There has been so many bad news stories going the rounds lately its been difficult to keep up with everything. However, excluding the calamity of the Haiti earthquake probably no nation has had such a disastrous year so far as the small central American nation of Guatemala which has recently had to cope with an erupting volcano, a hurricane ,major flooding and mudslides. While the human losses are modest in comparison to the Haiti earthquake the destructive impact has been quite dramatic.

Late on Thursday, May 27, Guatemala's Pacaya volcano erupted, shooting columns of ash and debris up to 1500 feet into the air. The volcano then began to pelt lava and rocks onto the surrounding countryside. At least two people were killed in the initial blast (one of whom, was a TV reporter, who was killed by a 'lava bomb' while covering the event,) and 65 were injured. At least 2000 people were forced to flee their homes. The eruption soon began raining ash onto the nearby capital, Guatemala City, forcing the closure of the country's main international airport and prompting President Alvaro Colom to declare a 'state of calamity.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacaya

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/latin_ ... 186112.stm
Here is the event chart for the eruption of the Volcano at 20:00 local time on 27/05/10
14? 22? 51? N, 90? 36? 4? W
Modern astrologers using the outer planets will obviously note the presence of Uranus at 00 00 Aries exactly on the the IC of the chart. I dont intend to delineate this event chart much here but would note that the fixed star Aldebaran is on the descendant ( on the moon in the Twin Towers attack) and the the malefic nebula acumen on the ascendant. The ascendant/descendant axis is on the same degrees as the Aries ingress chart with signs reversed (shown below).

Just 12 hours later another Volcano erupted in Ecuador. Tungurahua, 95 miles (150 kilometers) southeast of the Ecuadorean capital of Quito, erupted on the morning of May 28th and caused some disruption to flights due to volcanish ash across Latin America.

In Guatemala two days after the eruption , on Saturday, as the fiery mountain continued to pump ash into the atmosphere (Pacaya continued to rain ash onto Guatemala City and the surrounding countryside till the following Tuesday), Tropical Storm, Agatha, the Pacific's first named storm of the season, slammed into the beleaguered country's west coast.
Packing sustained winds of over 40 mph, Agatha brought torrential rains that continued even after the force of the storm died out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_S ... tha_(2010)

The rain caused flooding and mudslides, which swept away sections of roads, bridges and entire villages. The storm is also believed to have caused a giant sinkhole, which suddenly appeared in Guatemala City, swallowing a three-story building. The storm's confirmed death toll in Guatemala now stands at 172. National disaster agency spokesman David de Leon says 101 people are still missing in the country and 148 were injured.

Moreover, the flooding and mudslides triggered by Agatha prompted the government to evacuate an additional 100,000 people from their homes. Though no estimates have yet been made, the financial damage done by the volcano and the tropical storm must be sizeable and will most likely send the Central American nation's already fragile economy reeling. According to one (unconfirmed) report by a native Guatemalan, the storm, alone, destroyed 300 bridges across the country and put 400,000 people in need of food, clothing and fresh water.

One of the 10 poorest countries in Latin America. More than half the population, 56.2 percent, to be exact - lives in poverty. Guatemala was just beginning to emerge from the economic morass of a 36-year civil war which only ended in 1996.

So how do we seek to explain such a series of calamitous events? There is no consensus on a national chart for Guatemala. Moreover, there have been three different dates where independence has been declared during the nations's history.

I therefore want to take a look at two traditional methods: The Aries Ingress and Pre-Lunation chart for the event.
General Characteristics of 2010 Aries Ingress Chart

We have looked at the basic characteristics of this Aries ingress several times in relation to different countries. In summary , its been commented that Mars is in a separating trine to the Sun and in mutual reception. Mercury is combust the Sun and void of course. The Moon is on the fixed star Algol by zodiacal projection. Using only traditional planets and in sign aspects the Moon is void of course. If we include outer planets the Moon is square to Neptune and sextile Uranus. Using the approach of Lilly and the 17th century English astrologers the Moon is not void of course here because it is within moiety orb of other planets before leaving the sign. In particular the Moon is within orb of a sextile to the Sun and Mars and a trine to Saturn Rx across the sign boundary. Venus ( Lord 12) is on the Contra-Antiscion of Jupiter (MC ruler). Saturn Rx is reapplying to an opposition of Uranus. Uranus is on the contra-antiscion of Mercury.
Specific Characteristics of the Aries Ingress for Guatemala
While all ingress charts share the same planetary positions the angles and house placements will vary. Equally, different fixed stars are prominent in a chart in one location but not in another.

Considering this is a disaster that befell the general population rather than the government we give specific focus to the Ascendant and its Lord as indicating the general welfare of the population and the Moon as the natural significator of the people.

1 Mercury the Lord of the ascendant is angular but both peregrine and combust the Sun. It is void of course.
2 The Moon is in the 12th house and in conjunction with the fixed star Algol. It is dignified in the its sign of exaltation.
3 The Ascendant is on the contra-antiscion of Pluto
4 The ascendant is close to the fixed star Betelgeuse according to zodiacal projection.
5 The descendant is on the malefic nebula Acumen in the constellation of the sting of the Scorpion.

Pre-Lunation charts

Lets also take a look at the syzygy charts prior to these events. The new Moon took place on May 13th 2010. There was a full Moon shortly before the eruption. I feel both charts are interesting.
Firstly, the full moon chart located for Guatemala city. The ascendant is Scorpio (on serpentis 'the accursed degree') . Mars its ruler is in the fiery sign Leo in the 10th. Lilly associates Mars in the 10th with fires. Venus ( Lord 7 and 12) is located in the 8th house and dispositor of the POF. The ascendant/MC degrees are in tight square. Mercury is Lord 8 and square the MC.

However, I think the new moon chart prior to the events is especially interesting.
Some general observations:

1 The Lunation took place in the 6th house in Taurus
2 Cancer is the sign on the 8th house cusp and the Moon disposits it.
3 Venus is the the dispositor of the lunation. It in a separating sextile to Mars and applying by square to Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.
4 Mars is in an applying square to the luminaries
5 Jupiter ( Lord 1) is the exaltation ruler of the 8th house and in an applying opposition to Saturn. Saturn is occidental, Rx , peregrine and in the bounds of Mars.
6 The malefic star Graffias (Acrab) is on the ascendant degree. According to Ptolemy it is of the nature of Mars and Saturn. Vivian Robson states it causes 'extreme malevolence, mercilessness, fiendishness, repulsiveness, malice, theft, crime, pestilence, and contagious diseases. [Fixed Stars and Constellations , Vivian Robson, p.169.]. This star was also on the ascendant of the event chart for the Deep Horizon Oil Rig explosion which caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
7 The South Node is in the 8th house
8 The Moon disposits the South Node.

Hi
in the last chart, of the new moon, the sun is at 22 degrees but moon is only in 20 degrees about 4 hours to the complete new moon.

Hi
in the last chart, of the new moon, the sun is at 22 degrees but moon is only in 20 degrees about 4 hours to the complete new moon.

Thanks Yuzuru,

That was careless of me. I clearly need my glasses. Anyway, I have amended the chart and delineation to go with it!

Mark