Hawaii is facing the largest natural disaster in recent times as Hurricane Dora fuelled wildfires which have left 53 dead so far and 1000 missing. Tourists were forced to jump into the sea and tread water for hours.
The recent Aries Solar Eclipse conjunct Jupiter is sitting on the Descendant axis located to Hawaii. Planets close to the axis usually suggest a country in line for a crisis of sorts and while Jupiter is traditionally regarded as benign if not lucky, it often appears around disaster events.
In negative mode Jupiter leads to intemperance and over abundance, an over-the-top excessiveness which knows no limits. In mythology Zeus, usually aligned with Jupiter, is known for his powerful temper. When angry, he became destructive, hurling lightning bolts with such ferocity that they caused violent storms, wreaking havoc across the earth. Jupiter was close to the Midheaven from the 9th when 9/11 started and close to the USA Cancer Sun as well.
Hawaii became a USA state on 21 August 1959 at 10.10am Honolulu which gives a 29 degree Libra Ascendant, exactly the same as the April Eclipse New Moon. So significant changes to its image were to be expected.
Previous Hawaii history is chequered although 11 June 1810 is a key marker as is the constitution of 6 July 1887, which did hand power to some westerners but also stripped the monarch of his absolute powers.
All three charts have prominent Jupiters – the 1957 chart with a Leo Sun square Jupiter. The 1810 chart has Jupiter opposition Uranus, which has moved by Solar Arc to have SA Jupiter square Pluto this year and oppose Sun Mars in the next three/four years. The 1887 chart has Jupiter in Libra square Saturn and trine Mars sextile Venus – and its Jupiter was triggered by the recent Aries Eclipse.
Jupiter could also point to Hawaii’s sun-drenched, sociable, laid-back image as a tourist destination.
But it is clearly susceptible to excess running rampant as well.
On the 1959 state chart the next two to four years look tricky as Hawaii faces a mammoth reconstruction effort. Tr Saturn opposes the Pluto this year and Venus Mars in 2024. With uncertainty in 2025 as tr Neptune Saturn squares the Saturn and tr Uranus squares the Sun for forced changes.
The combination of drought and hurricane force winds is lethal.
There was no drought nor was there hurricane force winds responsible for this fire. The island had a VERY wet winter which led to a very high and lush grass growth, followed by a dry spring and summer. The grasses were abundant AND dry by mid August. There were strong winds (not hurricane force) and those strong winds toppled an electrical line and that caused an ignition. The entire west coast of the U.S. has wind warning systems in place and the authorities shut off electricity when the winds get too high in areas with a lot of dry grasses or dry vegetation. Hawaii is and has always been way behind the mainland in every aspect. I have family from Hawaii and they left the island because of its antiquated infrastructure. The authorities failed miserably in this situation. It was 100% preventable.
Brigitte, not quite that simple. Causes are multiple and not all blame should be placed at the feet of ‘the authorities’. Bottom line, so sadly, it turned out to be the ‘perfect storm’. I lived in Hawaii for 33yrs, mostly on the big island, but have spent much time on Maui; my sister-in-law still lives there. My old boat was in the harbor. Antiquated infrastructure by mainland standards, perhaps in your view, but the essence of the islands are being destroyed by new development – turning once rural areas to urban, and concurrently putting extra demand on the island’s limited water sources. What are now dry grass areas, used to be planted with green sugar cane, then the mills closed down because they could not compete with mainland subsidized sugar beet in the southern states. Land was sold off for more subdivisions, the rest left fallow for the time being. But before that, the land was covered with sandalwood trees, chopped down and sold in the 1800’s. Biggest issue is that years ago the utility overhead lines should have been replaced and put underground – but the massive cost to do that would have cut into shareholder profits. Nothing to do with ‘authorities’. All power was not cut in this case because the firefighters needed water, and the water supply needed power for the pumping stations. Fire could not be fought from the air with seawater bucket drops on that first day because of the very severe wind gusts. Complaints have been laid that the warning sirens did not go off – siren system was designed to be activated statewide for tsunami or air attack and sirens have 2 different sounds for 2 different types of evacuation scenarios. Why sound a tsunami warning when the ocean turned out to be the only escape for some? I went thru many fires in a rural area on the big island during the 70’s, that were very hard to manage. Much more difficult now with so many more homes having been developed. The blame game contributes nothing towards recovery solutions and immediate support for the survivors. Hawaii Community Foundation Maui Strong is one place to help https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong
MTG has the true root cause: space lasers.
It looks like the Banyan tree is still standing. That must be of some solace to the the people of Maui. Maui is a magical place. Sad to see the loss of life and the ashes.
The Hawaii statehood chart (21 August 1959 at 10:10) is currently undergoing its Mars return.
At the moment of the Full moon on Aug 1st 2023, transiting Mars, conjunct the Hawaii state chart Venus, was on the horizon, rising over Lahaina.
Mars rules fire.
It feels like we will look back at Uranus in Taurus as when we woke up to the volatility of climate change. Maybe Uranus in Gemini will bring the bright thinking that sees useful action, maybe at the local/community level initially. With Pluto in Aquarius doing the ‘big work’. Optimistic perhaps.
I think you are bang on, Louisa. Uranus has woken us up to the plight of Mother Earth. Here’s hoping the Pluto-Uranus trine which will focus on Saturn-Neptune at its apex will find innovative ways to reduce our fossil fuel use (Saturn = reduction, Neptune = fossil fuels) so that we can start to turn this ship around.
Thank you Marjorie. Slightly off topic, yet it is interesting that since the April Eclipse, there has been so many weather related fires in parched counties. Whilst others have been cool. Pluto is sitting in the April Eclipse’s 4th house, with Jupiter on the cusp of the Descendant/ 7th house Relationships opposite the Part of Fortune. The 4th house is associated with home and families. So many families have lost their homes, with, sadly a high number of deaths in Hawaii. The correlation between the Moon/Sun is so fascinating. The Moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth, creates high tides, what really happens when there is a Solar eclipse? Could it affect the Sun/Moon “pulling power” as its strength is doubled. Could this put into effect extreme weather patterns? Perhaps the Eclipses have a bearing on the Jet Stream too? It is all about cause and effect, like the Planets positive and negatives. How much do the planets really affect the Earths weather.
Dont know if it would also be relevant, and I havnt been able to find an exact date yet, but the town of Lahaina became capital of the kingdom of hawaii in 1802, and remained so until moved to honolulu in 1845.