Dan Carter’s groin injury on Saturday during a practice session before the All Black’s game against Canada has come as devastating news to New Zealand rugby fans. The injury came only hours after it was announced that he was stepping up to replace Richie McCaw as captain for the game later that day.
This reminds me of the Sun-Uranus conjunction of the Aries Ingress chart (see here for more on this important technique) that I referred to in my previous blog entry. Given the timing mentioned there, Sun moving to perfect the conjunction with Uranus in the first week of October, I am frustrated with myself that I didn’t catch this most obvious symbolism:
Sun- the king, leadership, the hero;
Uranus- shock, revolution, unexpected radical change;
Sun-Uranus: the leader must fall.
This will be a year remembered for significant changes in leadership at every level. We have seen it - and continue to - in the politics of the Arab world, and now we see another expression of it in the sporting world. The All Black captain is replaced, only to have his replacement immediately and shockingly struck down.
Note the position of the Sun-Uranus conjunction in the Ingress’ 10th house of leadership/government/prestige, and its perfection (Sun moves to an exact conjunction with Uranus, by progression) in early October.
But what of Dan Carter’s birth chart? Here it is shown with a noon birth, in the absence of a birth time, so please ignore all house placements. You might find it intriguing to note that the man with such kicking prowess is a Piscean: Pisces rules the feet!
But continuing the Saturn theme explored in the last blog entry this period of the Cup matches sees Dan’s exact Saturn Return - precise on 23rd October, but within orb since August. Moreover, given his natal Mars-Saturn-Pluto stellium (which shows extreme force and an obsessional nature), Saturn’s transit is triggering this, and squaring the nodal axis - the very same nodal axis in New Zealand’s chart! The country’s fate is tied up with this man’s - and perhaps more than we realise.
Note also that Saturn has been passing directly over natal Mars (traditional ruler of the groin) in the last weeks of September/early October! Quite simply this can be a transit of ‘frustrated will’ or ‘constrained action’. But it remains to be seen whether he can show the extreme transformative power and indefatigable fighting spirit that’s inherent in this stellium and return from the dead... We must watch the transit of the Sun across the stellium for this (12th-20th October).
One final point. With Saturn symbolism so prevalent in all the charts examined, we should reflect a little on Saturn’s placement in Libra. It reminds me of a tough judge, a stern and controlling arbitrator of justice (and we can see one level of its expression in the self-appointed international judge-jury-policeman role taken by the USA, which has this placement in the 10th house of their birth chart).
There is a strong theme of fair play here, but also isolation or even divorce. To make the most of the present situation coach Graeme Henry and team would do well to embrace the insistence that Saturn has on restraint, playing to rule, fair and civilised conduct, taking responsibility etc., lest they come to being on the receiving end of the more punitive aspect of this most harsh of cosmic judges.
The Quarter Final game on 16th October may well be when the need for this is greatest, as this is when Sun joins Saturn in Libra (within 2º); I suspect this will be the All Black’s biggest hurdle.