Did astrologers chose wisely for a Papal Funeral or badly for a Royal Wedding?
Pope John Paul II's funeral on 8th April 2005 occurred on a solar eclipse. This was the same date selected by Prince Charles for his marriage to Camilla. Several astrologers in the Press and in news groups questioned the wisdom of selecting a solar eclipse as a marriage date. To have the Sun overshadowed by the Moon may be appropriate for the mourning of a charismatic, solar, heroic figure in the form of John Paul II. However, it doesn't seem fitting for a marriage where the man, symbolised by the Sun and the woman, represented by the Moon should be together but neither body should obscure the other.
National celebration of a marriage overshadowed by International Mourning for a Pontiff.
My take on this is that both dates, the papal funeral and the royal wedding were elected by astrologers or people aware of the significance of the celestial line-up. The reason I am certain Charles' date was elected was that in December 2004, I was commissioned to elect a chart for the launch of a business and I could only find two dates in 2005. One was the day chosen for the announcement of the engagement! The announcement went according to plan. However from that point onwards - various seemingly fated events caused havoc to plans for the wedding on the eclipse. These disruptive events seem to have symbolised the nature of the eclipse and the stressful aspects from Jupiter and Saturn. Problems included ruling out Windsor Castle as the venue and then the presence of the Queen at the ceremony in a local town hall. Eventually the whole event was overshadowed by the funeral of the Pope and had to be changed. It was reported that there was much royal disappointment when Tony Blair declared that he would attend the Pope's funeral before the announcement that the wedding date would be changed. Here the Prime Minister allowed his personal Roman Catholic sentiments (the Moon) to eclipse loyalty to his Monarch (the Sun).
Was Charles served well by his astrologer?
I am going to assume that Charles received astrological advice. I believe there was sound advice for the date of the announcement, but the wedding date was poorly chosen in a number of ways - suggesting an inexperienced or unschooled astrologer. For example, I don't believe a diploma holder from the London Faculty of Astrology would make that kind of error of judgement. Most of the time astrologers are given a narrow range within which they must elect a date while taking account of the charts of the individuals involved. There is never a correct answer. It is usually the best of a bad bunch of options and often they will advise the client of the limitations of the date.
Rules for Election:
I use a number of simple rules for electing a launch date.
Avoid hard aspects (squares and oppositions) between the inner personal planets and the outer planets. Whether it is a business launch or a wedding day, these aspects tend to bring complex, sometimes intractable and seemingly fated issues.
Give preference to a harmonious Sun/Moon relationship especially a new moon.
Though I favour conjunctions and trines in the elected chart, I think some hard aspects between inner planets is positive. This creates what I would consider some healthy stress because it is stimulating and can be easily recognised and dealt with.
Strangely, the elected wedding date conformed to all those rules. However, the choice of the eclipse may not have been ideal for a wedding and I would always be happy to provide HRH with professional astrological counsel.
Was an Irish mystic, St. Malachy able to prophecy the sequence of 112 Popes in 1140?
Was it significant that Malachy's motto for Pope John Paul II was 'De Labore Solis' from the toils of the Sun, his life was punctuated by solar eclipses?
Pope John Paul II's funeral on 8th April 2005 occurred on a solar eclipse. This was the same date selected by Prince Charles for his marriage to Camilla. Several astrologers in the Press and in news groups questioned the wisdom of selecting a solar eclipse as a marriage date. To have the Sun overshadowed by the Moon may be appropriate for the mourning of a charismatic, solar, heroic figure in the form of John Paul II. However, it doesn't seem fitting for a marriage where the man, symbolised by the Sun and the woman, represented by the Moon should be together but neither body should obscure the other.
The announcement went according to plan. However from that point onwards - various seemingly fated events caused havoc to plans for the wedding on the eclipse. These disruptive events seem to have symbolised the nature of the eclipse and the stressful aspects from Jupiter and Saturn. Problems included ruling out Windsor Castle as the venue and then the presence of the Queen at the ceremony in a local town hall. Eventually the whole event was overshadowed by the funeral of the Pope and had to be changed. It was reported that there was much royal disappointment when Tony Blair declared that he would attend the Pope's funeral before the announcement that the wedding date would be changed. Here the Prime Minister allowed his personal Roman Catholic sentiments (the Moon) to eclipse loyalty to his Monarch (the Sun).
