If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world, not some mystical mumbo-jumbo psycho-babble word salad. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT, aka GMT). Location for all mundante charts is set for the Great Pyramid at Giza; the choice being strictly arbitrary in any case. Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s forecast incorporates elements of (and refers to) my complete 2017 World Forecast Highlights (38 8-1/2 x 11" illustrated pages); focused, amplified and elaborated with details for the month as appropriate. The full version of my 2017 World Forecast Highlights is available in hard copy by mail ($75) or as a PDF document by email ($50). Orders may be phoned in (toll-free from anywhere in North America to 800-527-8761), and charged to any major credit or debit card. Orders may also be placed direct from your own PayPal account page to rnolle@astropro.com – or by using the AstroPro PayPal order page.

"There are no secrets that time does not reveal."
-- Jean Racine
 

The Skinny

Look over the news of last week in January - per my January forecast - and you’ll see a pale foreshadowing of what’s in store this month: more of the same, only bigger. For example, there were killer storms in California during the aforementioned January 25-31 shock window, as well as the many notable earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, including a 6.0 on Vanuatu on the 31st; as well as news-making eruptions of Mexico’s Colima, Bogoslof in Alaska, Erta Ale (Ethiopia), Sinabung (Sumatra), Fuego (Guatemala), Turrialba (Costa Rica), Subancaya (Peru), etc. The geophysical disturbances aren’t the whole story, but they’re a substantial part of it. There’s also the ongoing Venus Max (a holdover from January), the continuing Jupiter-Uranus opposition (within a couple degrees of exact all month, and fired up by Mars from the 23rd on), just to name a few. Let’s see . . .

Eclipses Cast a Shadow Before

Eclipses are much like SuperMoons in terms of their connection with storms and seismicity, but they tend to rank a little lower in magnitude. Don’t expect an eclipse to herald the kind of extreme tidal surges so typical of a SuperMoon, for example. But there remains a notable historical connection between eclipses and strong storms and seismicity, including moderate to severe (Magnitude 5 and up) earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

An eclipse is a syzygy –a new or full moon - in which the alignment of Earth, Sun and Moon is so precise that the body of one blocks out the light of one of the others. Tradition from ancient times associates eclipses with natural disasters, and astrologers have long considered this class of syzygies to be of special importance. The Greek historian Thucydides (5th Century BCE) wrote about "an eclipse of the Sun at the time of a new moon, and in the early part of the same month an earthquake." In the 2nd Century CE his countryman Phlegon reported that "in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an eclipse of the Sun . . . and a great earthquake that broke out in Bithynia destroyed the greatest part of Nicaea." (The fourth year of the 202nd Olympia corresponds to 33 CE, the year Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in Jerusalem. Early Church scholars debated whether this eclipse timed the crucifixion.)

The association of seismic upheaval and other natural calamities with eclipses isn't solely a preoccupation of ancient historians. It survives to this day, because earthquakes, volcanoes and great storms persist in their synchronicity with eclipses. Examples closer to our own time include the May 8, 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee, which left 29,000 dead and destroyed the city of St. Pierre in the West Indies - within a day of a SuperMoon that also happened to be a partial solar eclipse.

My own rule of thumb for eclipses is that solar eclipses have a geophysical shock window that extends a week either side of the exact date, while lunar eclipses are effective within a plus or minus three day window. If the seven day-either way window for solar eclipses seems extravagant, consider that it represents an orb of only seven degrees for the Sun; and that solar eclipses can happen with the Sun within as much as 18 degrees either side of the lunar nodes. I'll not presume to proselytize, but I would point out that eclipses, as syzygies, represent a pronounced ripple in the local system's space-time continuum; which ripple radiates in all directions from the exact moment of the event. How far that ripple is noticeable may be arguable, and I'm not the argumentative type. I’ve been doing this for 50 years, and I can only speak for what I’ve observed and studied in that time.

I apply the same astro-locality maps to eclipses as to any other important astrological configuration. But solar eclipses are unique: the zone of visibility for the eclipse is a unique target zone for the alignment. Lunar eclipses can be visible over large portions of Planet Earth, but only narrow swaths are singled out by the Moon’s shadow as Luna passes across the solar disk.

Dance by the (Penumbral) Light of the Moon

The first of this year’s four eclipses is the penumbral lunar eclipse at 22° 28’ Leo on February 11. It carries a geophysical shock window that’s in effect from the 7th through the 15th; extended a day before and after in consideration of the north lunar declination peak on the 7th, and the southward crossing of the celestial equator on the 14th. Apart from the usual geophysical disturbances, this one is accompanied by a couple alignments that foreshadow social unrest and financial turbulence – panic, fear and greed. I’m referring to the Jupiter-Uranus opposition and the Venus-Mars conjunction. (The latter is fading away as the eclipse comes, but sets up the greed signal that takes hold in the shadow of the eclipse.) Get on the right side of this one, and profit greatly. Get in its way, and you could take a hard fall. Irrational exuberance is only a good thing if you don’t get sucked up in a maelstrom. Take a little profit here, lock it in while the tide is high. Party hearty, but have a sober plan and a designated driver.

This is a penumbral eclipse, one in which the Moon’s face isn’t blacked out by the shadow of the Earth blocking the light of the Sun – grayed out is more like it. This is due to the Earth-Moon-Sun alignment being slightly out of exact, so that the center of Earth’s shadow doesn’t align with the center of the lunar disk. Subtler, less dramatic than a total eclipse, for sure.

Watch for the typical surge in geophysical disturbances during the February 7-15 lunar eclipse shock window: an increase in headlining powerful storms with high winds and heavy precipitation; a surfeit of moderate to several seismic activity (M5+ quakes and notable volcanic eruptions); and unusual tidal extremes.

Of course, this being an astronomical phenomenon, it will be planetary in scale. Everywhere there’s sea, sky and crust, our home planet quivers under the tidal surge of the eclipse alignment. There is, in other words, no absolute safe zone. But astro-locality mapping does suggest a few areas of special focus for this eclipse.

Notice, for example, the Sun-Moon meridian lines running longitudinally from the eastern tip of Siberia down through the Pacific to New Zealand; coming up on the other side of the world across West Africa, Spain and Great Britain. And then there are the Jupiter-Uranus meridians through western Canada in the New World, and across the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Russia in the Old World. Don’t forget the horizon arcs curving through Western Canada and the US, Central Mexico and the bottom of South America (in the case of the Sun-Moon opposition); and through East Asia, Japan and the western Pacific down across Eastern Australia, coming up through Rio de Janeiro and Iceland on the other side of the world (in the case of the Jupiter-Uranus alignment).

Solar Ring of Fire

Solar eclipses are the heavyweights of their class, and the first of these this year is the annular eclipse at 8° 12’ Pisces on February 26. This one will be visible in the southern hemisphere, from the eastern South Pacific across South America and the South Atlantic into East Africa – annular in Chile and Argentina plus Angola and along the border between Zambia and DR Congo. These are bound to be among the areas with the greatest geophysical manifestations – i.e. storms and seismicity. Just remember that being outside these areas is no guarantee that nothing will ripple the skies, seas and crust where you are. Each and every eclipse is astronomical in scale, and therefore planet-wide in scope. Speaking of scope, this particular shock window extends from February 19 into March 5. Rolled into the earlier lunar eclipse shock window, it adds up to one very turbulent February, replete with some of the most powerful and damaging storms and seismicity of the year.

The shock window is particularly significant in the case of this eclipse, because it includes the March 4 Venus retrograde station, which occurs less than a degree from Venus’ position at the moment of eclipse. With Neptune also included in the eclipse (three degrees from the eclipse itself), and with the Jupiter-Uranus opposition still within a degree of exact – with Mars conjunct Uranus to boot – this eclipse is far more than just geophysical in import. These are geopolitical currents at work – political and financial turmoil, with the threat of force thrown in for good measure. Here again, fear and greed are stirred up by panic. But this looks like the reverse of the lunar eclipse on the 11th. Instead of a buy signal, this looks a sell - a week ahead of time, and then buying back in once the smoke and dust settle isn’t a bad idea for this eclipse.

The economic undertones to this eclipse suggest that its geophysical dimension will be bigger than usual. The storms, tidal surges and seismic activity will likely be on the expensive side, in other words- the biggest of the first quarter, I suspect. (Transportation delays and even disasters rank high in this respect.) Here again, the whole of Planet Earth is at risk during the February 19-March 5 shock window. But the eclipse visibility zones mentioned above look to be especially significant. With an eye toward the astro-locality map, I see some of the same target zones as the earlier February lunar eclipse; including the longitudinal Jupiter-Uranus swath from eastern Siberia down through the Pacific and across New Zealand, and from west Africa through Spain and the UK. There’s also a Sun-Moon meridian from Japan down through Papua New Guinea and east central Australia, crossing Rio de Janeiro on the other side of the world. Not to mention horizon arcs across the US west coast, arcing across northern Greenland over to Scandinavia and down into the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. (This is far from a complete catalog: see the map for yourself.)

Parting Shots

February is a high tension time of power struggles – except that the power distribution is very uneven. Sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug. With this Jupiter-Uranus alignment squaring Pluto, there are a lot more windshields than bugs. For most of us, it’s like betting against the house – and we don’t even have a clue, what with Neptune so prominent. The Plutocrats are in the driver’s seat, and everybody else is so dazzled and distracted that they don’t know what’s happening. It won’t stay that way forever – but it won’t change this year.

On a personal note, check your chart! If you have significant placements around 22 degrees of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) or 8 degrees of the mutables (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces), this month’s eclipses are focused sharply into your own life. You’ll do well to focus right back, to steer things in the most fruitful direction.

Acknowledgments

All mundane astrological charts as well as eclipse and astro-locality maps are set for the Universal Time (UT) of the event, and calculated and produced using Esoteric Technologies’ Solar Fire Gold Version 7.0.8. Charts are set for the location of the Great Pyramid - a purely arbitrary choice, since location is irrelevant to these charts. Unless sotherwise noted, sky map images are screen captures from the Pocket Universe or Star Rover apps for iPhone, or produced by Starry Night for Windows; storm tracks are screen captures from The Weather Channel app for iPhone; and earthquake maps are screen captures from the QuakeFeed ör Quake Alerts app for iPhone.

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer consultations/orders (AmEx/Discover/MasterCard/Visa) 800-527-8761 data/message 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA www.astropro.com