Australian Flag
The Australian state of Queensland (QLD) has been hit by record flooding since Christmas, when tropical cyclone Tasha hit the coast on December 24 2010 near Cairns. The rain has continued, and flooding has affected a massive are of this large state. The situation escalated rapidly with flash flooding in Toowoomba on January 10 2011, and the Brisbane river is now spilling over in the state capital, home to over 2 million people. At least 10 lives have been lost with 80 still missing. This is the worst flooding in Australian history.
The obvious place to look for some astrological explanation is the December 2011 Lunar Eclipse because it came just 3 days before the flooding started. I believed this eclipse would be significant for Australia, because it was conjunct a very sensitive point in the Federation horoscope for Australia. The tightest aspect in this Australia horoscope is Mercury opposite Neptune (24′). Neptune is conjunct the fixed star Betelgeuse, the same star triggered by the December 2010 lunar eclipse.
Australia Astrology Chart
I was not sure what this aspect would mean for Australia, Mercury and Chiron opposite Neptune, but with hindsight, associating flooding waters with Neptune in this challenging aspect seems reasonable. Even transiting Neptune is aspecting this setup, trine to the Australian Neptune now. The rapid escalation of the crisis can be seen with transiting Uranus square the Australian Neptune, not exact till February 23. Jupiter is also square this Neptune, exact on January 17.
Australia Astrology Chart
As I wrote in the January Forecast, I wasn’t expecting the Jupiter Uranus conjunction to cause the devastating flooding associated with the previous conjunctions, which we saw in China, Pakistan and elsewhere. This was because this January conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus was not on the star Scheat, like the other ones were. Well now Jupiter and Uranus are again closing in on Scheat, the star of catastrophic flooding. Jupiter is now within orb, and hits exact on January 20, square the Neptune in the Australian horoscope. This is the worst flooding in Australian history, and Australia is the “land of flooding rains“. I’m thinking that this sensitive Neptune, opposite Mercury and Chiron is to blame, especially now realizing that this Neptune is activated by the December eclipse, and square Scheat, which is being activated by Jupiter and soon Uranus.
Fellow Aussie astrologer Alice Portman has researched these floods, and also points the finger at the December lunar eclipse, though for different reasons than I have found. Alice used the horoscope for QLD and noticed that the December lunar eclipse was conjunct Mars and Jupiter in the QLD chart. Wow! That singles out QLD for special attention, it has both Mars and Jupiter on the fixed star Betelgeuse in the Orion Constellation, on the Australian Neptune. What I found particularly interesting in her article, Queensland Floods, was the horoscope for the 1974 Brisbane flood, the previous record flooding event. Saturn in that chart is conjunct the fixed star Betelgeuse, on the Australian Neptune, the QLD Mars Jupiter.
The one thing I see repeated here is Betelgeuse, the sensitive point in the Australia horoscope because of Neptune, opposite Mercury and Chiron. Saturn was there in the 1974 flood, QLD has Mars and Jupiter there, and this was triggered by the December 2010 lunar eclipse, three days before the flooding started. These connections are only obvious when we make the fixed stars the reference, not the degrees of the tropical zodiac. You especially notice this when comparing current events to much older charts, like the Australian horoscope for Federation. Precession correction means that Neptune in that chart (27°30′ Gemini), is now 29°02 Gemini, just 19′ from the December 2010 lunar eclipse.
Australian Astrology Chart Data
“On January 1st 1901 the Australian Federations investiture was in acted with the Swearing In of the First Governor General Lord Hopetoun. This took place in Centennial Park and was investigated and Timed by the Late Gwen Stony. The time Gwen and her assistant Tex Cox produced through their vigorous investigation was 13:35:42 AEST, Sydney.” Astrological Forecast Australia 2013