When the new moon appears on the first of

Kislev, the king of Akkad wherever he goes

will ravage the land...there will be an

overthrowing of fortresses and downfall of

garrisons...may the king soon hear a happy

report and greeting. From Asaridu.

-The Reports of the Magicians and

Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon

ca. 600-700 BC

On November 18, 1990, a new crescent moon

emerged; in the ancient lunar calendar of

Akkad (Iraq), it would have been the first of

Kislev...

In our enlightened age, omens are out of fashion, auguries eschewed, and fate is very definitely a dirty word; yet there have been enough rare celestial events in the last few years to freak out even the most jaded ephemeris junkies. Consider:

* The Islamic Calendar begins with the Hegira; the entrance of Mohammed into Medina at sunset on July 2, 622 AD; the true SNode at that moment was 6 AQU 29, the mean SNode 7 AQU 29. Neptune was closing on Zavijava, beta Virginis, the star the Chinese called "The Right-Hand Maintainer of Law."

* 870 years later, on August 3, 1492 at 5:15 AM LMT when Columbus sailed with the tide from Cape Palos, Spain, 37N37, 0W52, the Equatorial Descendant was 7 AQU 21.

* On July 4, 1776, on Neptune's 7th return to Zavijava on the solar return of the Hegira, the United States of America was born; the mean SNode was 7 AQU 36; the true SNode was 6 AQU 36.

* At the Federation of the 13 Colonies of the United States, 3/1/1781, 2:43 PM, Philadelphia, Pluto was setting at 6 AQU 36.

And later that same year, when the raw colonials made it stick and Cornwallis offered his sword to Washington (10/17/1781, 10 LMT, Yorktown, VA), Mars was 6 AQU 56. (The English military band played "The World Turned Upside Down").

* On February 24, 1987 the first great supernova in 383 years blazed forth in the Greater Magellanic Cloud, near the south pole of the ecliptic (polar events have world-wide consequences; supernovae relate to religious upheavals); the discovery was confirmed at 4:20 AM, zone +3, at RA 5h35m49.95s, Declination -69 17 57.9, with a celestial longitude of 6 AQU 52 04. At the moment of discovery, the supernova was on the MC at Baghdad...

* Just before the supernova appeared, an astronomy student discovered her first comet; its trajectory took it far south, through the same Greater Magellanic Cloud; less than 2 months after the supernova discovery, Comet Wilson reached perihelion on April 20, 1987, 21:48 UT. At Baghdad, the Equatorial Ascendant was 7 Aquarius 27; the comet's perihelion was 7 AQU 21r.

* January 26, 1990 a solar eclipse occurred over Antarctica at 6 AQU 35, the first in this degree in 269 years. In Baghdad, Uranus conjoined the IC. In Washington, Mars descended and Saturn was on the 8th house cusp.

* At the Vernal Equinox of 3/20/1990, Mars was 6 AQU 50.

* The Iraqi army embarked on their invasion of Kuwait at 0:10, 8/2/90, zone -3, at approximately 30N & 47E44: true NNode 7 AQU 17, mean NNode 7 AQU 11.

* When the first bombs hit Baghdad on 1/16/91 at 2:32 AM, zone -3; the moon was 7 AQU 21.

* On May 17, 1991 Saturn will station retrograde at 6 AQU 50, (2 hours and 38 minutes after its opposition to Jupiter at 6 Leo 50).

But, of course, as everyone knows, astrology is bunk, and all this is mere coincidence.

In a pig's eye.
 

- from Di-Ur-Annah. May the King Cha-ru-lez be pleased.

(written for the late Charles Emerson)