France mourns the Charlie Hebdo massacre

Yesterday at about 11.30am in Paris an unspeakable massacre against a satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the clever and talented people who work in it saw the cold blooded murder of 12 people all in the name of religion. The attack shocked the world and the outrage it provoked has united a nation in support of free speech and the right to comment in the face of violence.

I have held back on commenting on this until the dust settles a little. Just a few days ago, I wrote about the impending Saturn in Sagittarius/Neptune in Pisces square. In it I wrote a section about what this square really means in basic terms. Reread it now and apply it to the awful events yesterday.

"Saturn is reality whereas Neptune is illusion. Saturn is structure but Neptune dissolves. Saturn has ideas and plans but Neptune is the intuition and imagination to put them into reality. Saturn is fear and trepidation but Neptune asks us to sacrifice ourselves to it and to embrace and accept those fears. Saturn represents materialism but Neptune wants us to live freely and spiritually without the trappings of success. Saturn wants to rule and administrate but Neptune represents the collective and society and with Neptune there are no rules; the views and strength of the many always eventually outweigh the dominance of the individual. Saturn is ambition and can put meat on the bones of the dreams inspired by Neptune. Saturn represents time but in Neptune’s world time is unimportant. Saturn can organise and allocate but Neptune’s world is one of confusion. Saturn is the status quo and is trustworthy but Neptune is insecure, promotes deception and dissatisfaction. In the world of politics, Saturn shows conservatism whereas Neptune is socialist and the values of the many outweigh those of the few. Saturn indicates robust health but Neptune brings sickness and weakness"

The reason that the events happened in France is that it's natal chart was experiencing an exact transiting Mars square Mars, a natal Mars that sits tightly conjunct to the very public French Midheaven also receiving the square aspect. The French Mars resides just into the 9th house of religion and publishing. Transiting Mars was also trine to the 8th house Neptune, sitting in the house of death and destruction. Both the rulers of Mars and Neptune affect the French 2nd house, the house representing the values of the French nation. The 3rd house is the house of communication and Saturn sits here in the French natal chart, so the press and the messages that it sends out is very serious in French culture, and because of Saturn's position there is the potential for tragedy connected to those who write, or draw. This house is ruled by Venus (Taurus on the cusp) and the French natal Venus was under severe pressure receiving an opposition from transiting Uranus and a square from transiting Pluto, both influences that could initiate shocking and transforming events to occur. The Mars square provided the trigger point for the violence to happen.

I have been saying for a while that Saturn in Sagittarius would bring fear from religion and harshness from faith groups. I hate to say it, but an incident like this was always coming and I mentioned as much in the past. I also notice that Neptune was exactly conjunct the star Deneb Adige (orb 0.01 degrees), the main star in the constellation of Cygnus the Swan. Elsbeth Ebertin in writing about this star mentioned this.

"The star corresponds to a combination of Mercury and Venus influence and is therefore favourable for artistic and scientific pursuits which are carried out with the aim of gain. To prove this, it is interesting to find several well known artists and writers, who could make good money with their art, be it manifold activities in the acting art or achieving record sales of their printed works."

There is a direct connection here to creative writers and those who draw artistically for a living. Saturn the planet of loss is of course now square this conjunction...

One last note on the Charlie Hebdo situation. If you look back to the last solar eclipse on 23rd Oct 2014, it landed against the French national chart on the natal Saturn Neptune Jupiter opposition, conjunct to Neptune and Jupiter. This promised a debate between spiritual and faith beliefs (Neptune/Jupiter) and the state (Saturn). It also promised loss and mourning (Saturn) over creativity and inspiration (Neptune), and it promised a conflict between freedom to believe and to publish (Jupiter) and limitation and conservative values (Saturn). The eclipse on Neptune predicted that the creative people would suffer and be sacrificed. So yesterday, this eclipse prediction came to pass...

I will say here and now that I totally support the cartoonist’s right to free speech without recourse or threat of violence against them. They make light and fun of life, they do not preach hatred. Cartoonists just highlight absurdities and inconsistencies allowing us to laugh at ourselves and humour can cut through the most serious situation to get at the truth. The pen is far mightier than the sword (or the Kalashnikov rifle) and will always be so, you cannot prevent free speech. Islam and the religious leaders across the globe in that religion in my opinion have to look at themselves and allow healing from within. The majority of peace loving Muslims must speak out now, and under Saturn in Sagittarius and this Neptune square, they have in the next year an opportunity to do so. I hope they grab the nettle and accept that criticism and comment is part of the world that we live in. Let's hope a more mature and accepting attitude to humour and to free speech begins to filter into the Muslim world.

My heart goes out to the people of France and Paris, I hope that cool heads prevail. God bless the innocent victims...

#JeSuisCharlie