The “Twin Towers” stand for the world Trade Centre, a complex of seven large buildings in Manhattan, New York city, USA which opened on 4th April 1973 and collapsed on September 11,2001 in what could be called as the worst ever terrorist attack in world history where passenger aircraft were used as guided missiles. In this article, we will understand the story of twin towers wearing the lens of an Astrologer and in the process, gather valuable lessons in Mundane Astrology.
It was in 1943, the idea of establishing a World Trade Centre was proposed. Though plans to develop were finalized, it was put on to hold till 1949. In the forties, it was only Mid-Manhattan which witnessed economic growth and this was the reason for the delay in implementation of this project. Minoru Yamasaki (01.12.1912 - 07.02.1986) was chosen as the architect and the design of Twin Towers was unveiled to the public on 18.01.1964. The architecture of Twin Towers closely follows the designs of “Le Corbusier” (06.10.1887-27.08.1965), a Swiss-French architect and designer, who is even now rated as one of the pioneers of modern architecture.

 

The Inauguration of the Twin Towers in the form of a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on April 4, 1973, at around 9 am. Striking feature of the chart is the presence of Venus as Lagna lord with 4th lord Sun in 11th indicating the grandiose designs of the builder and the worldwide sensation the tower has made since inauguration. The 9th house is studded with a Jupiter-Mars conjunction which in the case of an individual's chart would give rise to Neecha-Bhanga raja yoga. But, as the saying goes “Every cloud has a Silver lining”,but in this case the “ Silver lining is not without clouds”.

1) Though Venus is exalted, it is also combusted. Combustion means getting burnt. Could this have meant, the twin towers would get burnt down in the aviation fuel spilled by the aircraft, which crashed into the building?

2) Rahu in the 8th unaspected could seriously affect longevity in a chart and in this case, a Skyscraper. Further Rahu occupies a fiery sign.
3) Moon, which is the fulcrum in any chart is in the 12th occupying the asterism of the fiery Ketu.
4) The Lagna lord in a common sign, with the 8th lord in a movable sign confers short span of longevity - this is Jaimini's view.
5) If the Bhava chart were to be seen, only a solitary malefic, Saturn is in Lagna Kendra. There is no benefic in a Kendra - a sine quo non for a good Muhurtha.
Under these circumstances, a pertinent question, which any astrologer might raise is: “Is the Muhurtha for inauguration of Twin Towers Seriously Jinxed?”.

In Muhurtha, we have a concept called Thithi-Vara-NakshathraYogas. In Ayurveda, they say, independently Honey and Ghee are elixirs of life, but when mixed in equal proportion, they become poison. From this perspective let us look at the yoga for the day

THITHI	DWITIYA
NAKSHATRA	ASWINI
VARA (WEEKDAY)	WEDNESDAY

When Ashwini occurs on a Dwitiya Wednesday, the yoga is termed as “Vinasa Yoga”. This is the yoga for annihilation.

Compare this with our Honey-Ghee analogy. Dwitiya is a very good thithi and so is Wednesday as a weekday.Ashwini is one of the best stars of the Zodiac. What an Irony! These three in tandem, destroy the foundation of a Muhurtha.
To Understand this subject further, we need to know the Independence day of USA along with the planetary positions prevailing on that day. On July 4, 1976, 13 colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of United States. For astrological purposes, the time of independence is taken as 4th July,1776 at 10.30 a.m. Today the original copy of the declaration is housed in the National Archives in Washington DC and July 4 has been designated a national holiday to commemorate this event.
According to this chart (USA formation chart), Moon dasa and Jupiter bhukti are in operation. Moon is in a dustana, while Jupiter as 4th lord (denoting tall buildings or Skyscrapers) in conjunction with 12th lord Sun and 8th lord Mars denoting destruction through fire. This combination occurs in Gemini an airy sign which shows the involvement of airplanes in this attack.

Superimposing the transit chart on Sep 11,2001 over the USA formation chart, we arrive at the fact that the 4th house from Ascendant Virgo (in the USA formation chart) on the day of the attack is occupied by Mars and Ketu, two fiery planets aspecting Jupiter in Gemini, which is again an airy sign. In fact, the Ascendants in both charts are the same viz., Virgo and Jupiter occupies Gemini in both the charts. In the transit chart, both Mars and Ketu, occupy Moola, an asterism of Ketu which is a fiery star. To understand the destruction of Twin towers, we need to know that it was an event involving Fire (in the building), Earth (Skyscrapers) and Air (represented by Airplane).
Rahu is a planet of intrigue, suspense, mystery, conspiracy and killings. The conjunction of Jupiter (4th lord) with Moon and Rahu is indicative of the fact that the destruction of the buildings was due to a well-laid out conspiracy by an international terrorist network.
When it comes to immovable property the D-4 chart is significant. In the USA formation chart, the dasa lord Jupiter is in 4 with 12th lord Sun, while the bhukti lord Moon is in a dustana (the 6th). This indicates the possibility of destruction of an immovable property of World fame in this particular period.

CHRONOLOGY OF TERROR 

8:45 a.m. (all times are EDT): A hijacked passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center, tearing a gaping hole in the building and setting it afire.

9:03 a.m.: A second hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes. Both buildings are burning.

9:17 a.m.: The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City area airports.

9:21 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and tunnels in the New York area closed.

9:40 a.m.: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports,

9:43 a.m.: American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon, sending up a huge plume of smoke. Evacuation begins immediately.

10:10 a.m.: A portion of the Pentagon collapses.

10:10 a.m.: United Airlines Flight 93, also hijacked, crashes in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh.

10:24 a.m.: The FAA reports that all inbound transatlantic aircraft flying into the United States are being diverted to Canada.

10:28 a.m.: The World Trade Center's north tower collapses from the top down as if it were being peeled apart, releasing a tremendous cloud of debris and smoke.

10:45 a.m.: All federal office buildings in Washington are evacuated.

10.46 a.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cuts short his trip to Latin America to return to the United States.

10.48 a.m.: Police confirm the plane crash in Pennsylvania.

11:18 a.m.: American Airlines reports it has lost two aircraft. American Flight 11, a Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles, had 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard. Flight 77, a Boeing 757 enroute from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles, had 58 passengers and six crew members aboard. Flight 11 slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.

11:26 a.m.: United Airlines reports that United Flight 93, enroute from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, California, has crashed in Pennsylvania. The airline also says that it is “deeply concerned” about United Flight 175.

11:59 a.m.: United Airlines confirms that Flight 175, from Boston to Los Angeles, has crashed with 56 passengers and nine crew members aboard. It hit the World Trade Center's south tower.

12:04 p.m.: Los Angeles International Airport, the destination of three of the crashed airplanes, is evacuated.

12:15 p.m.: San Francisco International Airport is evacuated and shut down. The airport was the destination of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

12:15 p.m.: The Immigration and Naturalization Service says U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico are on the highest state of alert, but no decision has been made about closing borders.

12:30 p.m.: The FAA says 50 flights are in U.S. airspace, but none are reporting any problems.

1:27 p.m.: A state of emergency is declared by the city of Washington.

1:44 p.m.: The Pentagon says five warships and two aircraft carriers will leave the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect the East Coast from further attack and to reduce the number of ships in port. The two carriers, the USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy, are headed for the New York coast. The other ships headed to sea are frigates and guided missile destroyers capable of shooting down aircraft.

 

4:10 p.m.: Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex is reported on fire.

 

5:20 p.m.: The 47-story Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex collapses. The evacuated building is damaged when the twin towers across the street collapse earlier in the day. Other nearby buildings in the area remain ablaze.

There are “Secret” indications in the terrorist chart and the Muhurtha chart to decisively conclude that the Twin Towers would meet with its doom in debris, fire, rubble and in an explosion. The 8th house is very significant in any Muhurtha chart. In fact, the 8th house is only next to Lagna in the hierarchy of importance. The inauguration chart has Saturn in Ascendant and Rahu in the 8th. Both are bereft on benefic influences. The presence of Rahu in the 8th in a fiery sign can justifiably give rise to an influence that the “dream towers” would be a sad victim of a conspiracy hatched by ruthless fanatics.

In a Muhurtha chart it is essential that the Moon is placed in a position of dignity. In this chart Moon in the 12th hardly has any power. Further the Thithi is Sukla Dwitiya. The Moon lacks Pakshabala till Shukla Panchami. In olden days any Muhurtha requiring Chandrabala would be fixed only from Shukla Shashti onwards. Even when waning Moon is supposed to be strong till Krishna Panchami it has its digits strong and “Visual perception”isa stronger mode of evidence then “logical Influence”. On this ground, “Shukla Dwitiya” is never encouraged as an auspicious Muhurtha, never mind the fact it is in waxing phase.

The inauguration chart has Jupiter in 9 aspecting the Ascendant. But what good can a debilitated Jupiter do? Just like no help can come from a sick man, emaciated by disease, a weak Jupiter cannot offer solace. Assume for a moment Jupiter is strong in modes other than debilitation. The fact that Jupiter owns 8 and 11 and is a dire enemy of Lagna lord Venus is enough to take away all its merits.

The Navamsa or the D-9 chart is also a significant indicator of events to come. The striking feature of the D-9 chart is an exchange of signs between Jupiter and Venus, whom as we just, own the Ascendant and the 8th and therefore this yoga is no only unwelcome but positively harmful, given the fact, Jupiter and Venus, happen to be dire enemies.

From the USA formation chart where Moon is in Aquarius, the Transit chart has Saturn in 4, a case of Ardhashtama Shani. Here Saturn in 4 is specifically indicative of Skyscrapers. If you consider the Twin Towers inauguration chart, where Moon is in Aries, Saturn occupies the 2nd in the 9/11 transit chart. As we are all quite familiar, transit of Saturday over the 12th, janma and 2nd goes under the “Sade Sati” or the 7.5-year cycle of Saturn. In an Individual chart, this may lead to disease or even death. In the case of a building, it is bound to destroy the superstructure.

If we take the Twin tower inauguration chart for analysis, Mars aspects the 4th house from Lagna, while Saturn aspects the 4th from Moon along with Mars. The Lagna which denotes the subject matter and the 4th which denotes buildings are not adequately fortified.

The litmus test of a good Muhurtha is that both Lagna and the house signifying the event must both be strongly fortified. This is the guiding principle one can infer by reading, the path breaking work, “Muhurtha”- by Dr. B V Raman. In the tragic tale of twin towers all the guiding canons of a good Muhurtha have been skipped. Still, the Muhurtha is not bereft of Merits.

1. Powerful Mercury in 10th
2. Yoga karaka Saturn in Lagna
3. Exalted Venus in 11
4. Jupiter with Mars in 9 - one debilitated and the other exalted
5. Conjunction of Lagna lord with 4th lord in 11.

All these resulted in the reconstruction of the World Trade centre.The consensus opinion was that the prestigious tower could not get killed in the hands of a few terrorists whose sole objective was to subjugate a nations's pride.The new Avatar of the World Trade centre could solely be attributed to the inherent strength of the Muhurtha chart of the Twin Towers.

A New WTC

Plans to build a new WTC were launched shortly after the destruction of the original WTC Towers. Instead of rebuilding the Twin Towers, it was decided to create a memorial at the site and build five new towers around the memorial.

Already in 2006 one of the towers - Seven WTC, a 52 story skyscraper - was completed. The whole complex, including the landmark 1 WTC tower with a symbolic height of 541 meters or 1,776 ft (The US declared its independence from the British in 1776) was completed in 2013. One World Observatory, the observation deck on floors 100 to 102, opened to the public May 29, 2015 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Memorial

A Memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack on the WTC was unveiled on September 11, 2011.The memorial, dubbed 'Reflecting Absence', has cascading waterfalls with illuminated reflecting pools at the exact site of the former towers. The memorial design by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker was chosen during a competition which attracted more than 5200 submissions.
The World Trade Centre is a tribute to the vision of patriots and visionaries who chose to uphold a nation's pride in the face of severe onslaughts. In this process the time tested principles of Astrology find strong support and t he Twin Towers bear ample testimony to the view that cosmic influences play a significant role in guiding the affairs of men the world over.