THE HARMONIC CONCORDANCE
“The Chart Heard ’round the World”
Johnny Mirehiel (© 1998)
The total lunar eclipse of November 8/91, 2003 reveals a moment in time with echoes that are at least as provocative as the August, ’99 Solar Eclipse and potentially more potent than the “cosmic stampede” in Taurus in May of 2000, or of any of a host of other “important” dates projected for 2003. Here, it is our wish to present the astrological indices in The Harmonic Concordance chart of that date, to suggest some possible interpretations as to its meaning, and to provide a forum for the dissemination of information and opinions on its import.
The Discovery
According to NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center, on the evening of August 27th, 1998, a “Magnetar,” a super dense neutron star some 26,000 light years away from us, imploded. A burst of gamma waves (called gamma rays at the time) from the Magnetar SGR 1900+14 struck the Earth’s ionosphere while the west coast was in nighttime and the east coast was in daylight. The pulse of gamma rays lasted about 5 minutes, during which it released the energy that is equivalent to that which would be emitted by the Sun in 300,000 years. That burst of energy had the effect of suppressing the level of the Earth’s nighttime ionosphere down to a day-like level above the roughly 4,000-mile slice of the planet which was exposed to the Magnetar’s emissions. Radio transmissions were seriously affected, and many orbital satellites even went into their fail-safe modes, shutting down in order to protect their sensitive instrumentation. In radio astronomy, it was a very big deal.
Umran Inan, an internationally respected Astronomer from Stanford University, was quoted as saying, “It is extremely rare for an event occurring outside the solar system to have any measurable effect on the Earth.”
Unaware of this event (indeed, the general public wasn’t informed of it until some 5 weeks after the fact), on the morning of August 28th, I sat at my computer and began “surfing the future.” One of the several astrological programs that I have (Astrolog, V. 5.3) allows me to see the planetary aspects as they form, from day to day, via its programmable animation function. I have no recall of why I had chosen the year 2003, but I was looking for a specific planetary aspect pattern that astrologer Michael Erlewine had dubbed the “Mystic Rectangle.” What caught my attention, as I bounced back in forth in Time that day, was the formation of several of those patterns. Then, out of the blackness so to speak, this startling chart appeared, in living color.
I have been studying it ever since, and have taken the liberty of calling it The Harmonic Concordance.* For those of you who have some astrological software, the pertinent data is as follows:
Date: 11/8/2003,1
Time: 08:12:41 EST,
Place: Middle Island, NY
(Although any place will do if the time is set to the moment of the eclipse,
a 6° orb is allowed for the Lights, and Chiron is used as a planet.)
I had set the chart on Long Island, New York, because that is where I lived at the discovery moment. As such, it is an appropriate chart of its “birth.” The fact, however, remains that, since the Grand Sextile pattern (one of the chart’s three distinctive signatures) appears among the planets only, the Tropical Zodiac is used, and the time is set for the exact moment of the total Lunar Eclipse, the chart can be erected for virtually any location on the face of the Earth, in any house system, and the pattern will remain the same.
Basic Chart Highlights
This most hopeful planetary alignment is a moment of rare beauty, astrologically. I know the immediate impact that it had on me, and I have seen that impact repeated in the recognition on the faces of countless others. Knowing anything at all about astrology, one cannot but be impressed. Even non-astrologers notice the symmetry and three patterns in the chart that are its unique hallmark.
You will no doubt note that I have used Chiron as a planet. I have done so because I have seen it work, consistently and with the legitimate energy of a planet, in many hundreds of charts. Were you to ignore it, the pattern would not emerge. Using Chiron completes the Grand Sextile, and its significance as the “rainbow bridge between the inner and outer planets,” thus it comes into high focus.
The hexagonal outer frame of the chart is called a Grand Sextile. However, this pattern, in the compatible, feminine Earth and Water signs, is very rare, and this one is especially unique, since its widest orb is just some five and a half degrees (for the Sun and Moon) among all the planets, and it includes a Total Lunar eclipse.
Briefly, the Grand Sextile pattern in astrology signifies the mutual and unobstructed flow of energy between six planets through a sequence of sextile (60°) aspects.2 Add to that, the flow of energy that each of the six main planets in the configuration receives from two other trining planets, and one may see that the path of that flow between and among those six planets is wide open. This effect is only enhanced by the aforementioned tight aspect orbs among the planets. In essence, this energy flow creates a very powerful vortex, the exact likes of which does not occurred in the 6,000 year span between 2000 BCE and 4000 CE that I have personally researched so far, and perhaps a good deal longer.3
Aside from the phenomena of the Grand Sextile, the planetary energies present at each of the pattern’s six “stations” could be a very appropriate for a moment that would carry the astrological signature of the Ascension. Consider the qualities of the planets – as they are represented through the metaphors of astrology:
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The Sun |
the primal energy; the cause for being; masculine in nature; the basic will and vitality that inspires life; our creativity and conscious aim; that which expresses the best of who we are, |
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The Moon |
the archetypical feminine; the mother; the personal subconscious mind, memory, and imagination; the tidal ebb and flow of emotion; the avenues of habit and instinct; the shelter of home, |
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Jupiter |
the king of the gods; beneficence, good fortune, and expansion; the publication of ideals; the higher mind, wisdom, and enthusiasm; generosity, optimism and increase on all levels, |
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Mars |
the courage, desire, energy and willingness to act; the stimulation of passion; the ability to be the spiritual warrior, |
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Saturn |
the physical bones of the Earth and our bodies; the disciplinarian and ‘tester’ of our metal; the limitations of the physical; endurance, perseverance, and stability, and finally, |
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Chiron |
the crystal rainbow bridge between physicality and spirit, the inner and outer planets; the wounded healer; Christ consciousness; initiation; the interface between God and Godling. |
Could anyone want a better group of complimentary traveling companions for the voyage to the Ascended World? The fact that a total lunar eclipse is part of the planetary Grand Sextile pattern adds to its significance immensely. In at least one viewpoint, an eclipse carries the implication of the beginning of some important undertaking or the bringing to fruition of an issue that had its conception at an earlier time. This eclipse could just so mark one of those milestone events on a global level.
While the eclipse is one of the defining elements in the chart, it is only one of several factors that make it unique. Remember, the chart is not “place specific.” That is to say, that since the Grand Sextile pattern arises from between planets only and does not rely on any “moving” point of the chart, such as the Ascendant or MC (as was the case with the Gaia Mind Day chart that was circulated for January 23, 1997), it is in effect, at the moment of the eclipse, at any location on Earth.
Within the Grand Sextile pattern, there is the pattern known as the “Star of David” – formed by the two inverted Grand Trines. This pattern is also universally recognized as the three-dimensional representation of the Merkaba, the Light Body Vehicle of Consciousness (a very important symbol for those working with Light energies). Another name for this planetary pattern is the “Seal of Solomon,” which contains the promise of the advent of Divine Wisdom attendant upon this moment. Other pattern by-products of this tight Grand Sextile include the three Mystic Rectangles, four Kites, and six Minor Grand Trines.
Astrologers will note that there are also three oppositions within the pattern, (four, if the wide Mercury/Moon is included) and a T-Square involving the Sun, Moon and Neptune (effectively bringing Neptune’s voice into the pattern). While the three oppositions themselves might seem to indicate difficulties in the chart, I contend that the interconnectedness of the planets, through their mutual trines and sextiles (natural by-products of the Grand Sextile), allows them to find a “way around” the normal obstacles of each opposition, while also easing the stress of the T-Square.
Further, I see the square between Venus and Mars, along with the oppositions emphasizing the male/female, Yin/Yang relationship quality which the oppositions strongly suggest. This balance may be thought of as providing an energetic equilibrium for the vortex.
Several other key astrological factors are in play at this moment:
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The Concordance Eclipse is a member of the Saros Series 5 New South, considered by Bernadette Brady as the “best” of all series, |
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Like the appropriateness of the planets involved in the Grand Sextile pattern, the Sabian Symbols of the planetary degrees are highly suggestive of the “Ascensional” character of the moment, |
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Mercury changes degree during the course of the eclipse, thereby giving it two Sabians, |
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Uranus, having reached its final Stationary Direct in Aquarius on that morning, will be at its strongest position during its entire 84+ year transit cycle, |
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The dynamic of the Mercury/Uranus square is heightened by its exclusivity allowing unencumbered communication between the two planets that represent the lower and higher intellectual capacities, |
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Mars finally clears the shadow of its relatively rare Pisces retrograde on the evening before the eclipse, freeing it to function in the “retrofitted” capacity of a spiritual warrior, |
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The Asteroid Goddesses Venus, Vesta and Juno are conjunct in the truth seeking sign of Sagittarius while Venus is in partile parallel (read conjunct) to Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom, fairly trumpeting the presence of the Goddess in this moment, |
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Five “power squares” appear between dynamically compatible planets: Jupiter and Pluto, the Sun and Neptune, Mercury and Uranus, Venus and Mars, and Neptune and the Moon, |
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Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are conspicuous by their absence from the Grand Sextile pattern, indicating that the basic energy pattern is one of uncompelled personal and individual choice, |
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There are several prominent Parallels of Declination, |
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For those interested in such things, Saturn and Chiron are in close conjunction to the fixed stars SIRIUS and VEGA respectively, and Lilith is in partile conjunction to ALCYONE (the Pleiades), calling into the moment the esoteric energies that those Star Beings represent,4 |
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The North Node is at a Critical Degree, |
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The significance of the Part of Fortune at the 7th house cusp, at any location,5 and finally, |
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When viewed as a Seventh Harmonic chart, it reveals a moment in time that is profoundly numinous, that is to say, it is filled with the sense of the presence of Divinity. |
Perhaps other astrologers will find even more there.
Of course, each and every moment contains a unique blend of significant aspects, et.al., and an argument can surely be made for the fact that no one day has any more “important” indications than any other. Nevertheless, some days catch an astrologer’s eye more than others, and this is one that has captured my attention as no other before it. In short, it is the most elegant chart that I have ever seen.
If I may go back to the subject of the Magnetar for a moment. It is my guess that stellar phenomena of this magnitude are not at all insignificant. The Magnetar, after all, is a star, and we are quite literally the “stuff of stars.” Taken from that perspective, I believe that it had some kind of resonance for every one on the planet. I would also surmise that this would be especially true for those with a sensitive point in their astrological chart at about 20° Capricorn (18° 12″), which was the approximate zodiacal longitude of the Magnetar. And, as Laura Mahoney, one of our contributors to this site has pointed out, the Magnetar came from out of the northwest corner of the constellation Aquila…the Bird of the Sun…a symbol of ascension or immortality. Laura also notes that the keyword for that degree is “accelerated growth.”
So there are the basic astrological nuts and bolts. But what does it all really portend? That is the subject of the essays and discussions found on these pages. Some outstanding members of the astrological community have also contributed their thoughts on what this day will bring.
Of course, we have our own spiritual/metaphysical ideas about what the HARMONIC CONCORDANCE moment will bring. You’ll find them, along with several other contributor essays on that aspect of the chart, under the SPIRITUALITY tab.
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* In the days immediately after my discovery of this chart, my first impressions of what it “said” indicated to me that it would be a day of great spiritual “awareness.” After sitting with for a few more days, it came to me that it could arouse a similar impact in the spiritual/metaphysical communities as did The Harmonic Convergence of 1987. Spearheaded by José Argüelles, that event began at Sunriseon August 16th, and followed the Sun as it traversed around the World. It lasted until Sundown on the 17th and is said to have been the first globally synchronized meditation event ever. So, it came to me to name this chart, as I did, The Harmonic Concordance.
Some years two years later, I had an e-mail ‘conversation’ with José in which he acknowledged the similarity between his efforts for the Convergence and mine with the Concordance. There were two distinguishing factors between the Convergence and the Concordance, however. The first is that José followed the ancient prophecies he found in the Mayan Calendar to time the Convergence, which is quite different from the Western Tropical astrology in which the Concordance chart is calculated. The second factor is that while the Convergence lasted two days, the Concordance would be celebrated at the same moment, worldwide. Talk about a globally synchronized meditation event! To borrow a phrase, one could say that the Convergence was “lift off,” while the Concordance are the booster rockets that propell us to the next stage of our Spiritual Evolutiion.
Thanks, José.
1. Dependent upon one’s location relative to the International Date Line this chart should be cast for the 8th or 9th.
2. See the Bil Tierney excerpt on the Grand Sextile for more details on this pattern.
3. There is one other chart in that 4,000 year span which shows both a total lunar eclipse and a Grand Sextile/Star of David pattern. The date is July 1, 1852. That chart is also in the Earth and Water signs, and its degrees match up very nearly with those of the Concordance chart too. The chief difference, and it is no small matter, is that the 1852 chart incorporates the outer planets, Uranus and Neptune, while not including Chiron. Interestingly, our ongoing research indicates that nothing of major import, which we are yet aware of, happened on that date.
4. Speaking of Saturn and Chiron, it is worth noting here that mythologically, Saturn is Chiron’s father. When Saturn, who had seduced the nymph Philyra, abandoned Chiron immediately following his conception, it was Chiron’s first “wound.” The opposition between them in the chart offers an opportunity for them reach out to one another to heal that wound and resolve their relationship.
5. It should be noted that, because of the way it is calculated, the position of the Part of Fortune at the 7th house cusp occurs at every full moon. Therefore, while this is admittedly not an astrological rarity, when taken as one of the features of this unique moment, it “paints the blush on the rose” of the aspects of relationships with the “other” that is so heavily emphasized elsewhere in the chart.