The Mystery of 27
© 2013 Curtis Manwaring
This is a strange personal anecdote that began in early 2010 after looking at a chart noting that I had just entered a Capricorn sub period for fortune (within a Scorpio 15 year general period) in the Hellenistic time lord procedure known as zodiacal releasing (or zodiacal aphesis). Some astrologers look at charts completely analytically and have a scholastic approach; others approach the subject more intuitively, but for me it has always been a mix of both. I have deliberately cultivated an analytical logical approach because I wanted something rational to verify what my intuition has been seeing for decades. The following chart I knew was important in the back of my mind the first time I saw it, but at the time I wasn't sure what exactly would manifest. It was a chart that I had been looking at for approximately 18 months (for at least once a week) up until about a week before the actual event:
The most significant part of this chart is the loosing of the bond from Capricorn to Cancer (what Valens calls darkness to light). In such a period the Moon becomes activated as a time lord so one should look at the position of the natal Moon and transiting Moon. What is striking about this chart is the Moon at 27 Leo, which happens to be where my natal North Node and Fortune is to the degree. Also Uranus is not far off at 25 Leo.
As usual, the closer the time came to being, the less struck I was by what it was saying. This is particularly the case because the procedure itself should be recognized as a process and is not about seeking "hits", but in this one particular case, there would be an actual hit in more ways than one. Following the rules for zodiacal releasing, Valens says that fortune pertains to that which befalls the individual and shows such things as health (things that befall the body such as illness, injury or robustness of health), happiness (or lack thereof), finances, and general luck (tuche in Greek). [1] On a metaphysical level, it may represent that which is the unintended consequences of our actions or "karma". It is the "yin" result of a "yang" action in our lives. The above graphic shows shaded areas in the wheel that represent current time lords or active periods. The Capricorn level 2 period flanked on either side by the Moon glyph representing the loosing of the bond, follows what Valens says that after the loosing of the bond, the planet ruling the opposite sign distributes the remaining times. There is some controversy on this subject of where the loosing of the bond fits within the more general times since Capricorn, Aquarius, Virgo, Gemini, Leo and Cancer all have periods longer than 17 years and 10 months. This being the case, why have 30 year periods for Aquarius, 27 for Capricorn, etc; is it no longer an Aquarius period if the planet ruling the opposite sign takes over the distribution? I personally think that the proper way to think of this is that the subject matter is still about the "Aquarius" period (or any other) but that a development takes place that changes the nature of that subject for the remaining times after the loosing of the bond.
On the morning of the 31th of July 2011 I was in the Black Hills of South Dakota having spent another night sleeping at a rest stop on a several day long trip that started on the east coast and was meant to end in the Seattle area. I felt unusually well "centered" and "contented" which by experience I usually feel right before something dramatic is about to happen that usually disturbs that equilibrium. Noting that, I started the long drive into Wyoming and up through Sheridan into Montana on I-90. While driving near Billings, MT I was listening to a radio show on the "27 club" which was on air because Amy Winehouse had recently died. The show brought up the strange coincidence about a number of other musicians who had also died at 27 and they wondered if there was some curse involved. It occurred to me that what was probably going on was that most of these musicians probably had fortune in Scorpio, Capricorn or Pisces and that some malefic configuration existed in either Capricorn, Aquarius or Taurus. The reason is that Scorpio (15) and Sagittarius (12) complete in 27 years and Capricorn then has the times. Also Capricorn itself is 27 years which then goes to Aquarius, or Pisces (12) and Aries (15) also comes to 27 and then begins Taurus. Not having their charts handy I kept driving making a mental note that I should check up on some of those cases.
By this time (early afternoon) it was getting pretty hot (about 100F) but I kept driving with a couple of rest stops and a few hours later stopped for gas at a Sinclair station a little after 4 pm in Bozeman, MT. I went into the station to prepay and the lady at the counter (a little heavy set, middle aged and very jovial) was in a very "up" mood saying there was no need to prepay and I said that this was the first station since NY that didn't require prepay. Then she said "Guess what - what's even cooler than that is you'll get cash back". So after pumping gas she said "you get 27 cents back" and asked "Are you excited?" And I just kind of shruged my shoulders, then she said "You better watch out because that 27 cents will get you." At first I wasn't quite paying attention but a few steps after I walked out the door I remembered what was on that radio show about the "27 club". Still I didn't really take the warning all that seriously and continued driving toward Missoula where I finally stopped for dinner and called Stacy saying that I would probably be in Seattle tomorrow afternoon. By this time it was just past sunset in Missoula and I decided to go a little farther before settling in for the night. Also this was one of those times when I happened to be driving well below the speed limit (about 65 mph in a 75 mph zone). I was just getting to the western outskirts of town when I saw a deer in the road and slammed on the brakes and turned right to the shoulder. I managed to miss the first one but there was another one following that jumped over the guard rail and went head first into the headlight on the passenger side. I think I was down to about 25 - 30 mph on impact and there was only minor damage (the headlight and fog light on the right side were blown), but unfortunately the deer died.
I spent a few minutes checking the vehicle over and then looked at my watch and noted that it was 9:48 pm so I estimated that the accident was at about 9:43 pm. I figured I could still drive on one headlight up to another exit and ended up off the highway near a railroad track at Cyr, MT after about another half hour of driving. I passed up Frenchtown and kept driving because it looked too busy and was not rural enough. Once settled in by the side of the road a quarter mile off the highway, I decided to check the chart and entered in Missoula, MT noting that the accident was approximately midway between Frenchtown and downtown Missoula. I used Missoula latitude and longitude from my atlas but didn't notice that the coordinates were for Mount Missoula itself which is just southeast of Missoula. When I saw 27 Aquarius rising and the Moon at 27 Leo I was astonished, but while writing this I discovered that the coordinates were slightly off (coordinates edited to be closer to where the accident actually happened). The chart for the accident is below:
Since I was driving west to northwest, if I could have seen past the mountains, the crescent Moon would have been right behind those deer just above the horizon (a phasis in the most literal sense). What is notable about this chart is that this is the same chart that I had been looking at for 18 months! In regards to the Moon, 27 is also a special number which happens to be the number of lunar mansions (or the nakshatra's). Note the ruler (Saturn) in Libra in the 9th house topically or 8th dynamically (long distance travel / death). Saturn represents the agnoia of encountering something unexpected (fortune was in Aquarius). Transiting Mars was conjunct my natal lot of accusation to the degree (Rob Hand calls this the "lot of bad things" because this Mars/Saturn lot goes by a number of other names, such as injury, exile/travel, pain, etc.). I did a search to see what the meaning of Missoula was and found this statement on the Missoulan: "There are at least half a dozen interpretations on record, the most viable referring to something chilling or ominous that waits in the canyon above town".
Notes:
1. The Anthology, by Vettius Valens. Book I, part 1. pg 30, also Book IV, pg 11. Translated by Robert Schmidt © 1997. Published by The Golden Hind Press.
