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Astrological statements and information may be quite general – sometimes so general as to be of little use. Astrology can also be very specific, however. We agree with Vivian Robson when he writes that: "What astrology needs is accuracy and definition, not pseudo-esoteric speculation."

With this in mind, we would like to present the following for your astrological consideration.

Near the beginning of the Preface of his Geodetic Equivalents, Sepharial writes that:

"It may be... a matter of speculation on the part of astute politicians as to why the Balkan War broke out at Adrianople in the year 1912 and on a particular day in October of that year, and not elsewhere or at some other time than it did."

Later, in Chapter 1, he writes that:

"In the year 1912, on April 17th, there was an eclipse of the Sun visible over Europe, which fell in the twenty-seventh degree of the sign Aries. Reference to the map will show that the longitude 27 degrees east answers exactly to Adrianople. It was here that the first shot was fired in the Balkan War - a war that was destined to lead directly to the Great War of 1914-18, and this shot was sped on the 14th October, 1912, when Mars was passing over 27 Libra, in direct opposition to the eclipse of April 17th. The war took its course and apparently came to an end, but suddenly broke out again on the day that Mars came to the place of the eclipse in Aries 27. This clearly shows that eclipses may have a significance of the first order when falling on the meridian Geodetic Equivalent of any place, and confirms the now well-known fact that events tend to expression at the time when a major planet is in transit over the place or opposition of an eclipse."

How To Calculate Geodetic Equivalents

Consider Greenwich as 0 degrees of Aries.
Degrees and minutes of longitude are taken as the degree and minute of the Midheaven, and the Ascendant and other cusps are calculated for the appropriate latitude. Thus you discover certain degrees that have a key importance for specific places. We will be considering only the Midheaven and Rising degrees here, but different house systems will, of course, give different degrees for other cusps and this should be kept in mind too.

As you go east of Greenwich, you begin to move through the zodiac starting at 0 Aries. A location with a longitude of, for example, 7 degrees east, would have a Midheaven of 7 degrees of Aries. A location with a longitude of 32 degrees east would have a Midheaven of 2 degrees of Taurus (30 degrees takes us to the end of Aries, and we are left with 2 degrees of Taurus).

As you go west of Greenwich, you move backwards through the zodiac, through Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, etc. A location with a longitude of 4 degrees west would therefore have a Midheaven of 26 Pisces (360 minus 4 = 256 degrees of the zodiac = 26 Pisces); a location with a longitude of 65 degrees west would have a Midheaven of 360 degrees minus 65 = 295 degrees of the zodiac = 25 Capricorn.

Berlin, Germany, has an east longitude of 13 degrees 24 minutes. The Midheaven would therefore be 13 Aries 24, which gives the equivalent Ascendant of 6 Leo 11. The intermediate cusps will vary according to the house system used.

Berlin was in the news not so long ago when the Wall that divided the city was torn down. More than thirty-five years ago, on the weekend of August 12/13, 1961, East German military units began sealing off the city. It would be nice to find a significant astrological configuration at or directly relating to 13 Aries 24 or 6 Leo 11, but we have no such luck when we check the ephemeris. There was, however, a solar eclipse on Friday August 11th, at 18 degrees of Leo. It is too wide to be conjunct the Ascendant, but it does fall in the 1st House and thus affects the SELF of Berlin. We can therefore reasonably expect an important change.

Life became very different in this city on November 9th, 1989, when people of both East and West Berlin were dancing along the top of the wall.

The new moon before this event had occurred on October 29 at 6 Scorpio 11, exactly square the Geodetic Equivalent Ascendant. Not bad! The degree of the zodiac that represents Berlin was energized or activated.

If we go back to the days of the Cold War, we note the Russian blockade of Berlin, which, as it happens, failed in the face of the allied air supply. The blockade began on June 28, 1948, with Pluto at 13 Leo 24, which is exactly trine the Midheaven.

The blockade ended on May 12, 1949; there is no spectacular correlation of the Berlin Ascendant and Midheaven with planetary positions on that day, but it may be simply because realization that the blockade was not going to work had dawned on the Russian leadership some weeks or even months before they officially admitted failure.

Many people try to use astrology to forecast the economic future. Given this interest, The American Atlas, compiled by Thomas Shanks, was consulted for the longitude of Wall Street. It is listed as 74 W 01; thus the Midheaven is 15 Capricorn 59, and the Ascendant is 29 Aries 10.

You may remember the Crash of 1987. There was an eclipse on September 23rd at 29 Virgo 34; this is inconjunct (150 degrees; a karmic aspect and a multiple of 15) the Wall Street Ascendant. There was a drop Monday the 19th with the Moon in Virgo, and a major drop on the 20th when the Moon passed over 29 Virgo.

For years, people have been predicting the imminent collapse of the Dow Jones, but it keeps not happening. At the beginning of 1997, a number of forecasters were predicting a major correction at the time of the solar eclipse at 18 Pisces in March. The eclipse came and went, but the Dow ignored it. Why? Perhaps because the eclipse did not aspect any of the geodetic equivalent cusps for Wall Street.

© Copyright: John Ballantrae