Mark Conditt, Part 2: Inflection Point

Part 2:  Inflection Point. His commitment to move ahead with his package bombing campaign.

Let me tell you a story . . . about how one’s stars align to present a trigger that seems to drive one forward along a set path.  Conditt’s delivery of a mail-bomb a week earlier gave him time to savor the results, listen to the news, and to plan a follow-up campaign to terrorize the community as a form of punishment for his own inadequacies.  We will first review his t/Moon-opposite-n/Sun Return for March 9th, 2018. 

In the time interval from the first package bombing, Conditt had a new t/Moon-opposite-n/Sun Return, shown above.  There is so much in this chart that can be said to represent a ‘trigger’ for his spree of package-bombs.  Let us review each ‘trigger’ in this Return chart.

• Realignment of natal angles to the Return chart angles. This phenomena happens every year or two, sometimes less often.  It reminds us of the birth chart and its ‘natal imprint.’  This is a return chart that is renewing that natal imprint while also emphasizing new outlets of expression through the planets in their new positions.  The realignment of angles to angles is very powerful and marks a major energy expression that can change one’s life, or even challenge one ability to pursue life.  Note the chart’s MC just 3 degrees from the natal MC shown in the outer ring.  Likewise the natal Asc. angle is within 3 degrees of the Return chart’s Ascendant.
• t/Part-of-Fortune (PoF)-MC opposes n/PoF-IC; The PoF represents ‘chance and change.’  When contacting an angle or a planet, the focus is upon that angle or planet and it’s role in how ‘chance and change’ will express itself.  With both natal and transiting PoF in play upon the vertical axis we can have chaos resulting in the subject’s goals and position in life being upset in a significant way.
• t/Moon-opposite-n/Sun from the 4th to the 10th house; feeling that a new start, a strong statement will satisfy his discontent, visualizing a fulfillment of his goals in life being finally displayed, the t/Moon-opp-n/Sun placement mirrors the underlying idea of accomplishing a ‘feel-good project that will look-good’ to himself. Bolstering this is the broad square to the following pattern and statement.
• n/Moon-opposite-t/Sun from 1st to the 7th house; This, along with the 6th-12th house axis, is problematic.  The Sun-Moon polarity has implications of ‘me-versus-you’ or ‘my decisions versus my feelings.’  Many other related polarities can be cited.  n/Moon-1st puts one’s life-long emotional self-picture forefront.  A whole range of developed and long-held emotions can be felt.  The Virgo placement may cast a dispassionate pall over those feelings making them seem highly personal.  The t/Sun-7th casts one’s focus on ‘the other person’.  The Pisces Sun, transiting, seems to represent a current and ambiguous ‘them.’
• Supportive elements include: n/Chiron-Asc.; long held hurts and inferiority issues can be represented by this pattern.  n/Black Moon Lilith (BML) represents a darker and secret force that cannot be easily seen or explained, much like an intuitive dislike for something, that affects our actions or choices without us even realizing its influence.  t/Neptune conjoining n/Saturn can dampen or hide one’s sense of self-discipline and moral code.  n/Pluto-IC is a cheering-squad for mayhem and destruction of basic security.

 

The story teller notes that this chart is like a scenario out of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale.  The dark woods scene is represented by BML-MC and Chiron-Asc.  The opposition of the two PoFs is the invitation by the old witch to enter the cottage for some cookies.  The t/Moon-opp-n/Sun is their awareness of the peril that will affect their immediate future.  The n/Moon-opp-t/Sun is the decision process that recognizes the sham of the witch (represented by t/Neptune-n/Saturn-7th).  The stories we offer to children are much more crucial and difficult that we, as adults, often realize.  Yet, it may be our way of inoculating children against the cruelty of some adults that they may meet in life.  Photo taken from Google images.

 

The Return chart is an imprint that hovers over all of the events that may transpire in the next two weeks of this ‘personal full moon cycle.’  Let us now explore how this started to unfold.

On March 12, 2018, ten days after the first package-bomb claimed its first victim, two more packages were delivered to two widely separated addresses.  The first package exploded and killed a student and his mother.  The second package explosion seriously injures a 75 year old woman and causes minor injuries to her mother.  The authorities quickly determined that all three bombings were linked.  The Austin metropolitan area was very much on edge.

In the three days since the Return chart, the MC angle has advanced and exactly coincided with the n/MC angle. The same is true for the Ascendant angle.  The trigger has been pulled. 

• The n/PoF remains at the IC angle, the t/PoF (with its rapid daily movement) opposes t/Saturn-t/BML-t/Pluto, and squares t/Mercury in the 8th. The n/Mercury-square-t/Mercury is involved in this; Mercury representing the mail and the delivery process.  Note also n/Mercury in the 11th house of community and t/Mercury in the 8th house of death.
• t/Mars-4th-opposes-n/Sun-10th; One acts against one’s own common sense, follows a plan that seems outside of one’s own conceptions. Who is really being attacked here?
• t/Sun has closed its opposition to n/Sun, mirroring the t/Moon-n/Sun pattern of the Return chart. This seems to confirm his commitment to a path of destruction for the community as well as for himself.  I believe that he realized at this point that the situation would not end well for him personally.  Likely, he was planning on that.

This date saw two package bombs delivered to different addresses.  One bomb both killed and injured a person.  The second bomb resulted in an injury.  By this time all of the law authorities were involved in this case.  Warnings were issued to not pick up or open any package delivered to you.  Postal and delivery service people were put on notice to exercise extra vigilance.  Yet, this notice would not reach everyone.

We will continue this story in following posts.

 

Part One; Mark Conditt, Serial Bomber

Let me tell you a story . . . about a bizarre twist in the life of a young, hometown boy.  Mark Conditt grew up in the outskirts of Austin, Texas.  His family was deeply religious and he was home schooled by his mother.  He attended a local college, maintained good grades, but left  before graduating.  He joined a local group of former Christian followers who had left behind their religious beliefs and were promoting conservative views typical of the southwest and current times.  Conditt’s adopted atheist views separated him from his family’s deep Christian views.  In spite of this his family continued to support him.  He moved out of his home, buying a house with the help of his father.  Together, they remodeled the house. 

Conditt lived there with two room mates and worked at a semi-conductor manufacturing plant for several years.  As that business grew it restructured its staff.  Conditt was not able to adjust to the new work requirements and was released.  It was also suggested that he was dealing with a gender identity crises, but those assertions have not been fully substantiated or connected to the bombings that followed his dismissal from work. 

Conditt was born June 16, 1994 near Austin, Texas.  His natal chart, set for noon (time unknown) is shown here. 

Ignoring the chart’s angles because of an unknown birth time, we can take note of several interesting patterns in this chart.

• Sun squares Moon; indicative of one who will rebel against the nature of his early family life and seek to establish his own ‘values.
• Venus squares Jupiter; how will he reconcile personal desires and social opportunities? This lack of clarity about where he places himself within social structures so that his personal self is comfortable adds to the Sun-Moon life struggle.
• Uranus conjoins Neptune; Conditt is part of a generation that desires clarity of purpose while feeling lost in their understanding of what is needed or how they might impact local society. The square from the Moon suggests anxiety as he works out ways to clarify a future path that is right for him.  Note that the Sun inconjuncts this pattern, indicating a strain in reaching any good decisions that he is comfortable with.  The end result is most likely a continuing form of dissatisfaction with his life and what the world offers him.

In that period after leaving the semi-conductor plant, Conditt learned to build bombs.  How this would help him find a satisfying life-path is difficult to see.  It would be easier to say that he was planning on striking out at the world around him because he couldn’t find a way to deal with his own inadequacies.  In early March of 2018 he initiated his program of sending package-bombs to various people in the area.   

In order to examine this situation I will employ a t/Moon-n/Sun Return charting method.  This form of charting has the following attributes to recommend it:

1. Due to the Moon’s rate of daily advance, 12 or 13 degrees, the ratio between its movement and the Sun’s movement (13:1) will place the Return chart’s MC within seven degrees of where it would be if we had a know birth time. Everyone born on a given date will have a Moon-to-Sun Return MC within a span of some 7 degrees from a ‘noon’ chart’s Return MC.
2. The t/Moon represents the ebb and flow of change that comes into our life. For each of us, this is different as the Moon moves through chart houses and aspects natal planets unique to our natal chart and Return chart.  The natal Sun represents our adult-developed character, life-style and intentions.  Together, these two powerful luminaries generally shape our life opportunities and challenges in conjunction with the interweaving of other planets and cycles.
3. Because the Return chart’s orientation is keyed to the t/Moon-n/Sun cycle, the natal chart houses will be reoriented relative to their noon-time natal placement. This reorientation, for a ‘timed’ chart, defines the changing nature and ‘present’ challenges to any current Return chart’s two week cycle.  A two week cycle due to the use of a personal ‘new moon’ chart (the t/Moon-to-n/Sun Return) and a personal ‘full moon’ chart (the t/Moon-opposite-n/Sun Return).  The use of this dual cycle is based on the recognition of the significance of the New Moon and Full Moon and their observed influence in our life.

Conditt had a t/Moon-to-n/Sun Return on February 24, 2018, six days before the first bombing incident.  This ‘return’ was placed in the first house of the chart, appropriate for a first of several incidents.  As we examine this Return chart below we will need to ask ourselves, “What is the driving force and direction this chart provides to define his life and actions at this time?”

• With n/Sun in the first house and t/Sun near the MC it would seem that ‘relevance’ was what Conditt was seeking. He wanted his actions (Asc.) to be noticed.  His goal and public image (MC) was important to him.  After his break from his family’s values it seems that his own values needed to be affirmed — even if he found it difficult to define those personal values.
• t/Mars at the Descendant; most simply, he wanted to attack others or he felt that others were attacking him. Remember that he had recently been dismissed from his work place.  Mars could be representing both sides of the ‘attacked or attacking’ role.  In the natal chart, Mars was located on the Moon’s South Node, he felt that he had innate skills and an understanding of how to hit back at others.  n/Pluto conjoining the n/N.Node added an extremist, demolishing element to how he viewed his relationship to others (the nodal axis).
• n/Chiron-n/Asc. at the Return chart’s IC angle; This pattern suggests that he is addressing a personal (Asc.) hurt (Chiron). What, how?  Well, Chiron-Asc.-IC squares n/Black Moon Lilith in the 12th.  BML indicates ‘secrets’ that may be sensed but not fully realized.  Perhaps this relates to the suspicions that he was dealing with a gender-identity crises.
• t/Mercury-n/Saturn-10th house; ‘Careful thinking’ is one generic statement for this pattern.  The practice of studying bomb making and planning how to conduct a serial bombing campaign would also related to these planets being located in the tenth house of career and public image.

There are supportive elements (non-angular planet placements) in this chart.

• n/Mars squares the transiting Moon’s nodal axis; this is a sign of fighting against society. The nodal axis not only relates to our entry into physical life from the spiritual world but it also (in cyclic charts) relates to our associations with other people, both individually and in general.
• The t/Part of Fortune squares n/Mercury; PoF represents chance and change, n/Mercury represents the manner in which we perceive and organize information. Together we can view this pattern as representing a time of mental turmoil and confusion at some level.

Our story tellers says,  “We have a young man with a rebellious attitude and little focus in his life.  He blames his floundering on others, nursing an anger for what has failed him and projecting that anger outward at others.  He settles on a plan for building package-bombs.  These can be shipped to arbitrarily chosen people who represent, for him, those who have ordered lives that are denied to him.  He will be able to sit back and watch his anger play out in the world around him.  At last he has a plan.  We have a story plot.” 

On March 2, 2018, the first bombing occurred, resulting in a death.  The bomb had been delivered in a package, exploding upon being opened.  The diurnally advanced chart (from the Return chart) is shown below.

This is a very powerful chart, all four angles are populated and the t/Moon, t/Sun and t/PoF make strong aspects.

• t/Sun-n/Saturn-MC; This conjunction near the MC angle demands recognition. Authority over one’s public image and goals is a strong statement.
• t/Sun-t/Neptune-MC; Neptune plays many roles; the visionary, the dream, the deception, the ability to be hidden or unseen.  All of this feeds into the path he has chosen.
• n/Sun-Asc.; This n/Sun emphasizes his need to make an impression on others. Both natal and transiting Suns are angular — a doubled-up Sun symbolism.  This day is all about him.
• t/Mars-Desc.; Reaching out, touching others.  Or, attacking others.  Note n/Mars on n/S.Node.; it is as if he had done this before.  It felt natural to him, probably because this had all played out in his mind as he was researching and building bombs.
• n/Chiron-IC angle; (we will ignore the n/Asc. as it is irrelevant for a ‘noon’ or untimed chart. Long-held grudges or views lay at the root of this ‘need to bomb’ someone.
• The fourth house also contains, on this date, t/Moon-conjoining-n/Moon. This “lunar return” suggests a great deal of emotion and reaction is mixed up with the bombing done today.
• The seventh house offers t/Part-of-Fortune-and-t/Saturn opposing n/Mercruy; Some form of revenge or prior cruel-action-by-another seems to be at play here.

With the package-bomb’s explosion, and the resulting death of the recipient, the community-at-large reacted in all of the expected ways.  We will continue with this story in the next posting.

Part Five: The Timing Is All Wrong

Let me tell you a story . . . about a plan that was all wrong from the get-go!  Sometimes the ‘smartest people’ with the ‘best lawyers’ talk themselves into following a stupid plan.  Admittedly there are a number of issues that have to be given priority, but still . . .

The background.  Manafort had been an international ‘deal maker’ for decades, working in the Ukraine and Russia, at times, as well as with other associated states and power brokers.  The U.S. public became aware of him as Donald Trump was clinching the delegate count in the primaries of May and June in 2016.  Trump was facing a desperate last-ditch battle for delegates to win the nomination at the GOP convention.  In came Manafort as Campaign Manager, and presto, the fight seemed to just dissipate.   Strange changes were made to the Republican platform and word of various Russian initiatives began to circulate.  Then, as the campaign got started, Manafort left but the ‘strangeness’ of the campaign’s sensitivity to all things ‘Russian’ continued.

Now, two years later, some that ‘Russian’ stuff is coming into focus.  Trump owes a lot of money to various Russian interests and may be complicit in money laundering using his real estate developments.  Second, the Russians very much want certain legal restraints lifted from them, restraints that hurt their ability to work in certain financial markets or gain overseas capital.  Manafort is tied into all of this intrigue.  The question is, “Is the Trump campaign and the present administration tied directly into this?”

The current situation.  It became ‘breaking news’ on Monday, August 27, 2018 that Manafort’s legal team had approached Special Counsel Mueller to explore a ‘guilty’ plea in the upcoming trial in exchange for leniency in jail time.   To understand the absurdity of this request we have to remember that Manafort and his lawyers had the opportunity, many months ago, to combine the just-completed ‘financial issues’ trial with the upcoming ‘conspiracy and collusion’ trial.  Combining the trials would have made sense for Manafort; the overwhelming documentation evidence of financial fraud and tax evasion would have been mixed in with the shadowy issues of ‘he said, she said’ of connections between individuals in the U.S., Administration and Campaign with various officials overseas connected to Russian interests.   There could be a lot of reasonable doubt in lots of areas.  Complexity could have made plea deals much easier to work out.

Now, the financial fraud and money laundering issues have been settled and guilty verdicts rendered.  The momentum is not with Manaford.  The evidence will be very heavy against him and collaborative sources have been developed.  

With the above screw-ups in planning all laid out, and the situation now being much worse, this becomes the basis for an interesting story.  How will the subject struggle and win against these impossible odds?  Well, we won’t know in the course of this blog.  The trial is set to start Sept. 17, 2018, more than two weeks from now.  But this chapter of the story can be shared.  (Story teller photo from Goggle images).

The first thing I look for in any of these Return and cyclic charts is the presence of a natal angle at one of the chart’s angles.  This chart above is an advanced chart taken from the t/Moon-to-n/Sun Return chart we saw in Part 3.  I have diurnally advanced that chart to August 27th when the above noted news broke.  On this day, Manafort’s plea request was turned down.  Mueller already had everything he needed, so why agree to a plea deal.  The whole strategy was to convict Manafort on the financial issues and obtain a lot of jail time to use as leverage, if and as needed.

• Here we have natal Ascendant at the IC angle of this Advanced chart.  Page 160 of ‘Personal Moon-to-Sun Returns 2’ notes ‘taking a new approach to life, changing your face or reputation.’  This pattern suggests that Manafort wants very much to start things off on a new basis after having suffered a staggering set-back in the first trial.
• t/Mars conjoins n/Jupiter near the MC angle.  Reaching out for a better opportunity.  This pairing, in a natal chart, is called ‘the greedy grabber.’  Here, Manafort is trying to grab something better in a bad situation.
• t/Uranus just above the Ascendant.  I often read such a positions as relating to something that has just passed.  Here, I would tend to say that a great realization has come to late.  The time to deal was much earlier.  
• The same is true of t/Pluto on the 9th house side of the MC.  The time for a power play has passed.  It is too late.
• t/Part of Fortune square n/PoF.  I’ve seen this before.  Chance and change, the keywords for the PoF, has to fight with itself.  It is either too many choices or options being available, or the choice of options is not understood.  Confusion, strife, inadequate efforts are the result.
• There are two angular Jupiters in this chart; n/Jupiter-10th and t/Jupiter-7th.  Normally this would suggest that opportunities and expansion of some sort was in the wind.  But, if we sneek a peek at t/Mercury-n/Pluto making a T-square to n/Moon-opp-t/Jupiter we get the sense that big powers are moving on this political stage and Manafort does not have a commanding role.

So, unless something else develops, this series of blog posts on Paul Manafort will wait until the trial date approaches.  Dave.