5 MAR 2018

And some info on the Vertex

© Malvin Artley

I like a good mystery. The resulting curiosity spurs research and sharpens critical thinking in the process. There has been a recent phenomenon on the internet that should be arousing such curiosity among many people who follow it, and be of great concern to people who do not. It is known by the moniker of “Qanon”. Beginning on 28 Oct 17 at 4:44 PM PDT[1] the first of what were to be numerous, and continuing threads was a posted on 4chan,[2] an internet bulletin board in their /pol/[3] board, by a source claiming to have “Q clearance”. Q clearance is granted by the DOE in the US[4] to non-military personnel who have access to critical information regarding nuclear weapons. Such people, for instance, would be high-level elected civilian officials, such as certain White House cabinet members and vetted members of Congress, on a need-to-know basis.

Since the time of the first posting this source has made predictions about affairs of state in the US, some of which have come true. In fact, the few predictions that have panned out have been sufficient to cause a wave of followers, now numbering at least in the hundreds of thousands. As well, there has been much in the way of speculation about the identity of ‘Q’, ranging from a person in the intelligence community, to Donald Trump himself or even to an AI (artificial intelligence). Since then, there have been several independent alternative commentators who have picked up on the wave and have started commenting. But there are several things to consider with regard to this phenomenon quite aside from the source of the ‘Q material’, not the least of which is the possibility of this being an active and sophisticated psy-op, which if so, should rightly raise concerns among the wider public, for reasons which we shall address later on. Regardless, we’ll have a look at what the astrology says about the phenomenon of ‘Q’ here and the wider implications for the US. It has made for a good study, at times entertaining, concerning and disconcerting – all the makings of a good spy story. So, to begin, we have the chart of the first posting, above.

Since time, space and the character of events and people are inseparable in astrology, the date and time of the first posting by ‘Q’ says quite a lot about the nature and purpose of the post and the poster. But before we get to what the astrology shows, there are a few questions that immediately come to mind about this ‘Q’. Firstly, why would a person with supposedly such high security clearance be posting information about government activities on 4chan, especially in the /pol/ sub-board in the first place? 4chan, for those who are not familiar with it, is not for people with delicate sensitivities, shall we say. The /pol/ board is frequented largely by very right-wing posters, and anything goes. The name of the board (/pol/) is actually short for ‘politically incorrect’ if that gives any indication, and it lives up to its name.

Secondly, there is nothing documented in the posts, in that they are not referenced. The media these days is full of references to ‘anonymous sources’. Any true investigative and reputable source would be naming names and citing sources, especially the names and credentials of those sources. The information by ‘Q’ is professed to be accurate, and parts of it may be, but there is not enough in the way of verifiable facts to say it is actually truthful. And probably the most telling thing about it is the target audience and what the postings actually convey. The target audience are by and large hard-core Trump supporters and the message is that Trump is masterfully at work behind the scenes ‘draining the swamp’, i.e., bringing down the ‘deep state’ and cleaning up the corruption in Washington. There are references to cabals, pedophile rings, sex trafficking rings, the Clintons, Seth Rich, so on and so forth – all the sorts of topics the far right talks about constantly. What the astrology shows is quite telling with regard to the preceding points.

The first thing that stands out in the chart is the close square between Mars and the meridian axis, indicating an agitating influence, one that pits nationalistic/anarchic sentiment against the establishment. In fact, this is the most prominent planet in the chart. Mars is also ruler of the Aries ascendant – the purpose of the event, as well as the target group (in this case the /pol/ group) – and is conjunct the descendant in the 6^th house. The 6^th house rules the police and the armed services. As well, Mars is also conjunct the Vertex, the Vertex being a sort of doorway into other realities.[5] I have found the Vertex to be quite powerful in a chart when it is conjoined with planets, as my colleague referenced in the linked Vertex page has long pointed out. The vertex and Mars are in Libra, the sign in which Mars falls, but also the sign associated with litigation, conflict and contracts in event figures.

A few important points regarding this Vertex emphasis, shared with me by the aforementioned colleague via email, are as follows:

“Mars and the Vertex are in the Scorpio duad of Libra – a sort of iron hand in velvet glove combination, reinforcing the Scorpio in the chart. The Vertex axis can give unusual results and with Mars, often very strong or even violent. This is being activated by transiting Saturn in July-October so there might be some kickback then, or even a shutdown of some kind. Mars conjunct Vertex could also make people certain that this ‘insider knowledge’ is all true as the Vertex axis can and does give access to other realities.”

The ‘other realities’ mentioned are particularly important with regard to this phenomenon. This connection of Mars with all the angles in the chart points to a sort of weaponization of this particular line of discourse on the /pol/ social media platform. In addition, Mars is semisquare Mercury, ruling the 3^rd house (communications and domestic intelligence services), and is placed in the 8^th house (foreign financial relations, and occult/secret organizations, interestingly), square the Moon (ruling the 4^th house – people opposed to authority, along with nationalism/patriotism) and sextile Pluto (intelligence services in general, as well as revolutionary upheavals) in the 10^th house, the latter square to Venus, which rules the 4^th house (enemies of the state). But one of the more interesting things is the placement of Saturn, ruler of the 10^th house, which would represent this ‘official’ (‘Q’), in the 9^th house – which among other things represents foreign intelligence services. This is helped by a trine from Uranus (technology) in pioneering Aries in the 1^st house (the public).

The preceding indicators probably point to one or more of the following likely realities about ‘Q’:

• It is a very sophisticated advertising campaign
• It is a psy-op
• It is run by or utilizes AI
• It very likely has foreign actors, or corporations, domestic or foreign
• It is most likely not a single person, but is instead a group who has more than the average knowledge of current events and security matters
• It is an experiment in propaganda and manipulation of what would otherwise be a suspicious audience

I would tend toward the last two preceding points. One of the main reasons I would say that relates to the following, excerpted from a paper written by Cass Sunstein, the Information Czar under Obama:

“Government agents (and their allies) might enter chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their factual premises, causal logic or implications for political action. In one variant, government agents would openly proclaim. or at least make no effort to conceal their institutional affiliations…In another variant, government officials would participate anonymously or even with false identities.” (pg. 22 of that document)

The techniques used in the ‘Q’ posts are old, but the approach is novel. The old parts of the pitch are to make the information appealing and tantalizing, meaning the presenter has to know their subject and target audience quite well. Given that, the presenter will give just enough correct information – as in leaving a trail of ‘breadcrumbs’ – to draw people in, while at the same time not being entirely accurate, or honest. Then, using a carrot and stick approach, direct the narrative to the desired goal, which in this case is very likely disinformation. A trail of breadcrumbs is also an old technique used to trap animals. Qanon was characterized by Catherin Austin Fitts[6] as ‘hope porn’ for these very reasons.[7] The 4chan followers are told things like, “the good alliance is winning”, “Mueller is not actually investigating Trump. He is on Trump’s side”, “Hillary Clinton and George Soros have been arrested”, “We’re on top of things. Don’t worry” and so forth. There are good reasons to be suspicious of this phenomenon, especially if it induces people to sit back and be passive, and also because it feeds the chat room narratives shared by its members. There are various themes that run throughout the ‘Q’ material, such as:

• Trump is made out to be a hero, a champion or even messianic
• Followers are induced to be passive, as in “get the popcorn, sit back and watch”.
• There are mistakes in the English that a top-level official in the White House would never make – basic errors, which point toward foreign actors, or to AI (artificial intelligence).
• The information is made to feel like a gift
• There are appeals to scripture, prayer and spiritual feeling
• It is designed to reinforce the beliefs of die-hard Trump supporters, evangelicals and believers, such as the establishment being rife with pedophilia (think ‘Pizza-gate’)

The material has been very carefully targeted and has been called a change in marketing strategy – away from the fear factor that is so often found in some alternative media. It is instead geared toward a more hopeful, feel-good, soporific approach intended to sidetrack and mollify more militant factions in alternative media and chat rooms, like 4chan and 8chan for instance. This would be indicated by the Uranus 1^st house placement (change in marketing strategy) trine to Saturn. The feel-good ‘hope porn’ aspect of these posts is also indicated by the Sun/Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio in the 7^th house, in which the posts also invite the members to become partners in the investigations. The Sun/Jupiter is also trine to Neptune, which is in the 12^th house[8], the latter indicating the seductive nature of the material, which plays on many of the memes that run through the /pol/ chat room. There may even be corporate interests involved in the project. In all, ‘Q’ appears to be an experiment in manipulating discourse, the manipulation indicated by the prominence of Mars in the chart to the angles. It has also been noted that this material has been planted in order to drive internet search engines directly to the ‘Q’ material, which would be indicated and supported by the Saturn/Uranus trine.

The preceding points are reinforced when we look at the juxtaposition of the ‘Q’ chart with that of the US, above. The ascendant, Midheaven and Mars/vertex of the ‘Q’ chart form a great cross with the US Venus/Jupiter conjunction. That latter conjunction indicates the natural enthusiasm and hopeful outlook of the American people, their liking of comfort and excessive materialism, their high idealism and so-forth. The great cross thus formed points to the ‘hope porn’ aspect of the ‘Q’ material. The latter is also reinforced by the Sun/Jupiter conjunction in the ‘Q’ chart being trine to the American Venus/Jupiter conjunction. The Saturn of the ‘Q’ chart is opposite the US Mars and square the US Neptune, indicating the directing and manipulating nature of the posts, as well as the effort to suppress dissent. And finally, the Neptune of the ‘Q’ chart is square the US horizon, indicating the probability of this phenomenon being a psy-op of some sort.

So, whether you follow ‘Q’ or dismiss ‘him’ as pure fantasy, this is not something that should be ignored. If this does turn out to be an elaborate marketing scheme, then it needs to be very carefully analyzed, because the success of ‘Q’ means that there will be future such efforts. We need to be aware of what is taking place. If ‘Q’ is a real person, then we may want to question the veracity of the source, because much of what has been stated has yet to pan out. Whatever one believes, it has been a fascinating phenomenon and investigation, both in terms of the event and how people have reacted/responded to it. And finally, if ‘Q’ does turn out to be simply an elaborate LARP,[9] then take it as a lesson learned. Experience will make us all more critical in our thinking in the future.