Skip to main content

Fire in Dukezong in mythic Shangri-la



Fire blazed through an ancient Tibetan town in southwest China on Saturday, destroying hundreds of wooden homes and shops that have drawn tourists to an area that has cast itself as the inspiration for mythic Shangri-la. Chinese television news said the fire in Dukezong in Shangri-la County, Yunnan Province, broke out in the early hours and hundreds of firefighters, soldiers and volunteers had largely extinguished the blaze by late morning. There were no deaths or serious injuries reported, initially at least, according to local officials. Yet even without casualties, the fire will deal a heavy blow to a community that has sought to protect its traditions while attracting growing crowds.







Shown above is the chart for the current New Moon at Dukezong. Notice Uranus [8ar41]  on the MC is part of a Grand Cross involving  fiery Mars and Pluto . Uranus is conjunct mu Cephei, the Garnet star in King Cepheus’ crown. Regular readers will recognise this star as responsible for fires in several previous posts.


Cepheus wears a Crown of Fire! (Romans called him inflammatus). Ibn Ezra, an 11th century astrologer listed in place of Cepheus, “The Lady of the Flame”. In India, the two Bhadrapadha nakshtras (this is Uttarabhadrapadha) were known as “the Scorching Pair” connected with all things hot and burning. Research has proved this to be one of two areas with the highest number of fires in the zodiac among them.


Moon, Exeter Theatre Fire, 1887, England: 200 died, many suffocated by smoke; Mercury: Triangle Clothing Factory Fire, 1911, New York City: 146 dead; Saturn, L’Innovation Department Store Fire 1967,Brussels: 322 killed; Venus, start of fire bombing of Dresden 1945, 35,000 civilians killed, architectural  treasures destroyed; Bradford, England football stadium fire, 1985 (53 killed) and the “Move” cult bombing by Philadelphia police causing a fire that gutted an entire city block (11 dead, 200 homeless); Mars, a 10-hr fire destroyed Lisbon’s Chiado shopping district, 1988; Mars SR 1988, start of Yellowstone Fires and the 1988 Ramstein, Germany Air Show disaster when three planes collided and crashed in flames, parts hitting spectators (70 killed, 500 injured); Uranus at the 1257 Winter Solstice just before Genghis Khan’s grandson Hulagu with 200,000 Tartars pillaged and burned Baghdad, a centre of learning and culture and many others.

Comments