by Tom Chase

The U. S. Virgin Islands (U.S.V.I.) have always been one of the most popular vacation spots in the Carribean. In recent years these Islands have experienced problems: damage from hurricanes and increased crime in Saint Thomas (incidents of shooting of tourists occurred recently on St. Thomas). We will take a look at these islands using Astrology, to see if this will shed some light on this subject.

First, my personal impressions of these islands. The U.S.V. I. consist of three main islands: St. Thomas, traditionally the most popular with tourists and with the most hotels; St. John, near St. Thomas and basically a nature reserve, and St. Croix, the largest island about 40 miles to the South of St. Thomas. In the summer of 1996, for 4 days, my wife Peg and I visited Saint Croix, and for a day we visited Saint Thomas (a side trip to St. Thomas for a day is easily arranged, since there are frequent seaplane and boat trips connecting the islands). Saint Thomas had been damaged by Hurricane Bertha in early July 1996, and you could see damage to some of the hotels. And Saint Thomas was still repairing the enormous damage it suffered from a Fall 1995 hurricane. Saint Croix escaped hurricane damage from the hurricanes of recent years, but had been nearly leveled by a hurricane in 1989. On St. Croix there were no signs of hurricane damage. The advantage of these islands for U.S. citizens is that being a territory of the U. S., English is the language, American dollars are the currency, and American television and newspapers are available.

I highly recommend St. Croix: the island has great natural beauty and a very interesting town in Christiansted. St. Croix is a golfer's and boater's paradise, has beautiful beaches, and I found the people to be very friendly. I would recommend doing what we did: stay in St. Croix, but take a day-trip to St. Thomas by seaplane or boat, to see some of St. Thomas's natural beauty and historical areas.

Now let us look at these islands astrologically. To determine the astrological sign of the U.S.V.I., we need to identify the key date in the island history. This would be either the date of discovery by Christopher Columbus when he landed at St. Croix on November 14, 1493, or the date when these islands joined the U.S. after being owned by Denmark, March 31, 1917. I believe it makes sense to use the date of Columbus landing, since these islands have been affected by their turbulent history for the last 500 years: ownership by different European countries, and use as a base by notorious pirates. A birthday of November 14 classifies these islands as a Scorpio. Scorpios are represented by the Scorpion, a dangerous creature with a sting. The alternative and more positive representation of the Scorpio is the Eagle, a majestic bird. Scorpios can fly like an Eagle, or sting like a Scorpion. Scorpios can be evil and vengeful people, or leaders and philosophers.

The sign of Scorpio fits well with the U.S. V.I.. Concerning the "sting" of the Scorpion: Columbus landed on St. Croix, and encountered the "sting" in the form of hostile Indians. Columbus incorrectly believed they were cannibals, and left the island quickly, never to return. A later example of the "sting" would be the Pirate Blackbeard, the worst of the pirates, using St. Thomas as his base during the years he terrorized shipping in the area in the 1700s. Supposedly there is an enormous buried treasure hidden by Blackbeard somewheres in the Carribean, that has never been located. You also see the sting of the Scorpion in a poisonous tree that grows on the islands, the Manchineel-- the sap and fruit of this tree are very poisonous, so contact with it should be avoided, since the sap can cause blisters. As far as animal life is concerned, the sting of the scorpion would be represented by the Mongoose. These snake-killing creatures were imported to these islands to kill rats; they liked it there and have multiplied.

As far as the "Eagle" representation of Scorpio-- the American patriot Alexander Hamilton as a boy lived in St. Croix, St. Croix's airport is named after him. And the English privateer Sir Francis Drake used St. Thomas as a base for his raids on Spanish shipping. Drake was a national hero in England, but to the Spanish he was a pirate; his raids of Spanish ships filled England's treasury. Also, the U.S.V.I. flag has an eagle on it.

Astrologically, a significant factor concerning the date of discovery, November 14, 1493, was the entrance of the planet Neptune into the sign of Capricorn 5 days before (November 9, 1493). This sounds appropriate, since Neptune is the sea god, and Capricorn is the sea goat, a goat with a fish-tail. Neptune is associated with breaking down boundaries, unlimited possibillities; Neptune in Capricorn would add a practical aspect to Neptune's inspiration. This fits Alexander Hamilton.

The shape of these islands seems to indicate their nature-- St. Thomas was the most notorious island in the days of pirates, and looks like a vicious fish. St. Croix, however, looks like a whale. Also, St. Croix has an oil refinery -- another whale association, since whales are a source of whale oil.

Now let us consider the geographic coordinates of the U.S.V.I: approximately 64 degrees West by 18 degrees North. I like to analyze numbers, by considering their associations; this can give us a clue to understanding. Considering 64: 64 is said to be a very lucky number, associated with play and fate. The chessboard used in the game of chess has 64 squares, and the Chinese I Ching divination system for forecasting the future uses 64 possibilities (hexagrams). 64 is the "perfect number" (8) squared. Interestingly, 64 degrees West also passes close to the Island of Bermuda, but much farther north. Considering the other coordinate number, 18, 18 is an astronomically important number, since solar and lunar eclipses repeat the same sequence after 18 years

My point in looking at these numbers, is that the U.S.V.I. appear to be associated with fate-- the fate of this country. Alexander Hamilton, who once lived as a boy on St. Croix, played a critical role in U.S. history; after the American Revolution he was the major advocate for a strong central government for the U.S., and was successful in shaping our present structure of government. If it had not been for Alexander Hamilton, then the American states would have remained a very loose confederation of States, which could have led to anarchy in the U.S. as occurred after the French Revolution. His wisdom was a critical element in U.S. history. The nameVirgin Islands fits; in this way these islands played a role in the birth of the U.S. Similarly, these islands were a favorite hangout for Sir Francis Drake, the English privateer. There is a location on St. Thomas called "Drake's Seat", where Drake spotted passing Spanish treasure ships he could raid. To the Spanish, Drake was a pirate, but his actions were at the request of England's Queen Elizabeth, since his raids were filling up the English treasury. Eventually Spain sent an enormous naval armadra to invade England; through luck and good strategy, the Spanish Armadra was destroyed (the English sent ships on fire into the midst of the Spanish Navy, setting it on fire), and Spain never again was a threat to England. Drake played an important role in the destruction of the Spanish Armadra.

Considering some of the recent trouble with crime on St. Thomas, one could consider that the "sting" of the Scorpion coming out again, after the disastrous affects on the island of the recent hurricanes. I would expect that if these islands can avoid hurricanes in the near future, then these crime problems will disappear as the local tourist-based economy recovers. What these islands do offer is unique: breathtaking natural beauty, an interesting history, and the advantage that they are part of the U.S.. There seems to be a magic to the U. S. V. I., people frequently see rainbows there, resulting from brief rain showers (my wife Peg saw a very beautiful rainbow when in St. Croix). I think these islands may be an energy vortex, a magical area.

Copyright 1997 by Tom Chase

Tom Chase is educated in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and writes on Astrology for "Welcome to Planet Earth" Astrology magazine in the U. S. His writing combines Astrology and Biblical symbolism. Tom may be reached at: 60 Thoreau Street, #317, Concord, MA 01742 USA, and email address "zchase@connect.cybersmith.com"