本文選自美國NCGR占星研究協會
2023年7月4日-第417期-會員專屬電子報
經作者授權翻譯並同意公開刊載
有時,我會認為世運占星學(mundane astrology)是一種病。當我在六月中旬關注潛水器泰坦號[i](Titan)的失蹤事件發展時,一部分的我祈禱最好的結果,牽掛著船員和他們的親人;但一部分的我已經在思考那一週的星象天氣,甚至對於花了這麼長的時間才查出泰坦號失聯的確切時間而感到惱怒。世運占星師們蜂擁而至,圍繞著這樣的事件,我並不覺得驕傲。
雖然有時可以看到我們可能稱之為因果關係的要素,表明為何那是一個去做某事的壞時機,但我認為占星學對於理解大眾為何會被某一特定事件所吸引,是最有幫助的。六月十四日,600多名移民在希臘沿海翻船死亡[ii],可是這並沒有維持整整一週的頭條新聞,六月二十一日在加那利群島(Canary Islands)附近發生近30人的死亡事件[iii]也是如此:泰坦號做到了。
也許是因為我們很容易了解一艘超載750多人的船會翻船的原因,而泰坦號的命運卻讓人難以解釋;也許是因為我們聽過許多移民試圖前往歐洲或北美而死亡的故事,已經變得麻木不仁;也許這與我們對鐵達尼號[iv](Titanic)的持續迷戀有關。當然,六月中旬的星象向我們展示了關於集體注意力(collective attention)的一些事件。
就在四天的時間裡,至少有三個重大(或相關)的星象事件[v]:土星在十七日停滯轉逆行,太陽在十八日與海王星四分相,而巨蟹座夏至則發生在二十一日。這些星象都各自為六月第三週的事件增添了自己所執掌的主題。
土星主管墜落(falls)及其他事項。在它進入停滯前的一週,有兩則關於狗墜落的新聞──一則是在奧勒岡州(Oregon)的懸崖[vi],另一則是康乃狄克州(Connecticut)的塔樓[vii](兩隻狗都奇蹟般地沒事)──還有一位美國遊客在德國被另一位美國人從橋上扔下謀殺了[viii]。但在雙魚座,我們不應該對土星式的重擔被拋向海上船隻感到驚訝,而土星在停滯前後的短時間內發生了三起海上悲劇。
雙魚座,加上透過海王星的延伸,執掌移民、難民、無家可歸者和沒有國家的人。事實上,自從海王星在二〇一一年入境雙魚座以來,移民一直是海王星行經自家星座的重要主題。土星現在位於此星座,也許會給這種情況增加更多的重力。
泰坦,這艘「潛水器」的名字(就技術原因,它顯然不是潛水艇),是土星的一顆衛星,因此它經由土星的停滯而被帶到了顯要位置。當然,Titan(泰坦號)也是Titanic(鐵達尼號)的字根,人們也許有理由懷疑用這艘遭逢厄運的船其同根詞來命名一艘小艇是否明智,就像使用被奧林匹亞諸神推翻的一類存在來命名鐵達尼號一樣,讓人值得懷疑[ix]。象徵符號(symbolism)是具有暗示性的:停滯在雙魚座的土星,其重量壓垮了泰坦。不過這點並不一定能解釋為何這則故事如此吸引大眾。
集體層面上,海王星顯示我們為了什麼著迷,我們被什麼所淹沒,因此呈現難民與移民的兩極分化,以及對世界海洋的關注。(土星現在位於雙魚座,所以它也正關注這個問題──就在它進入雙魚座的前幾天,聯合國發布了一項有關海洋事務具約束力的罕見協議[x])。
泰坦號失蹤的那天,太陽與海王星呈四分相,這個相位總是讓我們透過魚眼反射鏡(a fish-eye mirror)來觀察事物。太陽是英雄的原型,而在這種情況下,我們會有危險的夜間海洋旅行。諷刺的是,這個相位發生在太陽達到其北半球的力量頂峰之前,就在巨蟹座夏至的前三天。
太陽-海王星四分相和巨蟹座夏至盤的The astro-locality[xi]地理占星圖是相關的。在太陽-海王星四分相時(圖1),這兩顆行星大致在鐵達尼號所在的北大西洋區域位於角宮。海王星在紐芬蘭(Newfoundland)的聖約翰斯(St. John’s)以西約40英里處,這是泰坦號展開旅程的陸地港口。夏至當天(圖2),地理占星圖顯示太陽在鐵達尼號沉沒事故地點的MC附近,而海王星僅距下降點兩度。
六月十八日的太陽-海王星四分相與鐵達尼號沉沒事故的比較盤[xii](圖3)也很有啟示。流運海王星待在鐵達尼號沉沒事故盤的月亮度數(雙魚座25度56分)已經有一段時間了,而且整體到六月底都離它不到兩度(沉沒事故盤使用船回報撞上冰山的時間,船體大約兩小時後完全沉沒)。流運鬩神星[xiii](Eris)一直在鐵達尼號沉沒事故盤的太陽和水星周圍徘徊,位於白羊座24到25度。特別有意思的是,這顆流運太陽與沉沒事故盤的冥王星在雙子座27度合相(並與海王星四分相)。
泰坦號失去的人數是六月中旬海上悲劇中最不顯著的,但它就是讓我們一直關注的那一則新聞。反過來說,某程度上它也許有助於突顯其他的悲劇,或者說它只是比較容易讓人去理解而已。
本文選自美國NCGR占星研究協會
2023年7月4日-第417期-會員專屬電子報
經作者授權翻譯並同意公開刊載
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[i] 譯註:6月18日紐芬蘭夏令時間上午9點30分,泰坦號從紐芬蘭的聖約翰斯出發,開始進行潛水作業。下潛後的一個半小時內,泰坦號每15分鐘與極地王子號進行一次通訊,但在上午11點15分最後一次通訊後失去了聯繫。參考來源wikipedia:https://reurl.cc/EobGVa
[ii] 譯註:當地事發時間2023年6月14日1:40 am左右,歐洲東部夏令時(EEST)。參考來源wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Messenia_migrant_boat_disaster
[iii] 譯註:當地事發時間2023年6月21日稍早,確切時間不明。參考來源wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Canary_Islands_migrant_boat_disaster
[iv] 譯註:鐵達尼號,號稱「永不沉沒」、「夢幻之船」,於1912年4月10日展開首航,也是唯一一次的載客出航,已成為歷史上最著名的船舶之一。參考來源wikipedia:https://reurl.cc/659kYr
[v] 譯註:本文星象事件記錄為作者所在地紐約時間,其中太陽-海王星四分相,特指二者形成「正相位」(exact aspect)。
[vi] 譯註:當地報案時間2023年6月14日 6:30 pm 左右,太平洋夏令時(PST)。參考新聞:https://reurl.cc/7kbk05
[vii] 譯註:當地報案時間2023年6月12日 3:35 pm,美國東部夏令時(EST)。參考新聞:https://reurl.cc/01a1Wb
[viii] 譯註:當地事發時間2023年6月14日 2:40 pm 左右,中歐夏令時(CEST)。參考新聞(內有巴代利亞警局協尋線索網址):https://reurl.cc/3xbxV0
[ix] 圍繞在鐵達尼號的眾多故事中最令人嘖嘖稱奇的,是鐵達尼號展開首航的14年前,就有一名美國作家摩根.羅伯遜(Morgan Roberson)發表了一篇詭異的短篇小說:一艘虛構的遠洋客輪泰坦號(The Titan)距紐芬蘭約400海里處撞上一座冰山後沉沒,亦沒有配備足夠的救生艇。其中所描述的沉沒原因和很多細節都與鐵達尼號驚人地相似。現在看來,同樣以「泰坦號」命名的潛水器,又為此添上一則傳說。參考來源wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Titan:_Or,_Futility
[x] 譯註:聯合國〈公海條約〉(High Seas Treaty)是一份具有法律約束力的文件,旨在保護和可持續利用國家管轄範圍以外區域的海洋生物多樣性。該條約於2023年3月4日在聯合國舉行的政府間會議上最終確定,並於2023年6月19日通過。參考來源wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Seas_Treaty
[xi] 譯註:占星軟體Astro Gold繪製地理換置占星學相關圖表的功能名稱;此功能於占星軟體Solar Fire稱為Solar Maps。本文使用A*C*G行星軌跡投影圖及地理換置盤。參考來源:https://www.astrogold.io/AG-MacOS-Help/astro_locality_maps.html
[xii] 譯註:鐵達尼號沉沒事故時間1912年4月15日 2:38 am,41°N 44’, 49°W 57’。參考來源Astrodatabank:https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Historic:_Titanic_Sinking
[xiii] 譯註:鬩神星在2006年被定義為「矮行星」,當時國際天文學聯合會(IAU)也將冥王星降級為「矮行星」。鬩神星的大小、類別與冥王星基本相同,但密度要大得多,為近代占星師主要研究的新行星之一。其命名來自希臘神話中的不和女神厄莉絲,專司引起衝突、紛爭與戰爭。近年來的研究發現,鬩神星在帶來顛覆、「典範轉移」(Paradigm Shifters)的重要科學家及占星師身上突顯。本文作者阿曼德指出「流運鬩神星(Eris)一直在鐵達尼號沉沒事故盤的太陽和水星周圍徘徊」,或許可以呼應,今年圍繞在鐵達尼號沉沒事故的各種「紛爭」或「顛覆」,例如年初再度於全球各地戲院上檔、以3D、4K、HDR高畫質重製版呈現的電影《鐵達尼號25周年重映版》,以及泰坦號「潛水器」的技術。參考來源Astro.com:https://www.astro.com/astrology/tma_article200807_e.htm
Saturn and Neptune Get Angry in Pisces
Sometimes, I think mundane astrology is a sickness. As I was watching the events of the missing submersible, Titan, unfold in mid-June, part of me was praying for the best outcome and feeling for the crew and their loved ones. But part of me was already thinking about the astrological weather of that week, and I was even irked that it took so long to find out the exact time that communication with Titan was lost. Mundane astrologers swarm around events like this. I’m not proud.
While it is sometimes possible to see what we might call causal factors, indications of why it was a bad time to do something, I think that astrology is most helpful in understanding why the public gets captivated by a particular event. More than 600 migrants died in a boat that capsized off the coast of Greece on June 14th, but that didn’t maintain headlines for an entire week, nor did the loss of nearly three dozen people off the Canary Islands on June 21st: the Titan did.
Maybe it’s because we can easily understand why a boat overloaded with more than 750 people would capsize, while the fate of the Titan is harder to understand. Maybe it’s because we hear many stories about migrants dying in their attempts to reach Europe or North America, and we’ve become desensitized. Maybe it has to do with our ongoing fascination with the Titanic. Certainly, the astrology of mid-June shows us something about our collective attention.
There were no less than three major (or relevant) astrological events within the span of four days: Saturn stationed to retrograde on the 17th, the Sun squared Neptune on the 18th, and the Cancer Solstice was on the 21st. Each of these events adds its own theme to events of the third week in June.
Saturn rules falls, among other things. In the week leading up to his station, there were two stories in the news about dogs falling—one off a cliff in Oregon and the other from a tower in Connecticut (both dogs were, miraculously, okay)—and an American tourist was murdered, by another American, by being thrown off a bridge in Germany. But in Pisces, we shouldn’t be surprised that Saturnian heft is being thrown against sea vessels. Hence the three maritime tragedies in short order around his station.
Pisces, and by extension Neptune, rules migrants, refugees, the homeless, and those without a country. Indeed, migration has been a major theme of Neptune’s passage through his home sign since his ingress in 2011. Saturn is perhaps adding more gravity to the situation now that he’s in the sign.
Titan, the name of the “submersible” (it’s apparently not a submarine for technical reasons), is a moon of Saturn, and so it is brought to prominence by a Saturn station. Of course, Titan is also the root of Titanic, and one might reasonably question the wisdom of naming a craft with a cognate of the doomed ship, just as it was questionable to name the Titanic after a class of beings who were overthrown by the Olympian gods. The symbolism is suggestive: the weight of Saturn, stationing in Pisces, crushes the Titan. But that doesn’t necessarily explain why the story so captivated the public.
On the collective level, Neptune shows what fascinates us, what we become swept up in, hence the polarization over refugees and migrants, and also concerns about the world’s oceans. (Saturn is weighing in on this now that he’s in Pisces—the U.N. issued a rare binding agreement about the oceans just days before he ingressed into the sign.)
On the day the Titan went missing, the Sun was square to Neptune, an aspect that always has us looking at things through a fish-eye mirror. The Sun is an archetype of the hero, and in this case we have the dangerous night sea journey. Ironically, this square occurred just before Sol reached his peak of strength in the Northern Hemisphere, just three days prior to the Cancer Solstice.
The astro-locality for the Sun-Neptune square and Cancer Solstice are relevant. At the Sun-Neptune square, both planets were angular in roughly the section of the North Atlantic where the Titanic rests. Neptune was on the MC just about 40 miles West of St. John’s in Newfoundland, which was the land port from which the Titan left on its journey. At the solstice, the astro-locality shows the Sun near the MC of the site of the Titanic wreck, while Neptune is just two degrees off the descendent.
The synastry for the June 18th Sun-Neptune square in relation to the chart for the Titanic sinking is also instructive. Transiting Neptune has been at the degree of the Titanic’s sinking Moon (25 Pisces 56) for some time, and was less than two degrees away throughout the end of June (the chart for the sinking is the time that the iceberg was reported struck, the ship went under about two hours later). Transiting Eris has been hanging around the Titanic sinking’s Sun and Mercury, at 24-25 degrees Aries. Of special interest, the transiting Sun was conjunct (and Neptune square) to the sinking’s Pluto at 27 Gemini.
The loss of the Titan was numerically the least significant of the maritime tragedies of mid-June, but it was the one that kept us watching the news. In a backward kind of way, it perhaps helped to highlight the other tragedies, or maybe it was simply easier to grasp.
© Armand Diaz
作者簡介
阿曼德.迪亞茲(Armand Diaz)
阿曼德.迪亞茲博士,是專業占星師協會認證的占星諮詢師。他撰有多本著作,包括《整體占星學:在當代世界理解這門古老學科》(Integral Astrology: Understanding the Ancient Discipline in the Contemporary World,暫譯)和《離別的相位:分手、離婚與其他分離的占星學》(Separating Aspects: The Astrology of Breakups, Divorce, and Other Partings,暫譯)。 阿曼德在地方性、全國性及國際性各種場合演講占星學。他是前任美國NCGR占星研究協會主席,現為NCGR會員電子報的特約編輯。可以透過他的網站ArmandDiaz.com與他聯繫。