How Did I Get Here?

Great Conjunctions in Earth 1842-2020

Pt. 1 - You Get What You Pay For

In trying to develop an understanding of the triplicities or elements w/r/t astrology, I decided to take a look at Great Conjunctions to see if they revealed anything. They did!

Real Quick: Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn happen roughly every 20 years and have long been used to mark broader cycles of events on Earth.

9th Century Persian astrologer Abu Ma'shar is who we get the fullest development of the Great Conjunction as interpretive technique.

Great Conjunctions happen in the same triplicity or classical element (Fire, Earth, Air, Water) for about 200 years before moving on to the next, but it doesn’t happen quite as neatly as it does in this diagram.

Before fully moving on to the next element there are one (or more) Conjunctions in the next element, the first of which Abu Ma’shar referred to as *Greater* Conjunctions.

(BIG UP @astroseekcom without whose indefatigable work this research would have been impossible )

Before the GC in the Earth sign Capricorn in 1841 there was a Greater Conj. in Virgo in 1802 that marked the Fire to Earth transition.

Before the GC in Aquarius in 2020 there was a Greater Conj. in Libra in 1980 that marked the transition from the Earth to Air.

While these Greater Connections certainly mark a major shift, they seem to me to be remarkably subtle events with consequences that define the coming era.

Two things to note before we go forward:

1. Yr boy is def *not* a historian. This history is eminently Google-able w/ all that that implies. This is also gonna be USA-centric for similar reasons.

2. The traditional technique uses *mean conjunctions,* so: when Jupiter joins Saturn in whatever sign, that’s when the conjunction begins. It ends when Jupiter leaves the sign for good. So the conjunctions last roughly a year.

The Fire Conjunctions are defined by the competition of European nations for New World colonies and the 2nd half of the Transatlantic slave trade.

The Greater Conjunction in Earth sign Virgo in 1802 shakes up the board with a slave rebellion and a fateful transaction.

At the end of 1800, France under Napoleon’s rule had reacquired the Louisiana Territory from the Spanish. Napoleon decided to use this opportunity re-establish a major French Colony in the Americas using San Domingue (Haiti) as its base of operations.

Though Haiti was nominally under French control it was run by the Governor, Toussaint Louverture, a military leader and former slave. Though France had ended slavery a few years before, Napoleon wanted to reinstate the practice and bring Haiti under more formal French control.

In early 1802, Napoleon sent General Charles Leclerc to undertake an initially successful effort to re-establish French rule. By June 7 1802, Louverture was arrested.

By the Greater Conj. in Virgo on 17 June 1802 (exact on 17 July) news began to spread of the French plans to reestablish slavery, leading to mass defections of former slaves from the French forces. At the same time, a bout of yellow fever severely weakened the French forces.

Meanwhile, the Americans were freaking out. On 16 October 1802, the Spanish, still in control of the port of New Orleans, briefly closed it causing an economic crisis in the western US. The slave rebellions in the Caribbean were making Southern slave owners nervous.

When the US learned of French designs on the Louisiana Territory they feared eventual war with the French was inevitable. So, they decided to reach out to the French and offer to buy New Orleans, failing that, they would attempt an alliance with the British.

On 17 November 1802, Jupiter enters Libra announcing major turning point in the Haitian conflict as Jean-Jacques Dessalines rose to lead the Haitian forces that would ultimately defeat the French at the end of 1803. The only successful slave rebellion in history.

On 20 January 1803, Jupiter stations retrograde in Libra, marking the beginning of informal negotiations between the Americans and French diplomats for the purchase of New Orleans.

By that point, Napoleon felt the Louisiana Territory was mostly a liability. Tensions were rising with Britain and the territory would be an easy target for the British in Canada. He didn’t want to give it back to the Spanish giving them an even bigger foothold in the New World.

When Jupiter reenters Virgo on 29 March 1803, Napoleon had scrapped his plans for the New World and instead planned a UK invasion.

On 11 April 1803, the Americans came to France to offer $10 million for New Orleans. Napoleon offered to give them the whole thing for $15 million.

On 30 April, the deal was finalized. Jupiter stationed direct in May.

On the 4th of July, the deal was announced.

On 14 July, the official papers arrived in Washington, DC.

On July 17, Jupiter leaves Virgo, thus ending the Greater Conjunction.

At the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, Robert Livingston, an American diplomat and one of the architects of the deal remarked:

“From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank.”

The US was even richer in natural resources, while prompting an intensification of conflict with Native Americans and complicating their own slavery issues which would come to a head in the next Great Conjunction in Earth sign Capricorn during the Civil War.

Here the Great Conjunctions is Earth and the next 200 years of history are laid bare: the end Imperial era and the rise of independent nations, the end of slavery, massive wealth generated by the exploitation of natural resources and the rise of the United States as world power.

One Last Thing:

The Greater Conjunction in Air sign Libra in 1980 also begins with a purchase that would remake the world.

Oct. 27 1980 — mean conj. — In early November, IBM hires Microsoft to develop the operating system for a developing computer project.

Dec 31 1980 — exact conj. — Jan 6 1981, Microsoft licenses 86-DOS from Seattle Computer Products.

July 23 1981 — 2nd exact conj. — July 27 1981, Microsoft purchases 86-DOS (which would later become MS-DOS).

On August 12 1981, the 5150 IBM PC debuts, making “personal computer” a household phrase.

If you made it this far thanks for reading!

Questions, comments, challenges, corrections are welcome