Pike River Mine Explosion the Pike River Mine Explosion Some Astrological Observations on New Zealand Mining Disasters

Pike River Mine Explosion The Pike River Mine Explosion some astrological observations on New Zealand mining disasters

With the tragic mine explosion on New Zealandʼs West Coast on my mind, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the astrology of the event, looking particularly at its connection with the New Zealand chart, as well as with previous mining disasters in the country.

The explosion happened at about 3:44 pm on Friday 19th November 20101, in an underground coal mine about 50 km NE of Greymouth, West Coast, leaving 29 miners trapped at least 1.5 km in from the mineʼs entrance. At the time of writing2, a rescue has not yet been attempted, for fear of explosive gases which continue to accumulate in the mine. It is no known if the miners have survived the explosion or the entrapment.

The chart of the explosion Pike River Mine Explosion shows Uranus, planet of November 19, 2010 3:44:00 PM NZST explosions, in a volatile near Greymouth, New Zealand conjunction with a 42S12 / 171E29 stationary, digniﬁed J 00 28 I Jupiter3, both in Pisces, 19 J I 26 conjunct an explosive ﬁrst K H 04 ij 37 degree Aries Ascendant, db K 0303 15 ` H J 14 with the Sun in a close J I I 26 5216 H trine with Uranus (0º09 A). 40 5347 26 h } 39 L l 25 10 9 G Although there is clearly 04 26 K c 12 K 58 27 10 11 8 G more going on that is L 40 G symbolically apt or 26 f e 13 G 23 L 30 12 7 revealing - including a 00 g 26 L 00 A 48 } G close Pluto-North Node 24 1 6 24 conjunction at the A 26 F midheaven, a volatile A 2 5 13 Moon in Aries and a close 26 a 40 3 4 Sun-Neptune square A F 12 03 04 (Neptune/Pisces ruling D B 16 E gases) - for the purposes } k of this article it is this 26B E19 Uranus placement that I 37 C D 04 C want to highlight. 00 D 28

This is one of many mining disasters that have occurred in New Zealand4, all involving high loss of life.

www.grahamibell.co.nz p.1/6 Pike River Mine Explosion

Strongman Mine Explosion The previous major mining January 19, 1967 10:05:00 AM NZT accident was at the Strongman near Greymouth, New Zealand mine, also near Greymouth, in 42S25 / 171E18 20 I 58 1967, when 19 died in a massive

07 I ﬁreball. In the chart we also see J J 17 H 25 14 Pisces rising, with a Chiron-Saturn H h ` conjunction on the Ascendant, b 23 k K 28 H opposite an angular Urnaus-Pluto 57 28 12 17 c J 58 H K J 08 10 9 G 15 40 55 conjunction in Virgo. Amongst all 25 K d G 21 10 21 11 8 G 55 the interesting and relevant placements in this chart, note the L 12 22 7 22 24 F 15 } g position of Uranus at 24º15ʼ Virgo, L 39 F l 22 L 20 F 28 20 20 } i 20 f 25 L 1 6 F within 2.5º of the opposition to the Pike River Uranus. 29 2 5 17 A A 13 12 29 57 A a B 3 4 D E Previous to that, in 1939 at the 21 55 37} E 25 j e Glen Afton mine near Huntly, 11 B miners were asphyxiated by 17 B D 07 carbon monoxide gas produced 14 D C 25 after an electrical ﬁre broke out. In 20 C 58 this chart, as with the previous Glen Afton Mine Disaster two, we see both Pluto, lord of September 24, 1939 8:30:00 AM NZSS death, and Uranus, ruler of Huntly, New Zealand explosions and sudden 37S33 / 175E10 E 15 29 02 E occurrences, closely angular, at F E 11 F the MC and Descendant 09 G14 i D D respectively. But note the position h 57 06 ` 02 l b 23 29 E of Neptune, ruler of gases, at G c 00 F 18 F 33 18 04 G 20 D 54 C 23º20ʼ of Virgo closely connected G 57 10 59 45 11 9 C 08 with the Uranus placements in the j 8 29 G last two examples. 41 12} H 7 21 41 } g 21 H 21 B B 27 27 1 B 629 A 29 A 53 } 2 41 } f I 04 k 18 3 5 4 A I 29 18 08 08 } J K A 55 e 00 14 09 J d a A J 06 57 L K L 02 K 11 29 K 15 www.grahamibell.co.nz p.2/6 Pike River Mine Explosion

Dobson Mine Disaster As a ﬁnal example, in 1926, in the December 3, 1926 3:05:00 AM NZ Dobson coal mine also near Dobson, New Zealand 42S27 / 171E18 Greymouth, two massive

E 31 explosions engulfed the mine, 18 23 D E 53 killing 9 miners5. In this chart we 45 D 03 F F h D see Uranus at 25º32ʼ Pisces, 23 i 15 26 j almost exactly the same E 15 D 07 11 placement as in the chart of Pike 59 D C C } 10 32 G G } 25 55 11 9 } River (26º48ʼ Pisces). 8 12 To bring them all together, we 7 13 13 a 08 H 47 B have: H H B 15 55 } 04 B 39 } 15 25 H 1 28 d b H 57 A09 29 6 } l f I 43 Pike River Ura 26º48 Pis explosion `09 I 12 2 26 25 3 Strongman Ura 24º15ʼ Vir explosion 11 c 07 5 L A A I I J 4 32} }25 21 55 K g Glen Afton Nep 23º20ʼ Vir gassing k 09 03J e L L45 Dobson Ura 25º32ʼ Pis explosion 15 J 23 23 K J 53 18 K 31

This axis of 23-27º Pisces/Virgo is New Zealand September 26, 1907 closely connected with the 11:00:00 AM LMT placement of Saturn in the chart Wellington, New Zealand 41S18 / 174E47 of New Zealand6, at 23º26ʼ G00 23 17 F Pisces. According to tradition, this G 38 is the universal significator of H F H b c` 7 20 Mines and Mining and is, in the 42 16 0401 E New Zealand chart, in the 4th I G G G 38 03 04 3943 E house, the house of Mines8. This 10 I 11 29 nd 9 e D Saturn rules New Zealandʼs 2 E07 22 08 house of finances and resources, 8 12 26 } j 20 D 09 7 44 D 09 pointing to the significance of g 08 J 45 14 D h J } D mining - among other 4th house k 20 J 26 46 J J 28 1 46 d 20 624 C industries linked with the land, 48 } 2 i 29 13 such as agriculture - for its K J 31 } 3 5 22 08 C economy. You will notice Saturnʼs l 4 B 23 26 most significant aspect is a K L a 42 20 26 C square to Pluto, a planet who, like K } 03 38 f B Saturn, carries underworld L B themes. This self-destructive, 17 L A 38 A00 obsessive and extreme 23 www.grahamibell.co.nz p.3/6 Pike River Mine Explosion combination magnifies the risks to the workers (6th house) associated with mining.

Thus each of these minings disasters is associated with a transit from a major planet, by conjunction or opposition, to New Zealandʼs Saturn, shown to be strongly associated with mining.

It is also relevant to point out the placement of the ﬁxed star Alkaid (or Benetnash), a star situated on the tail of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. This was positioned at 25º37 Virgo in 1907, and is presently at 27º04 Virgo. Alkaid is considered unfortunate, associated with natural catastrophes and mourning, and, according to research and arab tradition, “... will claim human lives in calamities such as mine accidents…”9

Pike River Coal Ltd. Finally, I would like to bring in the May 18, 1982 12:00:00 AM NZT birth chart of the Pike River Coal Wellington, New Zealand 41S18 / 174E47 company, owners of the Pike River Mine. This is drawn for 22 H 04 I20 I H incorporation date and place, 27 18 g G using midnight as the default time, J h e 55 J 02 i G as is convention. Again, ignoring 26 I 02 00 I H 24 f much relevant symbolism k 54 G K 14 27 } 51 16 21 J } 10 9} 43 G (including the companyʼ Saturn 00 } 19 d F 31 } 00 }11 G 00 return in the 8th house), I wish to 8 35 F K highlight the close quincunx 12 28 7 28 between Sun and Neptune, part of K E 18 18 a Yod with Pluto. With transiting 15 1 6 11 L a E Uranus at 26º48ʼ Pisces at the L 2 5 Pike River Mine explosion, it 21 14 L 14 D A 3 4 31 00 squares the companyʼs Neptune 00 38 } E c 2226 14 j by 0º21ʼ and sextiles the B B C 00 40 D A 57 15 companyʼs Sun by 0º33ʼ. Neptune b D 18A l` not only carries the universal 55 B C C20 27 signature of gases (as well as 22 B 04 deception) but also rules the companyʼs 2nd house of financial resources and assets, where Uranus is currently transiting. Thus a sudden upset is suggested, exploding (Uranus) something insidious and inflammable (Neptune), that implicates management (Sun), and shocks its financial assets (2nd house). One might expect this accident to reveal hidden and murky levels of this company that can only seriously impinge on its share value and reputation.

www.grahamibell.co.nz p.4/6 Pike River Coal Ltd. Natal Chart May 18, 1982 12:00:00 AM NZT Pike River Mine Explosion Wellington, New Zealand Tropical Placidus

Startlingly, when we look at the local a c e space lines10 for the company you can d Porirua Nelson Wellingtonf see the companyʼs Neptune line going j Blenheim virtually directly through the Pike River i Pike River Mine Mine site, thus revealing the direction in h which company directors could have x b sought possible expression of this major transit though their companyʼs Greymouth chart11, and highlighting the likelihood ` of a cover-up (Neptune). g l

There is scope for a lot more research Christchurch and delving into these - and the many other relevant - charts, but I hope the above serves as a reminder of how sensitive mundane charts can be to transits, and as an inspiration for further studies.

My thoughts and prayers are with the miners and the families.

Postscript (at 1st December 2010) Since writing this piece, a lot has transpired in this terrible tragedy, including a second explosion at 2:37 pm on 24th November, which the miners are thought not to have survived. The chart for this had Jupiter-Uranus on the Ascendant, Mars in ﬁery Sagittarius on the MC, and Moon exactly square the 1st explosionʼs Ascendant and opposite Pluto-North Node. At the time of writing the above, I was disturbed the Moonʼs next aspect in the (1st) explosion chart, an imminent opposition to a stationary Venus, ruler of the 8th house of death, but it felt insensitive to bring that in. No doubt much will be revealed in the coming months, as an ofﬁcial enquiry is carried out; we may learn a lot through further study of the relevant charts.

Notes and references 1 Earlier reports were for an explosion “around 3:30 pm”, giving a more angular Jupiter-Uranus.

2 22nd November 2010.

3 Jupiter turned direct at 5:28 am that morning, NZST.

4 See http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/coal-and-coal-mining/7

5 See http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Photos/disc6/IMG0032.asp

6 There are several charts for New Zealand used, but the one I am referring to is what I understand to be the most sensitive chart to transits, and most descriptive of the country: 26th September 1907, 11:00am, Wellington. This was when New Zealand publicly acknowledged the UKʼs granting of Dominion Status. See Mundane Astrology by Michael Baigent, Nicholas Campion and Charles Harvey, Aquarian Press, 1984, and The Book of World Horoscopes 3rd Edition, by Nicholas Campion, Wessex Astrologer 1999. Many use a chart for midnight on the same day, but I ﬁnd this chart doesnʼt works as well.

7 See Christian Astrology, by William Lilly, 1647, reprinted in 1999, Astrology Classics, USA. www.grahamibell.co.nz p.5/6 Pike River Mine Explosion

8 See also Rex Billʼs The Rulership Book, American Federation of Astrologers, 1971.

9 See http://www.astrology-central.com/stars/Alkaid.htm

10 See Davis, Martin (1999): Astrolocality Astrology: A guide to what it is and how to use it. The Wessex Astrologer, Bournemouth, England for descriptions of using local space lines.

11 It is also highly appropriate to note the Solar Arc Pluto at 22º03ʼ Scorpio on 19th November 2010, 0º01ʼ of arc from the companyʼs MC: a public encounter with death and destructive forces. Will the company survive be able to survive this?