art of Edgar Britton by Jane Hilberry
92. Halloween by Curtis Richards
93. A Different Kind of Life by Virginia Williams
94. The Innovators The New Holland Story Hardcover by Homer K. Luttringer
95. South African Botanical Art: Peeling Back the Petals by Marion Arnold
96. The Airgun from Trigger to Target by Gerard Michael Cardew and G.V. Cardew
97. Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor by Seth A. Klarman
98. Birds of Britain by John D. Green
99. Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual by Bill Mollison
100. Beyond the Plough by Janet Woods

On the whole, some of these books, notably those on the Mennonites, Milne’s autobiography and Richard Green’s work on mechanistic worldviews, would be of interest to me. Most of the rest, however, certainly stand at least largely replaceable.