Yahoo! Hack Attack and the Greek Lot of Theft
© 2000 Curtis Manwaring
The recent attack of internet vandals upon Yahoo! brings up some interesting philosophical questions about how to set up a chart for this type of event. You can't base it upon the position of the attacker because that is not known and it is coming from many directions at the same time; which would all have their own rising signs. As in horary astrology, you could use the position of the astrologer at the time the astrologer first received the question, but I was never asked. I decided that the place where most of the trouble resulted would give the best results and that would be a group of computers in Sunnyvale California (according to Reuters News). While hacking is nothing new, it might stand to reason that this represents the birth of a new form of internet terrorism probably conceived under the new Moon conjunction in Aquarius with Uranus, and that an interpretation of this chart might show their intentions.
Even though we have an accurate position and time there is a problem because most of the lots are very susceptable to the changing position of the ascendant. But there is one in particular that is not: the lot of theft (with the exception of whether it is day or night). It is calculated thus:
- [Day] Lot = Saturn + Mars - Mercury
- [Night] Lot = Saturn + Mercury - Mars
It is composed of the two malefics (the bad boys of the solar system) and Mercury, and has no ascendant component in its formula. It is therefore completely independent of individual perspective. It is as though theft and things of this nature are beyond the control of the individual. By day it is measured from Mercury to Mars and then cast out from Saturn. Just visualize this for a moment. If you are Mercury traveling along a road somewhere, there are only so many degrees you can travel before you run into Mars, the vandal and the robber. This interval is symbolic of the odds of running into trouble. Then apply this interval from Saturn (the cast out point), symbolic of Mercury's ill advised trip and it ends up facing an invisible point that is like Mars, called theft. By night, the only difference is that Mercury stays put while Mars sneaks up on it, being true to its nocturnal nature.
This lot is symbolic of bad things (like stoppages) happening to networks, because Mercury imitates Saturn in this formula. Saturn signifies ignorance, a knowledge blackout, or a stoppage of transmission as in this case. It also probably has alot to do with trips gone bad such as plane crashes, but I haven't done any research on this. Valens had this to say about the lot of theft:
"And if the lord of treachery or of theft should be upon the lot of fortune or spirit or livelihood or acquisition, the circumstances of the living will be found from these"
The lot of treachery was at 8 Gemini 41, conjunct theft. The lord of both of these was Mercury which was found in the acquisition (11th sign from fortune). Now this is not a natal chart where these lots point to a individual who is prone to criminal activity as Valens would have predicted of someone born at this time; but this is the chart of an event in which these lots are active. There is a saying: "We are a product of the times in which we are born" that might accurately show the intent of someone born at this time; but what I am interested in is the birth of this moment. This lot while signifying the circumstances of the living might also show the circumstances of the network stoppage, due to the nature of the planets involved.
The attack and their intent is symbolized by the ascendant and its lord. What they wanted to do was slow down business commerce shown by Saturn in Taurus. The lord, Venus, was in the midheaven in Capricorn showing that they went after one of the most popular business web sites around, Yahoo! Some messages were found that it was aimed at businesses that have "prostituted themselves" on the internet. The intent can also be symbolized by the lot of spirit, whose lord was in the acquisition of fortune. It can be interpreted to mean that Mars was intent on vandalizing the acquisition of those businesses (Fortune in Taurus).
The method is clear enough by looking at the angles of this chart. The hackers flooded these computers with bogus requests making the site too popular to handle the load. This is symbolized by Jupiter on the ascendant and Venus on the midheaven. Planets on angles are very active and everybody is attracted to the 2 benefics here in this location. Because the angles are in fixed signs, this trend is not likely to go away anytime soon.
As to the question of whether or not the hackers will be caught, one might be tempted to look at the lot of accusation, which is measured from Saturn to Mars and cast out from the ascendant in the daytime. The ancients said that if malefics see this place without the help of benefics it would indicate incarceration. There is some room for interpretation here. In some of the ancient charts, there was detainment for a time and then a release because the benefics witnessed along with the malefics. This would be my guess here, because accusation falls at about 16 Pisces, and is witnessed by both Saturn and Mars along with Jupiter and Venus. As to whether those accused by the authorities are actually guilty, I cannot say.
