The "Cromañón" Tragedy, an Analysis of the Event from the Point of View of Elective Astrology
I would like to analyze the episode called "The Cromañón Tragedy", which occurred in Buenos Aires on December 30, 2004, from an "elective" point of view, that is, as if it were an elective chart, supposedly commissioned by the organizer of the party.
It was a sad event that took place in the music venue of the same name, with serious legal and political consequences. To this day, it continues to provoke controversy and debate.
According to the press, the musical group that was entertaining the night had played only a few minutes when chaos broke out "around 10:50 p.m. on December 30, 2004.
Some of the attendees threw flares into the air, hitting flammable panels that had been illegally placed for acoustic purposes, which, when they burned, emitted great heat and toxic gases, causing a large number of deaths and injuries.
So we could take 22:40 as the approximate time of the beginning of the event and 22:50 as the time of the catastrophe.
I have arranged the cards in this order.
Beginning of the Event
December 30, 2004 - 22:40 hrs. Buenos Aires, Argentina
If this were an optional chart, the client would want to know the best time for the event to occur (the astrologer would have lost his job, it is obvious).
He is the Sun, peregrine, at 9 degrees Capricorn, in the 5th house, ruled by Saturn, to its detriment in Cancer, in the 12th house.
The Sun applies to a quadrature with Jupiter, with term at 17º Libra, in the 2nd house, ruler of the 4th house and co-regent of the 7th (intercepted Pisces). We could say that this indicates the excessive expansion of the number of public present in the place, which was allowed to obtain greater profits.
The event is Saturn, rH5, of parties, fun, etc. It is, as we said, to his detriment, in Cancer, in the 12th house, retrograde, and also rules houses 6 (diseases, problems) and 7, the public.
Mars, peregrine, at 3º of Sagittarius (by the rule of Ptolemy's 5º, in the 4th house, of endings) and rH8, separates from a trine to Saturn. This trine would indicate that Mars and Saturn are working together to cause disaster. Saturn from the 12th (confinement and hidden things, corrupt officials) and Mars from the 4th (the grave).
This arrangement of planets does not seem to be the best for organizing a party...
Jupiter, in the 2nd house, with Term, at 17º of Libra, is the ruler of Mars (fire), with which it forms a semi-square, which could have an "expansive" effect on the latter. This would add to the effect of the Saturn trine. It is also the co-ruler of H7 (intercepted Pisces).
In the 4th house of the endings, "the tomb", we also find Mercury, in its detriment, at 17º Sagittarius (co-ruler of H1 by intercepted Virgo, and of house 10); Venus (ruler of houses 2 and 9 and universal significator of beauty and art, music), pilgrim at 17º Sagittarius, conjunct Mercury, and Pluto, at 22º Sagittarius. This triple conjunction in the 4th house does not bode well.
The Moon, peregrine at 28º Leo, (at the end of a sign and also signifying the end of the career of the responsible businessman) is on the cusp of the 1st house. It rules the 12th house (which is expressed in the 1st house with its burden of afflictions, enclosures and hidden things, something not good for the "life" represented by this house), and applies to a square to Mars and an opposition to Uranus, the surprising, disruptive, in the 7th house, of the public, forming a square T.
Mars, in turn, forms a partial and angular square (4th and 7th houses) to Uranus. This aspect could be the fatal icing on the cake.
Although the fire (Mars) did not last long, it managed to burn the polyurethane panels, but then caused the lights to go out (electrical failure, Uranus). The thousands of people inside tried desperately to get out in the dark. But the emergency exit was locked with chains and padlocks...
Unfortunately, the only thing visible was a fluorescent sign that read "Emergency Exit". Which turned out to be a death trap...
The H4 is in this case the premises, which could not be in worse condition.
And so much emphasis on H12 shows that there were too many hidden things at stake. The building had been ineligible since 1997 and should have been shut down because of failures in the fire protection system and because the plan submitted had falsified measurements, among other irregularities. However, it continued to operate as if nothing had happened.
It is obvious that there was a lot of corruption, the officials who were supposed to supervise were bribed and some of them were later sentenced to prison.
On another subject (whether or not a ship sinks and the fate of its crew), William Lilly says that "... the ascendant sign and the Moon are signifiers of the ship and of the goods in it. If in the question asked you find all these unfortunates, that is, if a malefic planet is placed by position in the Ascendant, having dignities in the 8th; or if you find the lord of the Ascendant in the 8th, in any configuration with the lord of the 8th, 12th, 4th, or 6th, or the Moon under the earth, the ship may be judged lost, and the men drowned (unless a reception is found among them)..." (AC, p. 157, translation mine).
These words of W. Lilly were taken by Tony Louis to study the sinking of the small submarine "Titanic" which occurred on June 18, 2023. His masterful and thorough analysis shows us that the Mars/Uranus square, angular between the 1st and 10th houses, at the time of the submarine's departure, was the most detrimental influence on the event.
In the case of "Cromañón", we might venture to think of the burned-out room as resembling a ship overcrowded with passengers (the public), with no emergency doors (12th house, deadly enclosure), and we would see some of Lilly's conditions fulfilled, viz:
1. The Lord of the Ascendant is the Sun, the significator of the ship (the party hall). Here the Sun is in H5, which is akin to a fun, danceable event, and its ruler is Saturn, in its detriment and H12.
2. A malefic planet unknown to Lilly, Pluto, is conjunct the H1 co-regent, Mercury.
3. Saturn trines Mars, ruler of H8.
4. The Moon rules H12 and makes a square to Mars, rC8, which squares Uranus, forming a T-square between the 3.
5. In this case, the ship sank (the saloon caught fire) and much of the crew (the audience) died or got sick.
Lilly did not know Uranus, but surely she would not have missed the square between the Lord of Death (Mars) and this revolting planet, placed in the H7, of the public.
Mars also rules the 3rd house. Could it be a coincidence that the rock band that performed that night, and was considered partly responsible for what happened, was called "Callejeros" (Strayers)?
If we look at the chart of the fire itself, 10 minutes later (below), everything becomes clearer. The Moon is exactly over the ASC (at 28º of Leo, indicating that something is coming to an end) and Saturn is on the cusp of the 12th.
Perhaps the mass nature of the deaths is due to the Moon (the people, the crowds?) and Pluto, the universal signifier of extinction and mass death, if I am not mistaken. The deaths were caused by confinement (Saturn in the 12th), suffocation by poisonous gases (Neptune in the 6th), and sudden fire, symbolized by the T-square between the Moon, Mars, and Uranus.
Chart of the beginning of the fire, at 22:50
I would like to add, as Maria Blaquier always does, the draconic chart of the event, to see if it sheds more light on the subject.
Indeed it does! The draconic Moon (in its domicile, Cancer) and the draconic Ascendant fall exactly on the tropic Saturn, in the H12; the draconic Saturn, from the tropic H10, makes a partile opposition to the tropic triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Pluto, which is in the sign of Scorpio in the draconic chart; the draconic Sun is right on the cusp of the tropic H4, and the draconic Neptune makes a very close conjunction with the tropic Sun, the tropic rASC, which explains the confusion of the organizer of the event, the fatal smoke that not only prevented the vision at the beginning, but poisoned the people.
In addition, draconic Jupiter, rH4 tropic, squares the tropic triple conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Pluto!
The nefarious quadrature between Mars and Uranus, angular in the tropic chart between H4 and 7, occurs in the draconic chart between H3 (neighbors, transit, movement) and 6 (disease, intoxication).
At the time, many people remembered Deep Purple's song "Smoke on the Water," which was written about a similar event. Ian Gillan wrote the lyrics after the band witnessed a fire during a Frank Zappa concert at the Casino in Montreux, Switzerland. The "smoke over the water" was the smoke over Lake Geneva.
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Leaving aside a little of what would be the "usual" analysis of a chart, we can add other elements that add their influence, in some cases incredibly significant.
I am referring to known asteroids and nanoplanets and others, without astrological significance, but related to names, as well as to the astrogematric degrees and the Sabian symbols obtained from them.
For example, the 28th degree of Leo (of the ASC and the Fire Moon) corresponds to the following Sabian symbol, according to Dane Rudhyar in his work "An Astrological Mandala": (remember that we must always read the previous degree because the book begins with the 1st of Aries and not with the 0º)
"PHASE 147 (27° of Leo): THE GLOW OF DAWN IN THE EASTERN SKY.
KEYNOTE: The uplifting challenge of new possibilities on the threshold of a new cycle.
While the rainbow marks the end of the crisis, the dawn indicates the true beginning of a new period of activity. In biblical symbolism, Noah plants his "vineyard" and begins to teach the "secret doctrine" he inherited from those Ben Elohim (Sons of God) who were not consumed by the whirlpool of materiality. After the "peak experience" in which we come into contact with our "divine" potentialities, comes the struggle with everyday problems.
But at first, the state of inner exultation remains within us. We are excited by its promise.
The crisis and the blessings it has brought us are relatively unusual events; each day has its dawn, which we must receive with a pure heart and a clear mind. Alpha (the dawn) and Omega (the climactic experience) are opposites. But they are also the same. The key word is ILLUMINATION.
It would take a long time to adequately analyze this profound interpretation of Rudhyar's interpretation of the Sabian symbol, but the words I have underlined in bold can give us a guideline. What we normally tend to see only as tragedy, in this context has a deeper meaning, a hidden meaning that we could discover!
I believe that "crisis," "summit experience," and "enlightenment" (in their metaphysical, mystical meanings, as well as the material fact that fire enlightens) describe well what happened in Cromañón.
Another symbol: the midpoint between Mars and Uranus, falls in the 18th degree of Sagittarius, in H4 (the grave), in conjunction with Venus, rH9 and 2 (the expansion of consciousness and material goods), and its Sabian symbol reads as follows:
"PHASE 257 (17th of Sagittarius): A MORNING EASTER SERVICE ATTRACTS A LARGE CROWD.
KEYNOTE: The culturally stimulated longing for group participation in a process of rebirth.
From the earliest days of human evolution, religions and cults of various kinds have used the most significant periods within the cycle of the year to dramatize the deepest longings of human nature, giving them direction, meaning, and, through group action, greater dynamic intensity. Easter is the Christian way of celebrating the coming of spring and the rebirth of life on earth after the harshness of winter.
In this second stage of the Fivefold Sequence, in contrast to the first, we see man discovering in the cycles of nature great movements that stimulate his spiritual search for the psychic and spiritual equivalent of sunlight and warmth. The obvious key word here is "RENAISSANCE".
It is not easy to associate tragedy with this symbol, but if we descend to a certain spiritual depth, detached from the "illusion of the senses," as a Zen master would say, we might find certain coincidences.
I would like to make a small personal contribution with my work "The Mute Fish" (El Pez Mudo), which contains 360 haikus, 360 drawings and 360 short musical themes, one for each degree of the zodiac.
For example, for the degree of Saturn, (27º of Cancer), we find the following haiku: "Truncated flight, final trajectory of the fall" (Vuelo truncado, trayectoria final de la caída), and this drawing:
Perhaps someone would like to see a parallel here with the trajectory of the fatal flare that set fire to the fuel panels.
The corresponding musical theme is this: No. 116.
According to astrogematry, "Cromañón" corresponds to the 9th degree of Scorpio and falls in H2. If we take the full name "Republic of Cromañón", it gives us the 6th degree of Scorpio, in the same house, which would indicate the profit motive behind the tragic event. And if we take this name, as it was commonly used, "República Cromañón", it gives us the 15th degree of Scorpio, exactly on the cusp of H3, ruled by Mars, promoter of the fire of tragedy, due to the impossibility of moving and leaving the burnt place (Saturn in the 12th).
Emir Omar Chabán, the businessman and manager of the place, who was imprisoned for several years, astrogematrically is the 12th degree of Gemini, in partial conjunction with the H10 of the chart of the fire, which is consistent with his role and responsibility.
Aníbal Ibarra, the then mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, who was judged for poor performance and dismissed, corresponds to the astrogemátric degree 2º of Scorpio, in partile conjunction with the South Node of the Fire Horoscope, in the H2.
He was accused of inaction in the face of the numerous complaints that were filed, which gave us a glimpse of the possibility of a tragedy. His position in the H2 is suspicious, we could think that there were bribes (something not uncommon in Argentinean politics).
Patricio Santos Fontanet, the already mentioned leader of "Callejeros", corresponds to the astrogemátrico degree 2nd of Capricorn, in exact conjunction with the cusp of the H5 of the event, something very significant.
For more abundance, I calculated the gematric degree of "Deep Purple", and it is the 15th of Scorpio.
The address of the venue, at 3060 Bartolomé Mitre Street (Bartolomé Mitre treinta sesenta), astrogematrically gives us the 0º degree of Aries, in the H7, of the audience.
The name of Aníbal Ibarra, already mentioned, gives us the 2nd degree of Scorpio, conjunct the South Node, in H2. Very important when we think of bribes.
To add another twist, I looked up the astrogematric meaning of the Sabian degree of the ASC, (THE LUMINESCENCE OF DAWN IN THE EASTERN SKY - LA LUMINISCENCIA DEL AMANECER EN EL CIELO ORIENTAL.) and it falls (in Spanish) in the 15th degree of Scorpion, on the 3rd house cusp. (In the original language, English, this also falls in a significant place, 11 degrees Aquarius, in partile conjunction with the dangerous Neptune, in the 6th House).
I was surprised at the emphasis on the degree 15º of Scorpion, so I looked up its Sabian symbol (in Spanish): PHASE 224 (14th of Scorpio): TELEPHONE LINE WORKERS INSTALLING NEW CONNECTIONS (TRABAJADORES DE LA LINEA TELEFÓNICA INSTALANDO NUEVAS CONEXIONES).
KEY NOTE: The need to establish new channels of communication. The development of a sense of community among separate human beings requires the improvement of ever more complex means of exchanging feelings and ideas. Wherever this symbol for 14° Scorpio is found, it indicates that such channels of communication are essential to the success of any interpersonal relationship. Not only must they be established, but they must be used wisely and meaningfully.
This 15th degree of Scorpio is the cusp of the 3rd house. And the "Cromañón case" was highly mediatized from the beginning until today.
As for the asteroids, we find No. 375,927 "Ibara", at 7º of Aries, which, according to the rule of 5º of Ptolemy, is in the H8, of death...
Asteroid No. 470.600, "Calogero", which sounds similar to "Callejeros", the rock band that was considered co-responsible and suffered imprisonment, is in the 10th degree of Aries, also conjunct the cusp of H8....
With the number 8667, there is an asteroid called "Fontane", which we attribute to Fontanet, the leader of "Callejeros", who suffered imprisonment. It is in the 12th degree of Taurus, in H9, ruled by Venus, in H4.
The nanoplanet "Eris", of greater astrological weight than the previous ones, of explosive effects, is in the 19th degree of Aries, in H8, in partial opposition to Jupiter, rC4.
According to Jesús Gabriel Rodríguez, in the course on nanoplanets that he gave at María Blaquier's Academy, Eris is "much more powerful than Pluto", although in a different way. It would be the "apple of discord" that expelled Adam and Eve from paradise, sparked wars, toppled empires and caused epochal changes in humanity that lasted for centuries.
We could go on finding coincidences, but I think this is enough to demonstrate the harmony between heaven and earth, between "above" and "below", and to prove once again the wonderful clockwork machine that is astrology, which should not make us forget that beyond the mechanical, it has profound transcendental implications. It is not for nothing that astrology shares the 9th house with philosophy, religion, higher thought and all kinds of higher knowledge.
Just now, and after a final review of the article, I see with surprise that the newspaper La Nación, the most important in Argentina, published today, December 30th, an article on the subject, proving its validity and that the wounds have not closed.
Here I attach links to the article and other similar ones:
What happened in 2004 is still so current that a series on the tragedy is being prepared.
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