Horoscope of the Beirut explosion

There has been a huge explosion in Beirut.  So huge that you can see it on the earthquake maps, with a magniture of 3.3.  Of course I didn’t predict it, because I wasn’t looking.  If I had been looking, I might almost have got it, because in retrospect the signature was clear.  Maybe I wouldn’t have predicted a bomb, but there was clear evidence of violent and explosive events.

The explosion happened in Beirut, Lebanon, at 6.08 pm local time, on August 4.  The first thing one notices is that the planet Uranus is on the IC, with an orb of around 2 degrees.  Uranus is the planet of earthquakes, and this signature is classic.  The Hiroshima bomb, almost exactly 75 years ago, had Uranus on the MC.  The chart also has an exact square between Mars at 19 47 Aries and Jupiter at 19 44 Capricorn.  The astrologer Charles Carter regarded stressful Mars-Jupiter aspects as being the worst in the book, and this is a reminder that Jupiter’s influence isn’t always positive.  It expands everything it touches, and it is therefore symbolic of violent events.

What is really interesting about the chart is the hypothetical planet Zeus.  This planet is like Jupiter, but it is probably more wild and primal.  Alfred Witte associated Zeus with explosions and gunshots.  And sure enough, Zeus at 20 5 Libra, was closely aspected to Mars and Jupiter.  Indeed there is a T square – Zeus opposition Mars, squaring Jupiter.  It is this configuration that signalled the explosion, noting that Jupiter was exactly conjunct the Capricorn Ascendant.

For me this is the real importance of the chart.  It demonstrates that we can’t ignore Witte’s hypothetical planets.  The logic for using these planets is crazy, but time and again we see their power.