Watching the Watchers The Cryptic Charts of the NSA and Edward Snowden

by Matt Savinar

The (NSA) tography club. It’s responsible for day, the agency officially existed as soon is reputed to be the largest and best imagery intelligence. as the clock struck 12:00 a.m. The NSA funded of the ’ 16 primary thus has a birth time of 12:00 a.m. This • The National Security Agency intelligence agencies. Its chief mission makes it a Leo rising agency, with Pluto (NSA) is akin to the math nerds, the is cryptology. Since most people don’t on the Ascendant, and a 4th-house kids in the computer club, and some know much about “cryptology,” it might Scorpio Sun as the chart ruler. (See of the Advanced Placement language be useful to put the agency’s mission Chart 1, facing page.) students. The people who work for within a context that regular folks have If there is any doubt that 12:00 a.m. the NSA are responsible for foreign some real-life experience with. If the is the correct birth time for the NSA, an signals intelligence — that is, the col- sprawling ecosystem that is the world analysis of any photo of its headquarters lection, coordination, and process- of three-letter government agencies is will clear matters up quite quickly. (See ing of signals (data) emanating from compared to the social ecosystem of a Figure 1, page 25.) In true Leo rising computers, cell phones, satellites, and typical American high school, some of fashion, the building is orbited by an anything else that receives, reflects, or the better-known ones break down as entourage of noble-class functionaries relays electromagnetic frequencies. follows: (the other buildings) and a crowd of homage-paying members of the techno- • The Central Intelligence Agency Tales from the Death Star merchant class (the employees’ cars). (CIA) is akin to the well-dressed According to the National Archives Yet, it sports the fashion sense of Darth popular kids who work on the school publication Guide to Federal Records, Vader, is surrounded by multiple fences, paper. This agency is responsible the “NSA was established in the Depart- and is totally off limits to the peasantry for human intelligence — the devel- ment of Defense (DOD) by National — all of which is exactly what we would opment and deployment of actual Security Council Intelligence Directive expect from an entity with Pluto (power, human spies overseas. 9, December 29, 1952, under authority anxiety, paranoia) on the Ascendant of a Presidential memorandum, October (appearance), along with its chart ruler • The Federal Bureau of Investigation 29, 1952, effective November 4, 1952.” in the most secretive of signs (Scorpio) (FBI) is akin to the hall monitors. It is The memo creating the NSA does not in the most private of houses (the 4th). responsible for domestic law enforce- specify a time of day, so it would have Given the inherently cryptic nature of ment. gone into effect at midnight on Novem- these placements, it seems fitting that • The National Reconnaissance Office ber 4, 1952. Even if employees did not the NSA headquarters is often referred (NRO) is akin to the kids in the pho- actually arrive at work until later in the to as “Crypto City.”1 22 www.mountainastrologer.com Furthermore, astrologer Joan McEvers describes the combination of Combine the secretive nature of a Scorpio Sun with a Leo Ascendant with a Scorpio Sun in the 4th house as a potential “dictator” a Gemini Moon’s need to constantly communicate, who “will often serve your country in and you get a pairing that will insist on knowing some capacity — as a top sergeant in the Army, for instance.”2 The NSA is everybody’s secrets while giving up none of their own. the U.S. government’s top “sergeant” of signals intelligence and one who many people fear is a potential dictator. A 12:00 a.m. birth time thus generates real-life “Men in Black,” it’s Scorpio– to quote astrologer Bil Tierney.4 A for the agency an Ascendant/Sun/house Gemini. Interestingly enough, the fore- Scorpio–Gemini human being might combination that matches Mrs. McEvers’ runner to the NSA was a 1920s gov- have to rely on things like body lan- description with a marked degree of ernment agency known as “The Black guage or voice tonality to quickly size precision. Chamber,” whose agents once per- up a person or situation. The NSA need In short, if the agency were a suaded Western Union officials to ille- not resort to such primitive methods, person, it would look like a member gally provide them with copies of though, since vastly more advanced of royalty (Leo rising), either extremely Americans’ telegrams.3 ones are at their fingertips. For instance, powerful or extremely paranoid (Pluto Intense Scorpio and flippant Gem- as of March 2013, Barack Obama on the Ascendant), who rarely ven- ini are so antithetical that they may as plans to give the agency full access to tures outside of his or her subterranean well be from two different planets, if the Treasury Department’s Financial cave-castle (4th-house Scorpio Sun). not different dimensions altogether. Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) They do, however, have one thing in database, a massive repository of infor- Scorpio Sun, Gemini Moon: common: Both signs possess excellent mation on Americans’ financial trans- The Men in Black situational awareness. Scorpio’s situa- actions akin to the surveillance world’s The Sun symbolizes the conscious tional awareness comes from its prowess version of the Rosetta Stone.5 It was identity, and the Moon symbolizes at navigating the hidden undercurrents information in the FinCEN database, deeper, more unconscious emotional of any interaction. Gemini’s situational for example, which revealed that Eliot needs. These are the two sources of awareness comes from its ultra flexible, Spitzer had been availing himself of the light (energy) in a chart, and together ultra high-speed mental pathways. services of the “Emperor’s Club” VIP 6 they comprise the basic architectureNSA of a When combined together, the result call-girl operation. Natal Chart person, project, or agency’s psychology.Nov 4 1952, Tue is a Sun–Moon pairing that excels at Astrologers Suzi and Charles Harvey 0:00 am EST +5:00 The NSA has its Sun in ScorpioWashington, and its DC “quickly sizing up a person or situation,” refer to the Scorpio–Gemini pairing as 38°N53'42'' 077°W02'12'' Moon in Gemini. Both signs areGeocentric associ- “the village gossip” who “takes their Tropical 7 ated with spy-craft, smuggling, andWhole Signsspe- secrets to the grave.” Linda Goodman cial operations, albeit in very differentTrue Node warns her readers: “It’s impossible to 00° Ý 00' ways. Scorpio is the covert operative 00' 00° retain one’s personal privacy around ‚ Ü 8 who slips through the shadows, Gem- 00° ½Ì 00' either sign.” If there’s anything the ini is the double agent who plays both 16°13° recent events have made clear, it’s Ý sides. Scorpio is the power broker, ¶ Ý that the NSA is now the equivalent 28'48' 00' 09° 00° Gemini is the information broker. ‚ Œ of a multibillion-dollar “village ƒ 59' 10 9 ‹ Scorpio probes beneath the sur- 00° 00' gossip,” with graveyards full face, Gemini reads between the 11 8 of secrets and the capacity to É lines. Scorpio knows where the Š17° make personal privacy impos- Œ21' ¿ 18°ƒ sible to retain. bodies are buried, Gemini 29'Œ 12 Chart 1: 7 knows where the phone lines 00° 00° The NSA is legally prohib- „ National Security Š are buried. Combine the 00' 00' ited from accumulating gossip 1 Agency 6 secretive nature of a Scorpio Œ 45' ‰ (“spying”) on or violating the „ 21' 16° 17° 59' 32' ¼ Sun with a Gemini Moon’s Ê „ ‰ personal privacy of U.S. citi- 20° 09' 08° „ need to constantly communi- Ë 23° 2 5  zens, but according to a former cate, and you get a Sun–Moon 00° Á 52' 00' NSA intelligence analyst turned … 3 4 ˆ ‰ pairing that will insist on knowing 46' 15° whistleblower by the name of 00' ˆ 00° everybody’s secrets while giving up 49'11' 43' 03° » Russ Tice, that’s exactly what † † ‡ none of their own. 20°22° 11° º they’ve been doing. In an interview 00° 00' Scorpio likes to wear black, and † ¾À ¸ ˆ on June 19, 2013 with Sibel Edmonds’ Gemini always comes in pairs, so if 00' 00° 00° 00' there was ever a combination of the ‡ Charts use Whole Sign houses and the True Node.

Oct./Nov. 2013 * The Mountain Astrologer 23 the technological capacity to bring about NSA and Snowden total (Pluto) tyranny (Leo): A chart’s North Node I know the capacity that is there to “Boiling Frogs” podcast, Tice explained make tyranny total in America, and that the Edward Snowden leaks are just configuration is akin we must see to it that this agency the tip of the iceberg. Tice then specified to an astrological plan and all agencies that possess this which prominent residents of the U.S. technology operate within the law “village” had been targets of NSA sur- of action likely to yield and under proper supervision, so veillance during his time at the agency: a very high return on that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there … they went after high-ranking mil- investment. is no return.13 itary officers, members of Congress, heaps of lawyers and law firms, More recently, a former NSA State Department officials, judges secrets to the grave” makes for a great mathematician by the name of William [including] one now sitting on the therapist or counselor whose listening Binney attempted to blow the whistle on Supreme Court, two former FISA skills can bring a patient back from the what he calls the “turnkey totalitarian court judges, antiwar groups, U.S. brink of suicide. Along these lines, it was state” — the ultimate worst-case sce- companies that do international signals intelligence on Soviet intentions nario expression of a Pluto–South Node business around the world, U.S. collected by the NSA “village gossip” conjunction in Leo.14 banking firms and financial firms that helped President Kennedy to skill- The ruler of the NSA’s Leo South that do international business …9 fully defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis, Node is the Sun (identity) in Scorpio, which might otherwise have led to the sign of secrets and lies, depth and Tice also said the NSA even spied nuclear war — a mutually assured darkness, shadows and underworlds, on current village chief Barack Obama suicide for millions of people.12 covert operations and subterranean and his staff in 2004, when Obama was dealings. It’s located in the 4th house, an Illinois Senator, and that his sources South Node in Leo, which represents a chart’s country/ inside NSA tell him the agency has Conjunct Pluto: family/culture of origin. The second spied on all the judges on the Supreme The Karmic Pitfall of Tyranny part of the NSA’s South Node story Court, which opens up the possibility of According to many astrologers, the thus involves running covert opera- blackmail. In an interview with the South Node is the primary indicator of tions (Scorpio) in the country of origin Russia Times a month later, Tice said past-life karma. It points to what skills a (4th house). The recent domestic spying the NSA also spied on Colin Powell, person is bringing into this life, but also scandal is an extreme but fundamentally Hillary Clinton, and General David how they may have screwed things up accurate example of a 4th-house Scor- Petraeus.10 The agency won’t be taking in their past lives, be those actual past pio Sun that has yet to optimally express the secrets of these Beltway villagers or lives or simply useful metaphoric nar- this placement (to put it diplomatically). anybody else “to the grave,” but starting ratives for the early part of this life. An Astrologer Alan Oken refers to Scor- in the fall of 2013, they’ll be storing intelligence agency like the NSA obvi- pio as “the vampire” of the zodiac who’s them at a massive new data center in ously does not have “past lives,” but subject to becoming possessed by his Bluffdale, Utah, equipped with “near an analysis of its South Node can still or her secrets.15 During the 1950s and bottomless databases,” according to a provide a lot of information about its ’60s, the intense secrecy (Scorpio) per- Wired Magazine cover article entitled biggest karmic pitfalls. meating NSA headquarters (4th house) “Watch What You Say.”11 The NSA’s South Node is in Leo, was maintained by a cabal-like organi- This all seems pretty scary, but the the sign of royalty, monarchy, privilege, zation known as “M-5.”16 According to good news is “if you have nothing to and tyranny. It’s in the 1st house of James Bamford’s book, The Puzzle Pal- hide, you have nothing to fear.” leadership and conjunct Pluto, the ace, every once in a while an employee The bad news is everybody has planet of extremes. The main karmic would get called into the M-5 offices — something to hide. pitfall for the NSA is expressing extremes never to be heard from again.17 Today Still, here’s something to think (Pluto) when it comes to tyrannical security at the agency is handled by a about: If you’re a Scorpio–Gemini read- (Leo) forms of leadership (1st house). much-feared internal police force called ing this, you might be a bit uncom- Concerns that the NSA could enable a the “Q-Group.”18 Wayne Madsen, an fortable that an intelligence agency as highly privileged, tyrannical monarchy investigative reporter who used to work controversial as the NSA is one of your (plutocracy) to take over the United as a consultant on contracts for NSA, Sun–Moon brethren. Rest assured that, States date back to at least the Church has said the Q-Group approaches its while many Scorpio–Geminis will traffic Committee, the mid-1970s congressio- job of watching the watchers with such in secrets, few will attempt to read their nal investigation into misdeeds by var- rattlesnake-like intensity that they “make co-workers’ e-mails or tap their neigh- ious intelligence agencies. At the time, the FBI look like the Girl Scouts.”19 As bors’ phone lines. Among other things, committee chair Senator Frank Church this article goes to print, the Q-Group the “village gossip” who “takes their warned that the NSA already possessed is reported to be hunting former NSA 24 www.mountainastrologer.com “family” member Edward Snowden, tive enterprises ranging from team sports gence agency, it would also refer to the whose chart we’ll come to shortly.20 and street gangs to social networks “other” intelligence agencies, both for- and business consortiums. The NSA’s eign and domestic. North Node in Aquarius: Aquarius North Node is located in the Equality is a goal of both the 7th Being a Team Player 7th house, which represents all forms of house and the sign Aquarius, with the The North Node, its planetary ruler, “the other,” including spouses, business 7th house emphasizing equality in and any aspects to the North Node and partners, clients, patrons, rivals, and one-to-one partnerships and Aquarius its planetary ruler articulate a chart’s open enemies. In the chart of an intelli- emphasizing it in collective enterprises. karmic directive, what the entity repre- sented by the chart has been created to accomplish. The behavior patterns, associations, endeavors, and enterprises described by a chart’s North Node con- figuration suggest the solution to any problems, pitfalls, excesses, or traumas associated with the South Node. It rep- resents a chart’s ultimate destiny, should the entity choose to accept it. If you don’t believe in “destiny,” you can think of a chart’s North Node configuration as being akin to an astrological plan of action likely to yield a very high return on investment. The NSA’s North Node is in Aquar- ius, the sign of insight and foresight, genius and brilliance, cerebral enter- prises and space-age ideals, social experimentation and technological innovation, science fiction and science fact, synthetic sentience and artificial intelligence. It’s also the sign of collec-

Figure 1: The NSA Headquarters According to Wikipedia, “this image contains materials that originally came from a National Security Agency (NSA) website or publica- tion. It is believed that this informa- tion is not classified, and is in the public domain.”

Figure 2: The Sculpture Image provided by Jim Sanborn, by way of Wikimedia Commons. Image licensed under a Creative Commons License: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ File:Kryptos_sculptor.jpg

Oct./Nov. 2013 * The Mountain Astrologer 25 computer network like Skynet might NSA and Snowden seem like hyperbole, but consider this: The NSA’s Saturn in Ray Kurzweil, now the director of engi- The NSA is not a person, so it can’t have Libra is closely conjunct neering at Google, tells us that a com- a 7th-house “spouse,” but it has part- puter needs to be capable of performing nered (7th house) extensively with the Neptune, the planet 20,000 trillion calculations per second supercomputer industry — as Aquar- of idealization and and have 122,000 gigabytes of memory ian a partner as they come, since it in order to become sentient.25 As Mullen revolves around futuristic technologies illusion, daydreams and points out, the NSA’s latest supercom- that require large networks of highly self-deception. puter, code-named “Titan,” is capable cerebral individuals to maintain them. of 20,000 trillion calculations per sec- The relationship between the NSA and ond and has 5 trillion gigabytes of mem- this industry has largely been an equi- The NSA’s North Node in Aquarius ory, vastly more than what is necessary table one, with the NSA providing large receives a trine (supportive contact) for sentience, according to Kurzweil.26 amounts of revenue for the supercom- from its Moon (food, nourishment) in What’s even more darkly Aquarian than puter companies and these companies Gemini (communications) in the 11th a sentient NSA supercomputer is that, providing large amounts of advanced house of networks and group associa- per one senior intelligence official cited hardware for the NSA. tions. As we have come to find out in by James Bamford, once the agency’s In addition to its relationships with recent months, telecommunications Utah Data Center goes live, “every- supercomputer companies, the NSA (Gemini Moon) associations (11th body’s a target.”27 also enjoys partnerships with a number house) such as Verizon and AT&T So, while the NSA may be doing a of foreign intelligence agencies, most have been nourishing the NSA’s North great job of getting into its highly net- notably its British counterpart, the Gov- Node by providing the agency all-you- worked, uber-futuristic Aquarius North ernment Communications Headquarters can-eat buffet–style access to Ameri- Node, that doesn’t mean it’s doing so in (GCHQ). In fact, the NSA’s relationship cans’ telephone records. a manner the average person is going to with the GCHQ has been characterized be very happy about. by such high levels of cooperation (7th The Age of Aquarius – house) and mutual networking (Aquar- Just Not the One Advertised Saturn in Libra: ius) that, according to documents leaked Between investments in technology, Conformity and Discipline by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the intimate levels of cooperation with other The second part of a chart’s North GCHQ may even be spying on Ameri- intelligence agencies, the gobbling up of Node story is articulated by the plan­ cans more than the NSA is.21 Americans’ phone/e-mail records, and etary ruler of its North Node. Aquarius The NSA’s open enemies (also the 875,000 people on its “friend” list, is (traditionally) ruled by Saturn. So, 7th-house entities) range from terrorist the NSA seems to be doing a fabulous part of the NSA’s North Node imper- groups and civil liberties organizations, job of getting into its Aquarius/7th-house ative is indicated by its Saturn (struc- to the former Soviet Union and the North Node. Sure, civil liberties–minded ture, the rule of law) in Libra (the scales Chinese Communist Party, to the factions among the peasantry might pro- of justice) in the 3rd house, which rep- NSA’s nemesis, the Central Intelligence test all this surveillance, but their resis- resents all forms of communication Agency, with whom it has had a tance to an NSA-style “Age of Aquarius” including radio, television, Internet, long-standing rivalry over turf, technol- won’t be a problem for too much lon- newspapers, satellites, and telephones. ogy, and federal budget market share ger. This is because, when Aquarius With this placement of the NSA’s North that is characterized by “myopia, para- turns to its dark side, it goes from being Node ruler, it is imperative that the noia, and suspicion,” according to one the sign of fraternity and democracy agency conform to the structures (Sat- now-declassified document.22 to being the sign of fascist collectives urn) as decided upon by the justice sys- One way the NSA relates to many and high-tech futures free from messy tem (Libra) in matters of communication of its 7th-house entities is by running human problems like dissent. (3rd house). It’s questionable how well Internet protocol logs and e-mail meta- As a number of political commen­ the NSA is fulfilling this component of its data through advanced data-mining tators (including Jack Mullen at Activist North Node directive. On the one hand, technologies that detect the networks Post.com) have pointed out, the open- according to Marc Ambinder, author (Aquarius) other people (7th house) ing of the NSA’s Utah Data Center of Deep State: Inside the Government are members of, out to several degrees bears more than a few similarities to the Secrecy Industry, “Everything the NSA of connectivity. The NSA’s capacity to beginnings of “Skynet,” the sentient analyst does leaves an audit trail. And use such methodologies to gain insight computer system in the Terminator the NSA has a staff of auditors who do and foresight (Aquarius) into “the other” films, which marshals massive databases nothing but sample the target folders for (7th house) is well developed enough and swarms of aerial drones to turn any over-collects.”28 We know, for instance, that there are now 875,000 people on human who resists it into a walking that one analyst was investigated for its watch list.23 target.24 Comparing a government rooting around in Bill Clinton’s personal agency such as the NSA to a villainous e-mail.29 On the other hand, recent rev-

26 www.mountainastrologer.com elations related to illegal wire-tapping, Howard Sasportas associates Uranus in addition to other allegations dating in the 12th with access to the “mind’s back to at least 2005, tend to cast seri- storehouse of ancestral wisdom — ous doubt that the agency’s leadership experiences accrued in the past and is living up to the totality of their Satur- inherited through previous generations,” nian responsibilities (again, to put it as as well as interest in parapsychologi- diplomatically as possible). cal enterprises like mind-reading.33 The Saturn in the 3rd house is also NSA may not be interested in actual associated with “mental discipline and parapsychology, but its capacity to store practicality” as well as “mathematical massive amounts of data does, in a and scientific ability,” according to Edward Snowden manner of speaking, give it access to astrologers Frances Sakoian and Louis the collective experiences accrued by Acker.30 While it’s questionable whether The NSA’s Saturn in Libra is closely several generations of hundreds of mil- the NSA is fully meeting the law-abiding conjunct Neptune, the planet of ideal­ lions (if not billions) of people around component of its North Node directive, ization and illusion, daydreams and the world. According to James Bamford, there’s no doubt it’s fulfilling the mathe- self-deception. According to astrologer the agency has plugged a good deal of matical and scientific components. The Sue Tompkins, Saturn–Neptune con- this stored data into a computer system agency is, after all, home to the greatest junctions are associated with “health called “Aquaint” (Advanced QUestion concentration of computing power on scares and food poisoning.”32 This con- Answering for INTelligence), an arti- the planet. Furthermore, the vast major- junction is in the 3rd house of com- ficial intelligence–powered black box ity of its employees and contractors munications and data-sharing, so the that agents can query to find out what have backgrounds in advanced mathe- “health scares and food poisoning” person X thinks about subject Y.34 The matics, cryptology, linguistics, or other indicated by this aspect would involve system is, in effect, a mind-reading intensely mental disciplines. The NSA’s things like computer poisons (viruses, machine. mathematical and scientific capabilities tracking cookies), phone-line “bugs,” Astrologer Bil Tierney associates (3rd house) are so disciplined (Saturn) and information streams from “Big Uranus in the 12th house with “holo- that a team of NSA cryptanalysts took Data” that are as compromised as the graphic realms” created by technology less than a month to crack three of the food supplies from Big Ag. as well as “ghosts found wandering dark four coded messages on the CIA’s famed chambers.”35 In true Uranus/12th-house “Kryptos” sculpture. (See Figure 2, Uranus in the 12th House: fashion, there are even rumors circu- page 25.) By comparison, it took the The Ghosts in the Machine lating that the NSA’s advanced super- CIA’s own cryptanalysts eight years to The third component of the NSA’s computer networks have spawned new perform the same feat.31 North Node directive is articulated by forms of artificial intelligence that now Since the NSA’s Saturn is in Libra, Aquarius’s modern planetary ruler, roam the dark chambers of NSA head- the sign of “the other,” part of its North Uranus, the planet of radical change quarters like holographic ghosts.36 Such Node imperative includes taking a disci- and rapid progress, advanced machin- rumors are, of course, impossible to plined approach to communication (3rd ery and experimental methodologies, confirm or deny, but sudden access to house) with people who speak other liberation from the status quo and sud- highly intelligent apparitions is the sort (Libra) languages. Today the agency is den breaks with reality, Einstein-like of experience found disproportionately widely believed to possess computing advancements and Frankenstein-like often among people with Uranus (rad- hardware (Saturn) that not only detects horrors. The NSA’s Uranus is placed ical advancements) in the 12th house keywords (3rd house) but can actually in the 12th house of the unconscious (psychic phenomena, ghost realms). If discern the context and deeper mean- and the super-conscious, mysticism and nothing else, this placement indicates ing of entire conversations, regardless of meditation, spirits and séances, all that that the agency likely has access to tech- the language in which they are spoken. is yet is not at the same time. Astrologer nologies the general population would

Oct./Nov. 2013 * The Mountain Astrologer 27 for large amounts of both electricity and of American Scientists, has estimated NSA and Snowden computing power, it’s very fortunate the agency budget to be approximately that its Mars in Capricorn receives a $10 billion annually.40 think are magic — some off the shelves nearly perfect trine (supportive contact) of the Starship Enterprise, some off the from Jupiter (expansion) in Taurus Edward Snowden: pages of a Stephen King novel. (resource accumulation) in the 10th Gemini Sun, Scorpio Moon – house of government. Jupiter describes Professor Houdini and Mars in Capricorn where an entity experiences largesse. Detective Whodunit Trine Jupiter in Taurus: When placed in the 10th house of Edward Snowden, the whistle­ Big Brother’s Big Budget “Status Before the King,” the largesse blower who leaked information about Mars describes how an entity asserts will involve the King and his Court, or the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program itself. The NSA’s Mars is in Capricorn, their modern-day equivalents: the Pres- to U.K. Guardian journalist Glenn the sign of strategic maneuvering and ident and Congress. Jupiter in the sign Greenwald, is a Gemini Sun, Scor- self-imposed austerity, self-discipline of Taurus suggests that the largesse will pio Moon. (See Chart 2, below.) and self-reliance, status quo institutions involve cattle and land, or their modern- Snowden’s Gemini–Scorpio pairing has and structures built to last. This is con- day equivalents: cash and turf. The a few things in common with the NSA’s sidered an exalted (highly effective) NSA’s budget is classified, so nobody Scorpio–Gemini pairing, but there are placement because the fiery “charge” of knows for sure just how “fortunate” some key differences. The Sun, symbol Mars is sustained by the work capacity (Jupiter) the agency is when it comes to of the conscious mind, can be likened of Capricorn. Astrologer Raven Kaldera material resources (Taurus) provided by to the part of a tree that expresses itself associates Mars in Capricorn with the public officials (10th house); however, above ground. The Moon, symbol of Afro-Caribbean myth of Ogoun, a Steve Aftergood, director of the govern- the unconscious mind, can be likened highly demanding, highly organized ment secrecy program at the Federation to the roots of the tree that go much deity whose “area of patronage includes deeper into the ground. While the Sun the police and the military.”37 and the Moon are of equal importance The NSA’s Mars is in the 6th house Snowden, with his Moon, when analyzing a person’s chart, it’s the of the workplace, so its Capricornian not his Sun, in the most Moon that tells us what components of capacity for self-control will express the person’s psyche run the deepest. most evidently in the day-to-day activ- cryptic of signs (Scorpio), Snowden, with his Moon, not his Sun, ities of its employees. The degree of in the most cryptic of signs (Scorpio), is self-control demanded of NSA employ- is actually more deeply actually more deeply secretive than the ees is so thorough that it wouldEdward likely Snowden secretive than the agency agency whose operations he wishes to Natal Chart be experienced as soul-crushingJun by 21 1983, Tue expose. 4:42 am EDT +4:00 whose operations he anybody not possessed of an Ogoun-Elizabeth City, NC If Scorpio–Gemini is the village gos- 36°N18'07'' 076°W13'25'' like dedication to their job. JustGeocentric show- wishes to expose. sip who takes their secrets to the grave, Tropical ing up to their cubicle in the morningWhole Signs Gemini–Scorpio is the double agent requires them to get through a ring-of-True Node who takes their secrets to the cable news 00° ‹ 00' fire type of ordeal that, according to 00' 00° network. Scorpio–Gemini likes to tap Ü Ì Š the NSA employee handbook, includes 00° 00' phone lines (the more salacious the con- “physical security safeguards includ- 20° versations, the better). Gemini–Scorpio Š ing Security Protective Officers, 52' likes to tell stories (the more complex fences, concrete barriers, Access 00' 00° the plot lines, the better). Scorpio– Ý ‰ Control Points, identification 10 9 Gemini compiles dossiers to 00° À 00' 11 8 27° badges, safes, and the com- ˆ blackmail adversaries, Gemini– 48' Ê Œ 25° partmentalization of physical 06' ˆ Scorpio compiles trade secrets 38 spaces.” Furthermore, pretty 12 7 06° ¿ to cut deals with them. 00° Chart 2: Œ10' ˆ 00° much anything employees do  29°Ý 59' Œ08' ˆ03° ½ Astrologers Suzi and ‚ Edward ˆ in their off-hours — from the 10°‚ 18' Charles Harvey write of the 00' º 00' 14' 1 Snowden 6 people they associate with to 12°‚ Gemini–Scorpio pairing: Ë ‚ 37' 25' ‡ 24° 06' 13° which community groups they ¼ ‚ ¶ “Your life seems to be a 25° 25' ‚ Œ choose to join — must meet the É 29° 2 5 Œ 48' breeze until you start noticing 46' † agency’s incredibly demanding, 00° ¸ † 27° 00' the monsters from the deep 3 4 26° ¾ 39 ƒ ‡ Ogoun-inspired standards. 00' Á 00° coming up for air.” Snowden’s 41' Astrologers Sakoian and Acker „ life certainly seems to have been associate Mars in the 6th house with 14° a breeze until very recently. Back 00° 00' work that “involves machinery that „ » † in March 2013, he was living with a consumes large amounts of power.” 00' 00° gorgeous, acrobatic dancing girlfriend 00° 00' Given the NSA’s off-the-charts demand … on the Big Island of Hawaii, earning

28 www.mountainastrologer.com $200,000 per year working for NSA (progressed Moon) are in conflict with contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, despite Snowden certainly won’t their primary mission in life (North having little formal education beyond a Node). For Snowden, his progressed GED. Then he decided to take on the be the first person with a Moon wants to shoot arrows of truth NSA, the ultimate “monster from the pileup of Neptune contacts (Sagittarius) at his open enemies (7th deep,” and is now a high-profile enemy house), but his primary mission in this of the state. in his chart to get into life is to ask questions, utilize the media, At its best, this is the Sun–Moon water way over his head. and learn to express himself (1st-house pairing of the investigative reporter who North Node) with the dexterity of the uses mental dexterity to unravel high- Twins (Gemini). level criminality, the high-stakes nego- planetary/nodal contacts — three with tiator who understands multiple layers Neptune in his natal chart and one com- 4. An opposition between Mars of a complex conflict, or the writer ing from his progressed chart: (fighting) at 24° Gemini (words) and whose spellbinding tales leave you thor- Neptune (illusions) at 27° Sagittarius oughly mind-fucked (Gemini–Scorpio) 1. A conjunction between his Nep- (truth-seeking crusades) in his natal but loving every minute of it. Of course, tune (idealization but also illusion) at chart: Supportive aspects between Mars the skills that enable a person to spin 27° Sagittarius and his South Node and Neptune can be very creative, since spells also make them susceptible to (personal karmic pitfalls) at 25° Sagit- they blend the energetic initiative of spell-casters. tarius (truth-seeking) in his natal chart: Mars with the compassion and mysticism While the Scorpio–Gemini pairing Astrologer Celeste Teal warns that “the of Neptune in a harmonious fashion. can be likened to a “Puzzle Palace” or liabilities are high with South Node con- These contacts are often found in the a “Shadow Factory” (per James Bam- junct Neptune … There is often some charts of actors, musicians, and artists. ford’s books on the history of the NSA), sort of intrigue touching the life.”41 At Tense aspects between Mars and Nep- the Gemini–Scorpio pairing can be lik- its best, this aspect produces somebody tune are, however, some of the most ened to “a riddle wrapped in a mystery who has spent many past lives (South notorious pairings in Western astrology, inside an enigma,” to quote Winston Node) fulfilling their transcendent spir- since they combine the impulsive nature Churchill. Gemini is duality, while Scor- itual longings (Neptune) by going on of Mars with the confusing side of Nep- pio is secrecy, so any time you see these truth-seeking crusades (Sagittarius). tune. Liz Greene associates tense Mars– two signs paired together, there is a high At its most unfortunate, it produces a Neptune aspects with “black magic.”44 likelihood that multiple (Gemini) layers person whose biggest karmic liability of concealment (Scorpio) are afoot. (South Node) is getting lost, confused, Snowden isn’t the only party to this This is because each sign’s ruling planet or deceived (Neptune) when on a cru- story with a troublesome Mars–Neptune excels at disguising itself. Gemini is ruled sade to seek, speak, or expose the truth contact in his chart. The astrology of the by Mercury, the fast-moving planet of (Sagittarius). recent revelations regarding the PRISM mixed messages and multiple personali- program is loaded with them: ties. Scorpio is co-ruled by Pluto, the 2. An opposition between deep-digging Lord of Hades whose Snowden’s Sun at 29° Gemini and • The NSA has a wide but valid cap of invisibility allows him to operate Neptune at 27° Sagittarius in his natal square (tension) between Mars undetected. At its best, the combination chart, an aspect considered indicative (fighting) at 16° Capricorn (big busi- of duplicity (Gemini Sun) and depth of victim/martyr issues: According to ness, big government) and Neptune perception (Scorpio Moon) makes for Sue Tompkins, Sun–Neptune con- (illusions) at 22° Libra (balance of a person who can get to the bottom of tacts have a well-earned reputation for power) in its natal chart (Chart 1). “self-deception and glamorization of mind-dizzyingly complex situations. At • The story broke on June 5, 2013 the self.”42 As author Naomi Wolf has its worst, this makes for somebody who during a transiting square between pointed out, in the initial interview with wanders into traps that are one part Mars at 4° Gemini and Neptune at Glenn Greenwald, Snowden managed never-ending house of mirrors (Gemini) 5° Pisces. and one part bottomless pit (Scorpio). to spend as much time calling attention A Gemini–Scorpio person can use to his own self-sacrifice as he did dis- • The United States’ July 4, 1776 dexterity (Gemini) to go deep (Scorpio), cussing the vast illegality of the opera- chart has a square between Mars at but that means they also risk getting into tions he was seeking to expose.43 21° Gemini (words) and Neptune situations so deep and dark that they no (illusion) at 22° Virgo (precision). longer know which way is up. 3. An approaching opposition When Snowden’s leak was made between his progressed Moon at 17° public, this square was being exag- Snowden’s Neptuna-Palooza: Sagittarius (as of June 5,, 2013) and gerated, expanded, and nourished The Mystery Man and his North Node at 25° Gemini: Oppo- by transiting Jupiter (growth) at 25° the Misty Guy sitions between the progressed Moon Gemini (duality, duplicity) and acti- Complicating matters further for and the North Node indicate that the vated by an approaching New Moon Snowden are four very troublesome person’s maturing emotional responses at 18° Gemini (charts not shown).

Oct./Nov. 2013 * The Mountain Astrologer 29 NSA and Snowden

It should also be noted that Snowden made initial contact with Glenn Greenwald on May 16 (chart not shown) in the midst of a building square between Mercury at 1° Gem- ini (words) and Neptune (dissolution) at 5° Pisces (multiple dimensions, invisibility, duality). Tough Mercury–Neptune aspects, while not as notorious as tough Mars–Neptune aspects, are considered inherently confusing. One aspect of this situation that has struck a number of observers as very Neptunian is that Snowden claims to have talked about his concerns regarding the illegality of NSA operations to fellow employees. “The more you talk about the more you’re ignored,” he observed to Greenwald in their first interview.45 A brand-new NSA contractor talking about the illegality of agency operations is exactly the type of behavior that would have gotten Snowden flagged as a potential leaker, particularly since the NSA (and presumably its contractors) conducts extensive workplace surveillance on employees. What’s equally odd is that the information Snowden has leaked thus far is being treated as a major scandal, even though its takeaway message (omnipresent surveillance sys- tems) is at least ten years old. More than a few people who are naturally sympathetic to government whistleblowers (this writer included) were left scratching their heads when Snowden’s “bombshell” leak turned out to be a strangely retro-looking power-point presentation that tells us what we’ve already known to be true for about a decade. We weren’t the only ones somewhat confused by the presenta- tion. Stewart Baker, who worked as an attorney for the NSA during the 1990s, was also puzzled by the sloppy nature of the PRISM slides: “The PowerPoint is suffused with a kind of hype that makes it sound more like a marketing pitch than a briefing,” he was quoted as saying in an article for Cnet.com.46

PsyOps and Ritual Sacrifices So, why allow (or engineer) the leak of what is actu- ally old news at a time like the present? One possibility that Naomi Wolf and others have considered is that the leak is part of some type of government psychological operation to let us all know how futile dissent has become. The First Amendment still exists on paper, but if the citizens know that everything they say, hear, read, and write is being recorded, they’re not going to speak out. Similarly, the leak could be part of an orchestrated mass participation ritual to banish, blow off, or bind any final psychological resistance to the police state prior to the opening of the agency’s data center in Bluffdale — an event that will likely usher in a permanent surveillance state, after which point there will be no turning back, just as Senator Frank Church warned in 1975. Rituals need sacrifices, and it could be that Snowden, with all of those Neptune contacts in his chart, is the lamb. Even if Snowden is some type of sacrificial lamb, this doesn’t mean that the authenticity of his objectives or the content of his character is in question. After all, his Mars is conjunct his North Node, an aspect that Celeste Teal asso-

30 www.mountainastrologer.com ciates with “being awarded medals for bravery.” This Mars receives a trine (supportive contact) from a Saturn–Pluto con- junction in his 5th house of self-expression; this aspect is associated with ”battling the powers that be,” according to astrologer Adrian Ross Duncan.47 Snowden is unlikely to win any medals for his efforts, but nobody doubts the enormous bravery it takes to battle with the powers-that-be running the NSA. However, even if we assume — and this writer does — that Snowden is totally, completely sincere in his intentions and courageous in his convictions, this doesn’t preclude the pos- sibility that he may be an unwitting victim in a multilayered operation more complex than a game of three-dimensional chess. If that’s what is actually going on with this story, he certainly won’t be the first person with a pileup of Neptune contacts in his chart to get into water way over his head. As for what lies ahead for Snowden, his North Node (des- tiny) is in Gemini, so if he wants to stay out of the catacombs of the U.S. justice system, he’ll need to tap into the fast- moving, quick-thinking nature of the Twins to the maximum of his ability. As he knows all too well, these days the hills really do have eyes.

Editor’s Note: Portions of this article were previously published on the writer’s blog: http://northbayastrology. com/?p=29892; http://northbayastrology.com/?p=12694

Chart Data and Sources National Security Agency, November 4, 1952; 12:00 a.m. EST; Washington, D.C., USA (38°N54', 77°W02'); source: www.archives.gov/ research/guide-fed-records/groups/457.html Edward Snowden, June 21, 1983; 4:42 a.m. EDT; Elizabeth City, NC, USA (36°N18', 76°W13'); AA: birth certificate, copy obtained by Eric Francis.

References and Notes (All URLs, here and in the Chart Data above, were accessed in July 2013, unless otherwise noted.) 1. See article by Greg Torode, www.scmp.com/article/346174/men-black- struggle-keep-pace-crypto-city 2. Joan McEvers, 12 Times 12: 144 Sun/Ascendant Combinations, ACS Publications, 1980, pp. 105–107. 3. Philip Taubman, “Sons of the Black Chamber,” in The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/1982/09/19/books/sons-of-the-black-chamber.html 4. Bil Tierney, All Around the Zodiac: Exploring Astrology’s Twelve Signs, Llewellyn Publications, 2001, p. 336. 5. See article by Kim Zetter, www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/03/spy- agencies-to-get-access-to-u-s-bank-transactions-database/ 6. See article by Larry Dignan, www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/how-an-informa tion-system-helped-nail-eliot-spitzer-and-a-prostitution-ring/8211 7. All quotes of Suzi and Charles Harvey come from their book, Sun Sign Moon Sign, Element, 2003. 8. Linda Goodman, Love Signs: A New Approach to the Human Heart, Fawcett Columbine, 1978, p. 342. 9. See www.boilingfrogspost.com/2013/06/19/podcast-show-112-nsa- whistleblower-goes-on-record-reveals-new-information-names-culprits 10. “NSA Blackmailing Obama?” www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6m1X bWOfVk 11. James Bamford, “The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Cen- ter (Watch What You Say),” in Wired Magazine, www.wired.com/threat level/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/ continued on page 110 Oct./Nov. 2013 * The Mountain Astrologer 31 Sky Watch NSA and Snowden to Interpreting Your Horoscope, Flare Publica- tions, 2006, pp. 242–243. continued from page 107 continued from page 31 33. Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses: Understanding the Importance of the Houses 12. National Security Agency, www.nsa. in Your Astrological Birthchart, Thorsons, 1998, The South and North Taurids gov/public_info/declass/cuban_missile_ pp. 280–281. are simultaneously active from October crisis/1960.shtml 12 to November 25. Both showers have 13. Cited in an article by Daniel Ellsberg, 34. James Bamford, “The New Thought Police: their radiant in Taurus and have the www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/ The NSA Wants to Know How You Think — Maybe Even What You Think,” www.pbs.org/ same peak time of midnight to 2:00 a.m. jun/10/edward-snowden-united-stasi- wgbh/nova/military/nsa-police.html as Taurus crosses the zenith. The South america 35. Bil Tierney, Alive and Well with Uranus, Taurids peak on November 5, and the 14. Bamford, “Watch What You Say,” op. cit. Llewellyn, 2008, pp. 271–272. North Taurids peak on the 12th. Each 15. Alan Oken, Alan Oken’s Complete 36. See http://deepthought.newsvine.com/_ shower can produce about 7 meteors Astrology: The Classic Guide to Modern news/2012/01/16/10169491-the-nsa-behind- per hour at the peak time. Taurus is Astrology, Nicolas Hays, Inc., 2006, p. 125. the-curtain fully above the horizon by 8:00 p.m. 16. James Bamford, The Puzzle Palace, 37. Raven Kaldera, Myth Astrology: Exploring and remains visible until dawn. You can Penguin Books, 1982, p. 166. Planets and Pantheons, Llewellyn Publications, watch for these meteors all night long. 17. Ibid. 2005, pp. 211–213. The Leonids occur November 18. See article by Eli Lake, www.the 38. National Security Agency Employee Hand- dailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/10/ 6–30. The best viewing begins after 2:30 book, http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~cr inside-the-q-group-the-directorate-hunt shalizi/nsa.html a.m., when Leo is fully above the eastern ing-down-andrew-snowden.html 39. Ibid. horizon. The Leonids peak on Novem- 19. Wayne Madsen, “Secret Q Group: The 40. Jeanne Sahadi, “What the NSA Costs Tax- ber 17 just before dawn as Leo nears the NSA’s Little KGB,” on The Alex Jones payers,” in CNN Money http://money.cnn. zenith above the southeast horizon. Typ- Channel, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEd com/2013/06/07/news/economy/nsa-surveil ically, about 15 to 20 meteors per hour Hg6IKSK0 lance-cost/index.html are observable at the peak, but the Full 20. Lake, “Inside the Q-Group,” op. cit. 41. All quotes of Celeste Teal come from her Moon will lessen the number of visible 21. Raphael Satter, “UK Spying Scan- book, Lunar Nodes: Discover Your Soul’s Karmic meteors this year. dal Even Bigger than in U.S., According Mission, Llewellyn Publications, 2008. to GCHQ Documents Obtained by the 42. Sue Tompkins, Aspects in Astrology: A Guardian” in the Huffington Post, www. For visual aids to help you locate the Guide to Understanding Planetary Relationships huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/uk-spying- in the Horoscope, Destiny Books, 1989, p. 118. planets, visit “The Mountain Astrologer scandal_n_3479942.html 43. See www.globalresearch.ca/my-creeping- Sky Maps” section of the library at Inter- 22. “A Brave, New World,” in CIA-NSA Part- concern-that-the-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden- national Academy of Astrology: www. nership, www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAE is-not-who-he-purports-to-be/5339161 BB/NSAEBB431/docs/intell_ebb_014.PDF astrocollege.org/campus/libraries/cgi 44. Liz Greene, The Astrological Neptune and 23. Mark Hosenball, “Terror Database the Quest for Redemption, Red Wheel/Weiser, Notes Grows: Number of Names in TIDE 2010, p. 427. Jumped from 540,000 to 875,000 in Just 1. Constellations are not uniformly 30° in length 45. Gabriel Rodriguez, “Edward Snowden 5 Years,” in the Huffington Post www.huff and are not the same as signs, no matter which Interview Transcript,” in Policy Mic, http:// ingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/terror-data zodiac you use. This article is talking about con- tinyurl.com/l5pjhnz base-grows_n_3204832.html stellations, not zodiac signs. 46. Declan McCullagh, in CNET, http://news. 24. See article by Jack Mullen, www.activ 2. Zenith is the highest point of the heavens, cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57588337-38/no-evi istpost.com/2013/06/skynet-to-launch- found by looking straight up overhead. dence-of-nsas-direct-access-to-tech-companies/ october-2013.html 3. The radiant is the point of origin of the meteor 47. Adrian Ross Duncan, Astrology: Trans- 25. Ibid. shower. formation and Empowerment, Weiser Books, 26. Ibid. 2002, p. 195. © 2013 Julene Packer-Louis – 27. Bamford, “Watch What You Say,” op. cit. © 2013 Matt Savinar – all rights reserved all rights reserved 28. Marc Ambinder, “Solving the Mystery of PRISM,” in The Week, http://theweek. com/article/index/245360/solving-the- Matt Savinar is a Julene Packer-Louis is the CEO of the Inter- mystery-of-prism California licensed national Academy of Astrology (www.astrocol attorney (now vol- lege.org), where she has been teaching since 29. James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, “E-mail untarily inactive). 2000. She has lectured on observational astrol- Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress,” He writes exten- ogy at UAC and other conferences and is avail- www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/us/17nsa. sively about the able to lecture to your group on astronomy and html?pagewanted=all&_r=2& astrology of the various astrological topics. You can obtain her 30. All quotes of Frances Sakoian and Pentagon’s black past lectures or contact her for consultation at Louis S. Acker come from their book, The budget at his Web www.yogicastrology.com. Check out her newly Astrologer’s Handbook, Harper Perennial, site (northbayastrol updated Web site (www.astronomy4astrologers. 1973. ogy.com) and can com) for video sky tours to locate the planets. 31. See www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/ be reached via She can also be reached via e-mail: julene. 07/nsa-cracked-kryptos-before-cia e-mail at northbay [email protected] 32. Sue Tompkins, The Contemporary astrology@yahoo. 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