How to predict the weather
Heat, fires, and other environmental disasters
The mundane in life is that which occurs to us in the world which is to be expected, the natural ups and downs that humans are prone to experience. Unfortunately, “mundane” events can also be horrific, and they include such things as getting hit by bombs, being on bridges in an earthquake, or encountering a fire storm.
Mundane astrology is the oldest form of astrology. Women used it to time their menses cycles, and sailors to notate the cycle of the tides, etc. A basic understanding of how to use astrology for mundane matters is useful to anyone interested in astrology, and it is not that difficult to comprehend. It works the same for someone who is looking at the political climate as for someone who just wants to know if it will be a mild or a severe Winter. There are subtleties to it, but drama is drama, and drama is fairly easily seen.
Mundane concerns are regionally based, unless a specific region also happens to be the seat of the Nation. Washington D.C., for instance, is the capital of the United States, so any mundane chart set for that spot is necessarily the picture of the situation for the entire country. That means we can set a chart for a meaningful time, such as Inauguration Day, and see what it might bring. This coming Inauguration on January 20, 2021 in the United States, for instance, has the planet Pluto, which is oriental to the Sun, very close to the Midheaven of the chart, which is quite a powerful statement. There is going to be some drama about it.
When someone is concerned with the weather, say, along the Eastern seaboard in the U.S. when a hurricane is coming, one might want to erect a chart to find out what it looks like, but alas, they cannot be sure when the storm will actually arrive at their door. So, astrologers have learned that in order to predict if there might be natural disasters or other dramas in a certain region, the thing to do is to erect a chart for the start of the season in that particular area, and then work from there. That chart is called the Seasonal Ingress chart, and it is a pretty big deal in mundane astrology.
The interpretation of an Ingress chart is a bit like the interpretation of a personal solar return chart. It is read using the chart much like a horary question, though modern astrologers also do well without employing all those old rules. It does take some practice to do it very well to its fullest extent, but any beginner astrologer can clearly see when an Ingress chart is set for high drama, especially if there is a planet on an angle, or, as a step down from that, a planet making a square to an angle, within probably 3 degrees. This is an easy rule to remember. No one has to be an expert to notice it.
New York City, the city that suffered so many deaths from the Coronavirus in the Spring of 2020, is a good example to see if we can depend on this rule. Though a virus is not the weather, it did affect everyone, and it was as unstoppable as a hurricane. We can expect to see some drama in the Ingress chart. If we look at the Spring Ingress chart we do not see any planets on angles, but the city was already closing down on the first day of Spring. The first confirmed case was March 1, and there were said to be cases already in late January. If we look at the Winter Ingress for December of 2019 placed in New York city, we see the planet Mercury sitting exactly 3 degrees away from the IC in Sagittarius. Jupiter, it’s dispositor, is very close to the Sun. Coronavirus is spread through talking, and lots of it, and we all know how much New Yorkers like to talk.
Currently, California is in a heat wave. Californians have a fear of heat, because it dries out the plant life which then becomes extremely flammable. The last several years have been rife with fire storms, and one wonders if it is the new norm. But let’s look at the charts.
There isn’t too much difference across central California or even in the Southern California for the angles of a chart at any specific time. The Summer solstice chart on June 20th of this year has Pluto sitting very close to the IC, and it is right smack on the MC on the Eastern side of the Sierra Mountains at Mammoth Lakes (if anybody cares), which is why I show it here, and squares the ASC-DSC. It is in Capricorn so we can consider it dry. The Pluto can suggest earthquakes as well, but at very least it also does suggest dry conditions with some drama.
The Ingress chart for the fall on September 22, as the Sun moves into Libra, has the lunar nodal axis on the MC-IC which squares the ASC-DSC. This suggests that something could happen which will involve all people at once, which of course could be anything, from a sudden upsurge in Coronavirus cases, to earthquakes, to firestorms. We need more clues, so we look at the other astrology, and we see that Mercury (ruling the North Node and two of the angles) is in an opposition to Mars. Mars is involved with Pluto over the summer and into the fall. So, we see a hot Mars and air and dry conditions. We can expect more fires, although we cannot say for sure just exactly what will happen or where. At least not with what little bit I shared. There is more astrology to it, but it does get tedious after a bit.
If there are no planets on angles or in a square to them, there still may be some drama in the chart, but like with solar return charts, if something very important is going to happen, then we can depend on seeing the angles being tagged. In solar return charts, planets on angles suggest a very memorable year for that person. With mundane charts the angles being noted, especially all angles, will always represent the people in general and the event which becomes of prime importance sometime within that season.
This was just a short synopsis of what it looks like to take a chart of the moment when the Sun (the Earth) is moving into a new season. This practice has been done for thousands of years, just not by using the planets which are invisible to the naked eye such as Pluto. Have you ever wondered how the Farmer’s Almanac gets their yearly forecasts for weather? Yes, it is with astrology.
If you live in California and you have dry brush around your house, clear it, compost it, or take it to the sanitation collection point (they take yard waste for free). Have an escape plan, like what you will take in your car if you have to leave in a hurry. When it is a hot, dry, windy day, pay attention and be ready. Bags packed.