"Will everyone please rise." This was the ominous voice of our school principal sounding through a loudspeaker connected to the front wall of our 7th grade classroom on Friday, November 22, 1963. Mr. Resnick, our science teacher, had just entered our room a few minutes before saying something about a shooting in Dallas, TX where the President was visiting.
"The President is Dead." Stunned, shocked, overcome by emotions that somehow had never existed, we were sent home immediately, walking with our classmates in a daze along the main thoroughfare in Forest Hills, NY where we went to school.
The next few hours were a total blur and then for four straight days every television channel (no exceptions) carried only news of the death of JFK, the second assassination two days later of his alleged killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, and the President's solemn burial at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday November 25, 1963, JFK Jr.'s third birthday
For years, I kept a copy of the Telegram and Sun newspaper under my desk, with the enormous headline "PRESIDENT SHOT DEAD." Every time I looked at it, feelings of disbelief raced through my consciousness. I was 13 years old when the President died and I was never the same again as a person. I am sure many of you, who lived through this time, have similar feelings.
Why This Story…
I have made this our cover story--having wanted to do this feature for the last 18 years!--for one main reason. The United States of America has never recovered from the murder of President Kennedy. We have a psychic wound that has never healed. Starting on November 22, 1963, the nation moved on to a future path that may NOT have been for our higher destiny as a people
In the Jane Roberts books (popular in the 1970s), a personage known as "Seth" speaks of our "probable futures." It is as though we have multiple paths into the future and all kinds of odd events and decisions keep shifting us from one "probable future" onto another. This is the way I think of what happened to our nation on November 22, 1963. We were moving along on a certain path, to me a rather positive, inspiring one. Then, suddenly ZAP! A lightning bolt of calamity strikes and we are on another, very unclear and darkened road into a nebulous future.
While we now know that JFK had many imperfections as President, that he was a flawed and probably highly-promiscuous leader of our country, at that time he, Mrs. Kennedy and their two children (Caroline and John, Jr.) did represent the perfect and archetypal family (youthful and beautiful Father, Mother, Daughter and Son). There was a truth and power to the Camelot symbolism of those days. And the President, because of his vigor, wit and intelligence, was setting our country on a dynamic course, the "New Frontier" as it was termed in those 1000 days.
The President initiated the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. He and his brother (Robert F. Kennedy, the Attorney General, later to be assassinated in mysterious fashion in June 1968), through their powerful minds, helped to prevent World War III during the Cuban Missile Crisis during thirteen days in the second half of October 1962. And it was President Kennedy (a Gemini, air Sun-sign) who pushed for and won the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty during the summer of 1963 (just prior to his assassination), a treaty that banned nuclear weapon testing in the air, oceans and outer space (but not underground). This treaty was one of President Kennedy's great accomplishments. He also inspired us with just one sentence before Congress, that we, as a nation, should land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s and bring him back safely to Earth.
In the 1990s, fitness and physical health were very big, but many forget that from 1961-1963, America was on an extreme exercise craze. Again, this was because the President was only 43-years-old at his inauguration and even though he suffered terribly from Addison's Disease and a miserable, painful back (partly from his heroic saving of PT-109 and his shipmates during World War II), he appeared so youthful and energetic, that he wanted to get this country "moving again." And to do so, all the schools were geared to calisthenics. In addition, there was a major push to enhance the teaching of science and math in America, so our students would not fall behind the Russians, the European nations and the nations of the Far East on the higher knowledge curve.
The Birth of JFK
President Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. With his Sun at 7+ Gemini, his solar life-force was almost exactly conjunct the USA Uranus (8+ Gemini) from July 4, 1776. Tuned into America's Uranian vibrations, JFK came into the presidency as a revolutionary figure and, in many ways, that may have led to his death. Keep in mind that the mighty, once-every-500-year Neptune-Pluto unions had taken place in 1891-1892 at 7-8 Gemini. Therefore, President Kennedy was a "channel of destiny" for vast, trans-personal and universal energies sweeping into humanity and the Earth for a 492-year historical period, beginning in the 1890s. In addition, his Sun placement was in the "Nuclear Axis," the zodiacal zone I discovered in the early 1980s having to do with nuclear and atomic energy, due to the position of many planetary bodies between 7-14 Gemini-Sagittarius at the First Nuclear Chain Reaction (Dec. 2, 1942; 3:25PM CST; Chicago, IL). It was this last alignment, of his Sun to the launching of the atomic age on Dec. 2, 1942, that made him into a prime figure during the Cuban Missile Crisis, preventing a third World War from developing, something that President Nixon, if he had been elected in 1960, might not have been able to stop.
But President Kennedy is also born at an amazing and perhaps peculiar time. Both Mercury and Uranus are stationary, not moving on his day of birth, from the Earth's vantage point.Mercury had just turned stationary direct a few hours before his birth. Uranus had just turned stationary retrograde a few hours before his birth. How many people that you know are born right on the day of a station? I suppose not many. JFK had both planets not moving. When planets are stationary, their influence on Earth--for good or ill or both--is enhanced enormously. And these are the planets of conscious thought and intuition, communication and the higher mind. JFK was also born at an almost precise Jupiter-Uranus square, from 23+ Taurus to 23+ Aquarius. Keep these three planets--Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus--in mind as they will surface later on in this story in a remarkable way.
How Chiron Fits into This Story
We have printed many articles in Welcome to Planet Earth on the power of Chiron, a cometary body first discovered on Nov. 1, 1977 by astronomer Charles Kowal in Pasadena, CA. Chiron has many meanings, but a few of the essential ones are the maverick, the outsider, twilight zones of strange time, wounds, pains, and wounds that never really heal. This last theme has to do with Chiron himself, the mythological Centaur, being a great healer in the ancient Greek myths.
Chiron was an immortal, being born from godly heritage, but he was struck accidentally by a poisoned arrow from Hercules, one of his students. He was painfully wounded, but couldn't die, because he was an immortal! However, eventually, to bail him out from his suffering, an "exchange" was created and he swapped positions with Prometheus, who was having his liver devoured daily by an eagle or Griffin, for his stealing fire from the gods for the benefit of humanity! In essence, Chiron was able to give up his immortality and finally was placed into the sky by Zeus, as the legend goes, as the Constellation of Centaurus.
In doing research on Chiron many years ago, I decided to create an hypothesis and then see if it worked out. My hypothesis was that the major events of the 20th century should have very strong Chiron emphasis, perhaps Chiron stationary, because when the big happenings in the world occur, people are thrown out of their ordinary, day-to-day, "chronological" (Saturn-based) time rhythms and tossed into a twilight zone or "chirological" (Chiron-based) experience--very weird and strange
It's important to note that I created my list first--without knowing where Chiron was at those times and not looking at a Chiron ephemeris. I remember marking down on my list 4 top events of the 20th century in the following order: the assassination of JFK (Nov. 22, 1963); the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the spark that ignited World War I (June 28, 1914); the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941) and landing a man on the Moon (July 20, 1969).
With the last three events, Chiron was stationary within a week to 10 days of the event. Therefore, Chiron was barely moving, creating a strange sense of time and space for humanity on Planet Earth. But I was in for a shock when I turned to the Chiron ephemeris and looked at November 22, 1963. Chiron was totally motionless that very day, no orb whatsoever, at 10+ Pisces. The Chiron principles--of pains, wounds, twilight zones, mavericks and keys that unlock doors to higher realms of consciousness--were fully and powerfully at work on November 22, 1963.
Further Research on Chiron
It turns out Chiron was also stationary and not moving (incredibly powerful) as JFK and Richard Nixon experienced their exceptionally close, "twilight-zone" type election on November 8, 1960. No one knew until the morning after the election that JFK had won one of the tightest elections in the nation's history. Rumors eventually swirled that JFK's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, had "bought" the election by influencing votes in Illinois and Texas, which states JFK narrowly won, giving him the victory over Vice-President Nixon.
Also--on the day of President Kennedy's Inauguration (January 20, 1961), Chiron switched from 30 degrees Aquarius to 0 degrees Pisces! This revealed Chiron's extraordinary presence even in the midst of the birthing of the doomed JFK Administration. Part of the reason JFK never left the Presidency alive was because the Moon was Void (not making any major aspects before leaving the sign) in Pisces at his Oath of Office. As I have reported before in WTPE, such a Void Moon also occurred at FDR's last inaugural (he died of a cerebral hemorrhage before leaving office), Nixon's second inaugural (he resigned in August 1974 before his term was up) and Clinton's second inaugural (and we all know what has occurred during President Clinton's second term in office).
The Assassination of the President
In astrological circles, the birth chart for the assassination of JFK has been studied meticulously--particularly back in the 1970s, when I first began my professional work in the field. One of the most astounding features of this map is the Pythagorean Figure or Triangle (3-4-5 triangle)--composed of Jupiter at 9+ Aries, Uranus at 9+ Virgo and Mercury at 9+ Sagittarius.
Now remember earlier in this article I mentioned the power of these three planets at JFK's birth? Think about it. The President goes on a long trip (Jupiter) and as he is riding in a motorcade (Mercury), shots ring out in shocking (Uranus) fashion and he is gunned down, presumably by one or more marksmen with rifles (Uranus).
The great astrologer Barbara Watters referred to Mars as ruling knives, Uranus as ruling guns and Pluto as ruling bombs. If Lee Harvey Oswald was involved, as a lone, eccentric marksman, firing from the Texas School Book Depository, he would certainly have fulfilled the "Uranus role" in this horrible astrological equation.
To this day, we don't really know what happened in Dallas and we also don't have a clear meaning--astrologically--for a precise (and I mean just about totally precise) Pythagorean Triangle! But perhaps during 2000--83 years after JFK's birth--we will find some answers.
As I wrote in one of our issues in 1997, I discovered a few years ago that due to peculiarities in Jupiter's orbit, it returns EXACTLY, day-by-day, zodiacally, to where it was 83 years before. Thus, years separated by 83 years, seem to have an historical parallel or link because Jupiter is "re-tracing" his zodiacal footsteps from where he was 83 years before. In this context, 2000 is a reflection of 1917, the year JFK was born. Oddly enough, I forgot about this when I decided to write this article and make it the cover story. I also forgot about the fact that Jupiter and Saturn will unite on May 28, 2000--which is, within one day, the 83rd anniversary of the birth of JFK.
And in an extraordinary "repeat of zodiacal history," the same Jupiter-Uranus square (from Taurus to Aquarius) that occurred when JFK was born in May 1917 is happening again in May 2000. Perhaps this will give researchers and students of the JFK Assassination and the President's life and work a chance to understand much more about his meaning to the nation, the world and humanity.
Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination
Did this 24-year-old loner and former U.S. Marine actually kill the President of the USA? Did he do it by himself? Did others conspire to kill the President? The killing of JFK is certainly the greatest American crime of the 20th century and it remains the greatest enigma. Notice Pallas, Juno, Neptune, Ceres and the Sun all in Scorpio--sign of mysteries, puzzles and the unknown. The Sun in the very last degree of Scorpio seems to sum up the feelings of total despair for the nation and the world, as the Sun would move into international Sagittarius by the late evening of November 22, 1963. And by Monday, November 25, 1963, one of the largest gatherings of world leaders took place in Washington, D.C. during the burial procession of our slain President.
In the assassination map, stationary and completely immobile Chiron (the nation's wounds, pains, mourning, grief) at 10+ Pisces guards the first house of national self-expression--opposing a Uranus-Pluto union in Virgo (7th house--enemies of the nation) and squaring Mercury at 10 Sagittarius. The Chiron-Mercury square could symbolize the "frozen" and "shocked" media of the nation--where every TV station was focused on the assassination and burial of the President for four days.
But also notice that Saturn at 17+ Aquarius had just risen over the Eastern horizon, moments before the shooting. Saturn is a strong symbol of the Chief Executive of the country (the President) and also our "father figure" of the nation. On July 20, 1963, a Total Solar Eclipse had occurred at 27+ Cancer--exactly on President Kennedy's natal Saturn (27+ Cancer) in the 10th house of profession/career.
Ancient astrology had some terrible things to say about a Total Solar Eclipse falling upon the Saturn placement for a leader – particularly if that leader also had Saturn in the 10th house. [Note: There seems to be a "cardinal rule" in astrology that if you are born with Saturn in the 10th house and aspire to a position of great leadership, be very careful. You may experience a major fall from grace and power. This happened to Napoleon, Hitler, JFK, Richard Nixon, and even Bill Clinton, if we use his 8:51AM CST birth time.]
JFK's natal Saturn was also directly opposite the USA Pluto (27+ Capricorn) from July 4, 1776--possibly signifying the sinister, Underworld (Pluto) connections to the assassination event. Note that part of the magic and charisma of the President was that his natal Pluto (3+ Cancer) was exactly conjunct America's natal Venus. That signified our hypnotic and enticing "love affair" with President Kennedy. Not that everyone admired him. He had many enemies, but so did FDR and other Presidents. Nevertheless, JFK's charm, wit and intelligence created a kind of magic spell with women (his Pluto on the USA Venus) and with the press (his Sun in Gemini, and his Venus not only in Gemini, but right on the North Heliocentric Node of Venus).
The chart for Lee Harvey Oswald (birth data from Oswald's Mother, obtained by Lois Rodden, see Lois' Data News information on page 3 of this issue) reveals a strong and approaching Sun-Saturn polarity, from Libra to Aries. If Oswald was involved in this assassination, was he symbolically trying to kill his own father (Saturn symbolism)? After all, he grew up without a father, his father having died before his birth. And Saturn was rising right at the assassination. In addition, Oswald was born at a Sun-Saturn opposition, an opposition which also squared JFK's natal Saturn in late Cancer
In parallel fashion to the assassination, Oswald is born with Chiron (the maverick; outsider) in the first house in a water sign. With Cancer rising, his ruler, the Moon, is setting at 13+ Capricorn--exactly opposite the USA Sun (13+ Cancer), along with Saturn another symbol of the President of the USA.
We also see two, very extraordinary planetary placements for Oswald--Mars at 11+ Aquarius and Uranus at 20+ Taurus. His natal Mars (strife; murder; violence) is exactly conjunct the transiting Moon at the assassination, where the Moon symbolizes the nation's feelings-emotions. Notice that he was also born with a very tight Mercury-Mars square, in fixed, power signs, an astrological signature of his periodic temper-tantrums and violent streak. And in the 22+ years separating the birth of JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald, we notice that Uranus has moved from 23+ Aquarius (JFK's birth) to 20+ Taurus (Oswald's birth). That puts Oswald's Uranus (shocks; surprises; guns and rifles) exactly conjunct JFK's natal Mercury (mind; thinking; the head and throat wounds to JFK).
One way or another, whether assassin or patsy or somewhere in between, it appears that Oswald--or someone born on his birth date--was involved in the shooting of President Kennedy. I have always felt this and the Progressed maps for both men at the assassination--perhaps to be shared at a later date in this magazine--bear this out.
Jupiter-Saturn Echoes Linking 1961 and 2000
As we close for this time, consider the following. JFK was inaugurated just one month before a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in February 1961 at 25+ Capricorn. The JFK Administration began in the "dark Moon, Balsamic Phase" of the Jupiter-Saturn cycle from 20 years before. Perhaps this had something to do with the disastrous end of the JFK presidency.
Now, in early 2000, we are in the dark Moon, Balsamic Phase of another Jupiter-Saturn cycle that began in July 1981 at 4+ Libra. The New Jupiter-Saturn union (May 28, 2000) occurs at 22+ Taurus--conjunct JFK's Mercury-Jupiter union in Taurus, in his 8th house of metamorphosis, death-rebirth and transformation. Will we solve the enigma of his life, death and meaning for America? Can we discover a miracle cure for the "wound that never heals," the psychic ailment that has thrown our country into a strange darkness of character and spirit since November 22, 1963? After all, it was following JFK's demise that America became entrenched in Vietnam, leading to another horrible wound in our national and planetary life. And it was following the death of JFK that Richard Nixon made his comeback, leading to more national division and the Watergate scandal. And in the 1990s we have all suffered through the shame and pains of the Clinton scandals.
President Kennedy, his family, presidency and spirit meant something extremely important to our nation--and in the last 37+ years, much of this has been lost, forgotten, steam-rolled over by an intoxicating lust for material riches and national fame.
Many may not remember that the poet Robert Frost spoke at President Kennedy's Inaugural address. Frail at that time, speaking during an extremely chilly day in Washington, D.C., Robert Frost, one of JFK's favorite poets, was able to touch the hearts of the nation, along with President Kennedy. This is the same Robert Frost who penned the immortal lines about "the road less traveled … and that has made all the difference."
In the same way, the death of JFK pushed America onto a strange and dimly-lit road, perhaps because we don't know what really happened and we lost a President, First Family and a portion of our national Soul-Spirit that we may never recover. However, by remembering the past and trying to grapple with the events of JFK's life and death, we may move closer to solving America's turning point moment of the 20th century, so we can really move forward in the 21st century as a spirit-guided and heart-directed nation.
© 2023 by Mark Lerner and Great Bear Enterprises, Ltd. All rights reserved.
*Note: Special acknowledgement and appreciation is given to The New York Times for the ability to run a small portion of the front page from November 23, 1963 on the cover of this WTPE edition. We also give thanks to the unknown source who, many years ago, provided the old newspaper and photos, also utilized in the artistic production of our cover.
Author's Note: I am re-running one of the most important stories that I have studied exhaustively since I was 13 years old in 1963 and as a professional astrologer during the past 44 years. The sub-title of this article was America's Turning Point of the 20th Century and this feature explains why. This was originally our magazine cover story in March/April 2000. I shared it on the Web in February 2002 (on a previous website of ours) because I ran a series of 5 massive articles linking President Bush to JFK. They were an extremely important group of features concerning our President's and nation's future destiny. Three color charts are included at the end of this feature.
