On Sunday, 26 December, 2004, a powerful earthquake shook the floor of the Indian Ocean, sending a devastating tsunami, or tidal wave, crashing into coastlines from Southeast Asia to Africa. More than 225,000 people lost their lives, with the final numbers still undetermined. The region is facing billions of dollars in reconstruction costs, devastation to local communities, and the incipient dangers of disease for the survivors. Incredibly, a similarly strong earthquake had shaken the ground below Iran one year before to the day, within the hour, causing the destruction of the ancient city of Bam and the loss of 26,000 lives.

At 9.0 on the Richter scale, the quake, which was centered roughly 150 miles south southeast of Indonesia’s strife-torn Banda Aceh province in Sumatra, was the fourth largest on record, created by a sudden shift due to built-up pressures in the interface between the India and Burma plates. The quake occurred at 7:58 AM local time (0:58 AM UT).
The chart for the quake shows an appropriately earth-shaking Capricorn rising, with Chiron conjoined the Ascendant and opposed Saturn conjoined the Descendant. Pluto at 22 Sagittarius is also exactly semisextile and inconjunct the horizontal axis. Black Hole Pele, a goddess image evoking the incredible destructive power of the earth, closely conjoins the 27 Libra Midheaven, while Black Holes Kore and Persephone, representative of rebirth and rejuvenation, lie directly atop the Nadir. The destruction is apparent for all to see; the renewal will take awhile, but will ultimately be just as dramatic. The Sun is conjoined Black Hole Durga at 5 Capricorn.

There are interesting minor celestial markers as well. Atlantis, that flooded ancient civilization whose resonance with this disaster is obvious, lies at 14 Scorpio in tight square to Neptune, planet of the sea, at 13 Aquarius, which is itself on a Black Hole and conjoined by Siva (Shiva), Durga’s husband. These form a dramatic T-Square with an Arabic Part, the Part of Fatality, at 12 Leo, itself conjunct a powder-keg Maser at 13 Leo. Maser energy is linked with random violence and devastation. The Part of Catastrophe at 21 Pisces is tightly squared Pluto, indicating the immense scope of the disaster. The Part of Danger or Peril at 1 Cancer is opposed Sun/Durga.

The Sun at 4 Capricorn was just entering its yearly conjunction with Black Hole Durga, currently at 5 Capricorn in the sky, but at 4 in the charts of most of the victims (the transition from 4 to 5 took place in approximately 1992). Durga’s mythology is also appropriate to these tragic circumstances. Known as "the Unattainable," Durga’s Sanskrit root translates literally as "she who is incomprehensible or difficult to reach," a name borne out both by the completely incomprehensible nature and scope of the devastation and loss, and by the fact that some of the worst affected areas are so remote that there has still been only air reconnaissance, weeks after the tragedy. Some of these towns have been completely destroyed to their foundations, and their inhabitants estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000, which could boost the total loss of life from this single event to nearly a half million souls.

Durga is the strongest image of destructive female power in the Hindu pantheon. Created in a blinding supernova of light from the merged shaktis, or feminine powers, of the Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, Durga’s raison d’etre was the destruction of Mahishasura and his demon hordes, who threatened the god’s very existence. The Great Demon had been granted a boon by Shiva, in honor of his long years of devotion and penance, that he could never be killed by a man. Under his subsequent leadership, the asuras, a demon race whose exaggerated ego-sense was destroying the balance of the universe, defeated the gods and ousted them from heaven.

Desperate to overcome their adversary, but inhibited by Shiva’s grant to Mahishasura, the male gods merged their shaktis to create the most powerful symbol of female dynamism ever conceived, representative of the infinite power of the universe. The earth trembled and the seas shook when she joined battle with the demons, whom she eventually overthrew. Her worship has endured for millennia, and the Durga Puja is still the most important Bengali festival.

Many of the nations most strongly affected show strong ties to Black Hole Durga, particularly India and Sri Lanka, the centers of her current worship. India (1.26.50), with 14,000+ deaths, shows a 1 Cancer Uranus, opposed Sun/Durga, and a 9 Libra Mars, in square. India’s exact Sun/Moon natal square from 5 Aquarius to 5 Taurus lies in semisextile and trine to Durga.

Sri Lanka (5.22.72), with 40,000+ deaths, has Venus at 4 Cancer and Mars at 6 Cancer tightly opposed Sun/Durga, with a natal Moon/Pluto conjunction at 26/29 Virgo square the quake Pluto at 22 Sagittarius.

Indonesia, the tsunami’s "birthplace," incredibly sports a 5 Capricorn Sun, exactly conjunct Durga, with Uranus at 2 Cancer in opposition, Mars at 0 Libra in square, and the Moon at 6 Aries also in square. This Galactic Grand Cross easily represents the incredible death and devastation (Mars) unleashed on the population (Moon) with such unexpected (Uranus) fury. As may be surmised from the powerful conjunction of Suns, Indonesia’s death toll is by far the largest, with at least 166,000 dead.

Thailand (6.24.32) has the Sun at 2 Cancer in tight opposition to Sun/Durga, with Venus at 10 Cancer moving out of orb. They experienced the least loss of life, an estimated 11,000.

Disaster of a different sort overtook the US on 6 January, with the congressional certification of the fraudulent 2 November vote. But it was not to go unchallenged this year, unlike 2000, thanks to the Boxer Rebellion.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) was persuaded to join Ohio Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones’ objection to the certification of Ohio’s electors, a condition required for the objection to be heard. At least one member of each House must object for debate to be held; if one Senator had possessed the guts to do this in 2000, we might not be in the mess we are right now.

The Republican majorities of 2004 ensured that this would be no more than a pro forma objection. After the Constitutionally-prescribed two-hour debate and a vote to certify the Ohio electors, the Bush junta rolled on to a second stolen term. But at least their ‘victory’ has been officially disputed, and goes down in history as the only electoral challenge since 1877.

The sky that day was certainly combative, when viewed with the charts of Dubya and the nation. Mars at 7 Sagittarius opposed the nation’s Uranus at 8 Gemini, and squared Bush’s Black Hole Mars at 9 Virgo, creating a tense T-Square of energies. Pluto conjunct Mercury at 22 and 24 Sagittarius, highlighting secrecy and subterfuge with the electorate, squared the nation’s Neptune at 22 Virgo, pointing out the deception and fraud. Saturn at 24 Cancer was an exact match for the nation’s retrograde Mercury, and also conjunct Dubya’s 26 Cancer Saturn, disputing his authority and both the accuracy and integrity of the vote itself, and indicating the widespread, rampant suppression of the electorate. The Sun for the certification at 15 Capricorn opposed both the USA and Bush’s Suns, each at 13 Cancer. But Georgie-porgie pulled it out, helped doubtless by Jupiter that day at 17 Libra, returning to its natal position in his chart at 18 Libra, also conjunct Dubya’s Moon and Chiron at 15/16 Libra.

Both Boxer and Tubbs Jones have strong connections to the USA and Bush charts as well, particularly Tubbs Jones, who spearheaded the opposition.

Barbara Boxer’s (11.11.40) own Neptune at 27 Virgo conjoins the USA’s Neptune at 22; she can be expected, therefore, to be more sensitive to and aware of the patterns of electoral fraud in Ohio and nationally, and more amenable to pointing them out. Her Venus at 11 Libra conjoins the nation’s Saturn at 14 and Black Hole Nemesis at 13, the lone woman in the Senate opposing the hijacking of the presidency. Her Mars at 23 Libra is squared the USA Mercury at 24 Cancer and Bush’s Saturn at 26, while her Uranus at 24 Taurus is sextile; fighting the good fight (Mars) against Dubya’s suppression (Saturn) of the vote (Mercury) via high tech (Uranus) means. Boxer’s Pluto at 4 Leo retrograde conjoins Dubya’s Mercury/Pluto/Black Hole conjunction at 9/10 Leo, while her Jupiter/Saturn conjunction at 9/10 Taurus exactly squares it.

Tubbs Jones’ contacts are even more striking.

Born 10 September 1949, there is nary a chart point without some connection to the USA or George W. Bush. The Sun at 17 Virgo is within orb of both the USA Neptune at 22 Virgo and Bush’s Mars at 9 Virgo, which is also tightly conjoined by her natal Saturn at 10 Virgo. Tubbs Jones’ natal Mercury/Neptune conjunction at 13 Libra is exactly conjunct Black Hole Nemesis and conjoined the USA Saturn at 14 Libra, and Dubya’s Chiron/Moon at 15/16 Libra, and exactly squared his and the nation’s Suns at 13 Cancer. Again, Mercury/Neptune is a perfect qualifier for nosing out electoral fraud, specifically regarding the presidency (USA Saturn) and George W. Bush himself (his Sun).

Her Venus at 24 Libra exactly squares the USA Mercury and is within orb of square to Bush’s 26 Cancer Saturn, which is also conjoined by her Mars at 1 Leo, itself within orb of Dubya’s 7 Leo Ascendant. Her 4 Sagittarius Chiron (exactly on Black Hole Isis) conjoins the nation’s 8 Sagittarius Ascendant, her 4 Cancer Uranus (exactly on Black Hole Parvati) conjoins the USA Venus and Jupiter at 3 and 5 Cancer, and her 17 Leo Pluto conjoins Dubya’s Venus at 21 Leo. Tubbs Jones’ natal Jupiter at 22 Capricorn retrograde is exactly trine the USA Neptune. A more formidable presence would be hard to find. Although her efforts were moot, she has succeeded in registering the first presidential electoral challenge in more than a century and a quarter.

She, Senator Boxer, and the 30 additional House Representatives who signed on to the objection, deserve our praise and support for their attempted defense of a democracy in serious disarray.