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Whilst astrological tradition has handed down the above
rulerships to us, it is not known on what basis they are calculated. When doing
some research, I battled to find a definitive birth chart for London because
London has had such a long and colourful history that there is confusion over
what date to use as the city’s ‘Time of Birth’.
One suggestion offered is the London Charter of October 1191
which saw the formation of the ‘commune of London’, the forerunner to the
Corporation of London, but I cannot find proper historical verification for this
date.
The Cities of
London and Westminster were formally incorporated, along with Middlesex, into
the Greater London Authority in April 1965.
This brings together all the boroughs, towns and local
authorities together into what we currently refer to as Greater London. In terms
of ‘birth time’, this might be a better place to start.
This ‘amalgamated’ chart, which has a ‘birth time’ of
midnight, 1 April 1965, gives London an Ascendant of 29 degrees Scorpio (using
the Placidus House system) with the Sun, Moon and Venus in Aries and Mars,
Uranus, Pluto and the Midheaven in Virgo. Scorpio rising points to London as a place of ‘Saints &
Sinners’. On the one hand, it is the scene of Jack the Ripper’s gruesome murders
and the social excesses of Soho.
It is also the birth place of various secret occult societies,
such as like the Order of the Golden Dawn, once located in Charlotte Street, and
the Royal Academy., which was, in Isaac Newton’s day, a society for esoteric
initiates. Many a practitioner of the ‘dark arts’ such as John Dee and Aleister
Crowley have lived here at one time or another too.
On the other hand, it is home to Temple Church, St Paul’s
Cathedral and St Bartholomew’s of Smithfield - a place of pilgrimage in the
twelfth century and, according to Peter Ackroyd’s
London,
the site of many miracles. London is also home to Westminster Abbey, where the
sainted king, Edward the Confessor, and many other bishops and religious leaders
are buried.
Scorpio rising also represents secret corridors of power &
large corporations. Many a plot to overthrow kings and governments has been
hatched here and ended in the Tower of London - used to incarcerate all of
England’s traitors and enemies. It is the headquarters of many large
conglomerates and financial institutions, as well as MI5, Scotland Yard and
Parliament.
The Midheaven (ambition & aspirations) Mars and Pluto, all in
Virgo highlights the workaholism of many Londoners whose good salaries, flashy
lifestyles and expensive properties come at a price! The downside of such a
competitive environment is a lot of stress and worry which may manifest in
stomach complaints and nervous disorders.
Virgo rules precision, making London a haven for engineers,
mechanics, and any profession that demands specialist or highly technical
skills. The sun, moon and Venus in Aries, points to assertive,
independent inhabitants who are open to people of all walks of life, make
decisions quickly (sometimes impulsively) and who don’t suffer fools gladly. It
may explain the brashness of Londoners and why visitors to the city often
consider locals to be rude, abrupt and aggressive.
Venus and the Moon in the 4th
house, of home and values show that Londoners like to impress through
extravagant displays of wealth, especially beautiful homes, clothes and artwork.
Finally, this chart for London has Neptune in Scorpio, a
strong placing because Scorpio is also rising. Neptune, the planet of
imagination, dreams and the unconscious, when placed in powerfully
transformative Scorpio, differentiates London as a place where hidden emotional
drives and undercurrents continually seep to the surface. Here people are forced
to confront their attitudes towards matters like death, destruction, art and
music as well as their shared hopes and fears.
This makes London the perfect
environment for instigating sweeping collective change and could explain why it
is a magnet for political activists and a target for terrorism, something
Londoners are all too familiar with.
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