Astroworld

John Negroponte stepped down as Ambassador to Iraq (his Sun is 27 Cancer) another late degree Cardinal is being shifted. Don't know why he did it but supposedly it was his bodyguards who fired on the Italian Journalists. Pat C suggested the possibility that Italy might have insisted he be gone and that's as good a possibility as any. It seemed rather sudden to me, however so many things seem sudden and strange to me these days. It doesn't really make any difference why "he" thinks he stepped down, he is coming up on some hard aspects with Saturn conjunct his Sun and immediately setting off his Mars/Saturn/Pluto T-square it's best for him that he step off the world stage.

The only way to honestly predict what might happen to leaders is to track and research as many of the masses with late degree Cardinal or early degree fixed and there is plenty of evidence pointing to problems. It is difficult for leaders of a country because they carry the collective intelligence of the nation, and world wide leaders carry the consciousness of obviously the world. To the extent that we feel good about ourselves and where we are individually relates how we feel collectively toward our leaders. Saturn is going to conj. the US Mercury and as a nation we will feel pretty depressed about things so I would look for some bad financial news (Mercury in the 8th) (some astrologers think it will be the bird flu spreading rapidly)

If we (the people) feel badly about our direction we will look to our leaders for solutions and they don't seem to have any. Our entire Government is so disconnected from the people they don't know how to get back and they don't realize how many minds are hardening toward them the Republicans and the Democrats. The Democratic leadership is making a big mistake trying to go "Republican Lite."

I asked Claudia Dikins her take on the Saturn transit and if I could post it here because she picked up the TSaturn incon. TPluto and this is in part her take.

"I wonder if Bush will somehow get traction on his egregious Soc.Sec reform idea when Saturn stations and picks up direct motion speed? Something brutal and depressing is coming down the pike because Saturn will again conjoin the USA's Mercury (depressing news/thoughts/censorship). It will make that quincunx to T-Pluto at about the same time and then oppose ruthless "capitalism" Pluto in Cap. How will Bush use the aforementioned to scare the by-Jesus out of the small fry? What else is going to get taken away? What will be revealed (Mercury) about how bad it really is with the deficit, jobs, wages, medical insurance, etc.?"

It's hard to tell here in "Pleasantville" how many people are awakening to what has been called the "GWB Potempkin Village" and what Buzzflash referred to as "The People Who Sell Toothpaste are now Selling Politics and Politicians," but there are signs.

The NY Times and Washington Post are openly and on their front page calling attention to the pretend news the WH made available to so called real news casts and they ran them as "real news," the Gannon/Guckert story still hangs over the heads of the White House and Peter Goss is whining. These are perfect examples of Neptune Inconjunct the US Sun and Saturn but that foggy energy is leaving the area and we will be soon looking at a Tsunami backwash returning to shore all the gunk and trash it first swept away.

All the information about the last 100 or so years tells us how far afield we have slipped in our democratic ideals. With the repressive desires of the Christian right we are being shown how far we have slipped in our hopes for religous tolerance. So now we know and are learning the worst of ourselves.

I don't see these revealations to be a bad thing at all. Only by looking at the worst of human nature, including us, can we even begin to transmute the energy into a healing force.

There is no doubt that we are at a crossroad in the world and if we survive, and I believe the human race will surive, there will be a history written of this period and the world (Including America) will be judged not by what our leaders did, but by what the people did. Do not look for or expect change to happen here overnight, it's always easier and faster to destroy than it is to rebuild, but change will happen.

Perhaps it's because I'm a Scorpio but I always think it's a good idea to know who an enemy is, what their agenda holds, I don't think it's a good idea to blindly hit into the dark, so I want to know what's in the shadows, unwittingly this administration Republicans and Democrats are showing us the shadows. We don't have all the pieces or all the players but we have an idea of the agenda. Greed, cruelity, seemingly enslavement of the people (at the very least financially) and a shift in the balance of world wide power with a resultant New World Order and there doesn't seem to be too much room for the old the sick, or "the least of these my brothers and sisters."

Knowing this can help in providing the kind of education and pro-active involvement in our communities to counter the night that is trying to close in upon us.

Morgana and Pallas will be addressing the Eclipse in April, but I am somewhat concerned about the Full Moon in March at 5 degrees Aries/Libra, and Venus is Conj. the Sun. This Moon is in a square to the December 26 Earthquake in Indonesia and Jupiter is frighteningly close to the same spot it was then. Once again we have Venus, Sun, Moon, Venus and Jupiter aligning with Earth in Libra. Astrologers who have spent their entire astrological career tracking weather patterns sees this always as a dangerous weather related alignment, specifically earthquakes.

The Full Moon sets up a T-square with the US Venus and Jupiter. Like Richard Nolle says, stay prepared for weather with lots of water and a few days of food.

This is going to be an iffy month for financial issues, I expect more news of countries pulling their money out of the US.

Mercury goes Retrograde next week (ha, make sure your computers are protected) and don't start new deals just review what's already begun and make sure you check and double check appointments so they don't get confused and with Mercury going Retrograde in Aries watch out for sharp instruments as in kitchen accidents. Aries rules the 1st house and Mercury rules the 3rd house so there may be a few fender benders out there. Mercury, Saturn and Pluto all change directions over the next two weeks and that is always an unstable period so take it easy in your everyday lives.

This marks the beginning of the spring and summer problems for the administration and for the US. Uranus will soon square the US Uranus, Pluto inconjuncts the US Mercury. There will be enough upheaval to go around and with Jupiter and Neptune in a trine aspect, there will be enough to hope for better times.

A friend of mine said today she heard a well known lecture say "hope has nothing to do with yesterday or tomorrow, it has to do with this moment in time." I like to string "hope" together minute by minute because when I break it down like that I find hope in each moment.