Astroworld

February 15, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Though the old adage of March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb is often true, it may well be the opposite this year for the Resident in Chief. The planetary configurations for him during the first few weeks of the month bring with them the balmy, warm, and friendly skies of Venus, but as we move into springtime, the political and international atmosphere may feel more like a gigantic hailstorm. I believe that powerful events will transpire that will rock the administration, continuing with aftershocks and profound implications for many months.

In mid March there is an indication of a powerful surge of energy coming to the Democratic Party. This newly aroused fighting spirit should be particularly apparent from the 15th to the 24th. We see this in the Mars/ Pluto conjunction falling on the Pluto/ Moon conjunction of the Inaugural Chart. Pluto rules the seventh house in that chart and therefore represents the opposition party. This conjunction will bring with it difficulties for the administration from angry Democrats since it is also exactly semisquare the Sun in the Inaugural Chart, i.e., the president. Moreover, from the 21st through the 24th Mars will be crossing the progressed Sun of the Democratic Party chart which is currently square natal Mars.

Also significant in late March is the movement of transiting Uranus, the planet of sudden, unpredictable, and often violent action that tends to buck against restriction and dogma. Uranus moving into exact square of Saturn in the Inaugural Chart indicates a series of disruptive and unexpected events that will greatly challenge the administration from late March through July. One aspect of this will most certainly be the escalation of the Middle East conflict, which promises to be severe through at least August. There is a likelihood of domestic and political difficulties as well. The forces of freedom, innovation, and independence (Uranus) will be at war with the restrictive and conservative elements of the administration (first house Saturn).

Interestingly, it is Dick Cheney's chart that shows the most activity and stress during this rather challenging and difficult period. With Uranus conjunct his natal Mercury and square his natal Uranus, he will be in high gear from March through August. Resident Bush's chart, on the other hand, indicates a highly charged period of action during the final week of March and here and there during the following months, but it is Cheney who seems to do all the footwork. This will take an increasing toll on his health that is likely to erupt into a full-blown crisis from January through March of 2002, with a possibility of retirement thereafter. (Cheney's converse progressed Sun quincunx natal Saturn activated by transiting station of Saturn January through March, 2002, followed by transit of Neptune conjunct natal Sun all year.)

Thus, the Shrub will face an increasingly difficult and treacherous world. Early in June his veneer of charm and congeniality will have faded completely never to regain its former luster, though there will be pockets of it from time to time. The inherent conflicts and struggles born in the Inaugural Chart will begin to assert themselves with force as spring progresses into summer and beyond. The Middle East will have challenging repercussions that will not be avoidable or yield to simplistic solutions. And by early 2002, with the Saturn station square his Mars, the Resident-in- Chief will be at an all-time low.

February 15, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Begotten in the tumultuous days of the post election struggle, the Bush Presidency was officially born on January 20, 2001, at noon in Washington, DC. As many astrologers have already noted, the Inauguration Chart indicates a four-year term of tremendous difficulty. Not since the Carter Administration, has an Inaugural Chart augured so poorly for the chief executive. The predominant energies in Bush's birth chart over the next four years are warrior Mars and mystical other-worldly Neptune after an initially joy-filled cloud of charming Venus left over from the campaign. The Inaugural Chart reiterates this rather ominous pattern: a predominance of Mars and Neptune.

Bush spent most of his campaign under tremendously strong Venus energy. This bequeathed him an aura of charm and likeability that overrode many doubts about his competence. The "uniter not divider" theme is totally Venus as is his promise to stop the bipartisan bickering and bring people together. This wonderfully protective shield will be with him through mid-March. After that there will be a myriad of crises to keep him busy, but his Teflon coating and super nice guy aura will be dwindling rapidly and have evaporated completely by June. (The relevant planetary indicators of the above are: converse progressed Venus trine natal Moon exact in late October, 2000; converse progressed Sun square natal Venus exact in mid February, 2001; progressed Mercury conjunct natal Venus exact around January 1, 2001; and transiting Venus which will make a station on Bush's natal Moon Jupiter through mid March. The transit of Uranus opposite Bush's natal Venus through February will serve to further strengthen the powerful converse Sun/Venus progression.)

Also entering the equation immediately after the Inauguration is the transit of Neptune conjunct Bush's Descendant. To someone who already has a natal Sun /Neptune square and a 12th house Sun, such a Neptune transit can bring a real disconnect with reality. Combining this with the already glowing Venus feelings, we have someone who is moved by a self-deceptive euphoria of almost messianic proportions. While Venus is strong, there is very little negative feedback, and Bush continues on his merry way guided by his own inner dream. As has been noted by more than one writer, the Unpresident doesn't worry about a lack of mandate from the people, because he feels he has one from God. Neptune is at full throttle.

Another significant planetary factor in Bush's chart that makes the Neptunian magical fog truly dangerous is the progressed Mars square to the Sun. This brings in a strong, aggressive, and sometimes rash will that does not always think before acting. Combined with the Neptunian lack of reality-based decision making, this Mars progression leads to an assertive pursuit of not very grounded or well thought-out policy. A prime example of this is the reinstitution of the gag order on family planning clinics worldwide. The protection of life is the Neptunian ideal being aggressively sought that is divorced from the reality of the impact of the actual policy: an increase in illegal and often deadly abortions, a decrease in contraception, and an increase in poverty and AIDS. Another example is the Neptunian Faith Based Charities initiative that is being forcefully presented as a panacea but in reality will create a quagmire of bureaucracy and confusion.

Unfortunately, though the charming and friendly Venus will diminish greatly after mid-March, there are Neptune transits and very strong Mars progressions throughout much of the Bush Presidency. (Progressed Mars square the Sun, converse progressed Mars conjunct the Ascendant, and progressed Sun conjunct Mars, cumulatively from 11/00 to 9/05) These energies are mirrored in the Inaugural Chart as well as the US chart (Gemini rising). So much Mars leads me to believe there will be a great deal of military activity throughout the four years as well as fierce battles with the Congress. Anger and demonstrations are also likely in response to rash and aggressively pursued policies. On the other hand, the enormous amount of Neptune indicates a tendency to muddled thinking and decisions based on some idealized and vague philosophy rather than fact and a realistic appraisal of the situation.

In addition to its disconnected and otherworldly qualities, Neptune also suggests loss, scandal, confusion, and disillusionment. Significantly, Neptune will be transiting the all-important Midheaven of the US Gemini chart in 2004 while at the same time quincunxing Bush's and the country's Sun. The Midheaven in a nation's chart is indicative of its ruler as well as the nation's prestige. I fear that George Bush will end his presidency in a whimper, having led our country to a loss of respect and power in the world during his time in office that will be the great task of the next administration to heal.

February 15, 2001

Alas for Bill Clinton, he is once more caught in the midst of scandal and confusing circumstance. The Marc Rich pardon has reignited the fiery and self-righteous fury of his rabid enemies and confounded and angered many of his friends. Although the current frenzy will calm considerably by mid-March, misinterpretation, confusion, and scandal will continue to swirl around our former president from time to time until the beginning of next January (2002). By late spring of 2002, the Comeback Kid will find his stride once more and his life will begin to truly flower again.

February 18, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Since the Inauguration of George Bush, transiting Mercury has twice crossed the exact degree of the tenth house Uranus in the Inaugural Chart, activating the natal conjunction between these two planets. The first time, on January 22, coincided with the unexpected announcement that funds would be cut from all family-planning clinics worldwide that mentioned the word “abortion” to their clients, the reinstitution of the notorious “gag” rule abandoned by President Clinton in 1993. This was a veritable bombshell and provoked a furious response from many quarters both nationally and internationally. The second time was on February 16, when the administration precipitously carried out significant air strikes against Iraq destroying several radar installations. Once again, a huge outcry resulted from numerous countries around the globe, and Saddam promised retribution.

Uranus is the planet of unexpected, tumultuous situations that can bring sweeping change in a moment. Conjunct Mercury, it brings quick and incisive thinking that is attuned to its own truth and not overly concerned with the reaction of others. The Uranus/Mercury conjunction in the Inaugural chart, however, becomes problematic because it is in square aspect (a stressful relationship) to two very troublesome planets. Connected by a tight square to Mars, it signifies poor judgement, rash action, violence, and the possibility of war. Connected by a wider square to Saturn (which in turn opposes Mars), we find obstacles, difficulties, and criticism that press against the determined and aggressive Mars/Mercury/Uranus energies causing continual conflict.

From March 5 through March 7, transiting Mercury will make its final pass across Uranus at 19 Aquarius. A few days later, from about March 11 through April 1, we can expect another and far more powerful stimulation of Inaugural Uranus, this time by tertiary progressed Mercury. (Tertiary progressions are based on one day equals one month, rather than the one day equals one year technique of secondary progressions.) This Mercury/Uranus combination will be intensely activated by transiting Mars from the 25th through the 29th from 19 Sagittarius. If we look at the Resident-in-Chief’s chart, we see corroborating evidence of a tense, aggression-filled, high stakes period from March 24 through 29: progressed Ascendant (19 Virgo) square natal Uranus (19 Gemini) being strongly activated by the same transiting Mars (19 Sagittarius). Thus, the last week of March promises to be the violent culmination of a very tense and controversial month for the administration.

On August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, there was a Mars/Pluto opposition at 14 degrees Taurus/Scorpio. On March 18, 2001, there will be a Mars/Pluto conjunction at 15 Sagitarius16. This is a highly inflammatory and violent aspect that may well augur the beginning of an explosive and painful episode on our planet for the next several months. As we can see from the above, the United States will be involved right from the beginning. Moreover, the tertiary progressed Mars coming to exact square of Uranus in the Bush Inauguration chart from early June through the end of July indicates a very volatile period of war and violence in the summer. This is especially likely in light of the turbulent planetary alignments during that same period and the many national charts that are set off by them: including the charts of Israel, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and the PLO. One can only hope that the tendency toward rash and explosive action found in the Inaugural chart and activated over the next few months will not exacerbate what already promises to be a very dangerous situation.

February 22, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

It has been a dismal time for the Democrats. Their true leader has been shafted by a right-wing coup that threatens the country’s prestige abroad and its prosperity at home. Their former leader has been drowned in the swamp of a malicious smear campaign in order to divert attention from the self-serving policies of the corporate cabal now running the government. Their leaders in the Congress have been induced into a semi-hypnotic trance by the offensive charm of the Backslapper-in-Chief. It has truly been a dismal time. But all things eventually change, and there is a shift in the wind coming for the Democrats.

Using the stars and planets as a guide, we can piece together some indications of the unfolding themes in the Democratic political scene. The first planet we need to understand is Saturn, the planet of difficulty, loss, and critical self-examination. Saturn years are lean years, a time of contraction and constriction. The temptation is to despair; the challenge is to repair the weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Since June 2000, the following charts have been under the frustrating, difficult, and demanding influence of Saturn: the Democratic Party, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and, to a lesser extent, Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt. Each of these charts has at least one significant position between 23 and 28 degrees of the fixed signs, degrees impacted strongly by Saturn since last spring. As of mid-March, the saturnine influence will begin to wane in these consequential Democratic charts, the last painful piece being the first week of April when Saturn squares the 28 degree Aquarius Moon in the Democratic Party chart. (It is worth noting that the last time Saturn crossed this degree was on November 7, when many Democrats felt their right to vote had been literally stolen by electoral shenanigans in Florida and other states. In the early days of April an angry outcry over some other issue might be heard from upset democrats.)

Interestingly, as Saturn moves away, two other planetary energies, Uranus and Mars, come into focus in the Democratic Party chart and the charts of the Democratic leaders in Congress, Tom Daschle (December 9, 1947) and Dick Gephardt (January 31, 1941). (Gore and Clinton will not feel the impact of Uranus until 2002.) Uranus tends to upset the status quo, bringing sudden and swift change as well as overwhelming and unexpected events. Those under its influence are likely to be rebellious, progressive, and determined. Hence, we can expect a major shift from the Democrats, beginning in March, as they move away from stodgy and cautious Saturn towards rebellious, idealistic, and independent Uranus. Swiftly moving and tumultuous events will also have a decisive impact. (Positions receiving strong Uranus transits during the next several months are: Democratic Party Sun, Pluto, Jupiter, and progressed Uranus; Daschle Saturn, Node, and Uranus; and Gephardt Uranus. There are much stronger positions coming for Gephardt in 2003 and 2004.)

The other relevant planetary presence in the coming months is Mars, which brings courage, combativeness, strife, and dynamic energy. We are currently entering a period during which Mars, from the perspective of the Earth, slows down and stays in the same area of the sky for several months. Such periods, which come roughly every two years, frequently bring much aggression and violence. In the Democratic Party chart the progressed Sun (17 Sagittarius) is currently in square aspect to natal Mars (17 Virgo). The combative quality this represents will grow much stronger through the end of the year as this progression becomes exact. Because the coming Mars retrograde period falls in Sagittarius, it will activate the Democratic Party progressed Sun/Mars square, especially during the last ten days of March and during the period from June through August. Significantly, Senator Daschle’s Sun falls at 17 Sagittarius, and Rep. Gephardt’s Mars falls at 18 Sagittarius. Thus, both are likely to manifest the action of Mars, i.e., forcefulness and courage, in the Democratic Party chart this year. As Saturn’s gloom begins to dispel for the Democrats in the next six weeks, we can expect these two men to connect with a fighting spirit and rally the Democrats in Congress to stand firm on matters of significance to us all.

March 2, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

During the mid-twentieth century, after decades of increasing tension between Arab and Jewish nationalists in Palestine, the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The following day troops from Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt entered the country, occupying areas not yet controlled by the nascent government and attempting to blockade Jerusalem. Thus, Israel was born, amidst a swirl of violence and resistance to its very being. The controversy over its existence continues to this day. To Jews Israel is seen as the fulfillment of the hopes and aspirations of the Jewish people, a nation founded on the soil of their ancient homeland. To the Arabs it represents an alien and hostile presence, forcibly established within Arab dominion.

In the astrological chart for Israel we find the Sun (the government) in the seventh house, indicating the continual focus on relationships with other countries as a central theme. Because the Sun is in square aspect to both Saturn and Mars, these relationships are fraught with hostility and violence (Mars) as well as obstacles, struggle, and restrictions (Saturn). There is an ongoing tension in this configuration that manifests as these planets get activated by progressions and transits over the course of time.

Another extremely important configuration in the chart of Israel is the Uranus/Jupiter opposition that ties in harmoniously to Mars through the sextile and trine aspects, respectively. Although the Jupiter/Uranus opposition can bring about tensions between the traditional religious forces (Jupiter) and the forces of unorthodoxy and freedom (Uranus), the strong harmonious aspects to Mars also indicate a tremendously creative, bold, and energetic power.

Interestingly, these two planetary configurations often get activated at the same time because the Sun (24 Taurus) and Uranus (24 Gemini) share the same degree from two different signs. Although their relationship is only a weak semi-sextile, transits or progressions to the 24th degree of any sign will activate both planets simultaneously. Historically, many of these occasions have coincided with significant and dramatic military engagements. Some examples are: the 1956 invasion of the Sinai by Israel, France, and Great Britain (progressed Mercury 24 Gemini, transiting Jupiter 23 Virgo); the early 1967 bombardment of territories by Syria (transiting Uranus 24 Virgo) and the subsequent June Six Day War (Uranus had retrograded back to 20 Virgo); the Yom Kippur War of October, 1973 (Uranus 23 Libra); and the invasion of Lebanon including the bombing of Beirut in June, 1982 (Pluto 24 Libra, Neptune 25 Sagittarius, retrograde). In addition, it should be noted that every one of these events (with the exception of the early 1967 bombardments) occurred during a Mars retrograde cycle. This astrological phenomenon occurs for a few months every two years and frequently brings intensification of hostilities to vulnerable parts of the world.

With this background in mind, let us look at the current astrological situation as it pertains to Israel. One factor that spells trouble is the biennial Mars retrograde period that will go into effect around mid-March, beginning with a rather intense and volatile Mars/Pluto conjunction, and continuing through August. Mars retrograde periods almost always signify a time of increasing belligerence and strife somewhere in the world.

Another factor that points more specifically to Israel in the coming months is a powerful Mars progression in the Israeli chart. As of the summer of 2000 and waxing until about March 2002, progressed Mars (23 Virgo) remains in a square aspect with natal Uranus (24 Gemini). The beginning of this progression coincides roughly with the declaration of intifada against Israel in September by the Arabs and may be linked to the corresponding increase in violence that has occurred since. Progressed Mars square Uranus brings together two highly inflammatory energies and suggests great turbulence, violence, and unexpected and disruptive events. The timing of these events often occurs when transiting planets activate the exact degree of the progression. Unfortunately, the period from late March through August brings with it repeated and forceful activation by several planets: Mars crosses 24 Sagittarius three times during April, May, and June; Uranus will be crossing 23-24 Aquarius almost continually from late March through July; and Jupiter will cross 23-24 Gemini through the middle weeks of June. Each of these transits on its own is significant, especially the Uranus square to the Israeli Sun. Taken in combination and with the Mars progression, they indicate a period of intensified conflict that will include sudden, violent, and explosive situations, possibly for several months. The Middle East, and Israel in particular, will thus be facing grave and dangerous challenges during the spring and summer of 2001. By September, with the passing of the retrograde Mars period, we can hope for the situation to quiet somewhat.

March 7, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Vice President Dick Cheney's recurrent health issues have generated much concern and upset in recent days. Speculation about his imminent resignation and potential successor is rampant. Nonetheless, astrology suggests (at least to me) that he will remain in office until the beginning of next year. At that point, a significant health crisis may develop which forces him to consider resignation.

A brief look at the Vice President’s chart for health indicators reveals two significant factors. The first is the sixth house Sun that forms one of the squares of a fixed T-square in the chart. The sixth house is the house of daily routines, both work and health related. Having the Sun in the 6th often implies concerns that require the individual to conscientiously structure his daily habit patterns in order to maintain health. When a sixth house Sun forms one of the squares in a T formation, tremendous stress and tension is experienced by the individual in the domain of the sixth house, and difficult and recurrent health problems can result especially during a powerful transit or progression.

The second factor in the Vice President’s chart that indicates problems in the area of health is the tight square between Uranus, the ruler of the sixth house, and Mercury, the ruler of the Ascendant. A square between these two rulers indicates a dynamic tension between the individual and his struggle to maintain a healthy balanced lifestyle. It further indicates that health issues will erupt suddenly and forcefully (Uranus), especially when there is a significant stimulation of Uranus. On March 6, the day of Cheney’s recent cardiac procedure, transiting Uranus was 22Aquarius09, exactly square his natal Uranus at 22Taurus09.

In order to consider future health-related problems for the Vice President, we should examine the following: problematic or highly stimulating aspects to the ruler of the sixth house, Uranus; planetary action impacting either the Ascendant or its ruler, Mercury; and difficult planetary configurations involving the Sun. We have already seen that the exact transit of Uranus square natal Uranus brought Cheney a trip to the hospital. This transit will return in the last weeks of August and the first few days of September and may well bring a repeat performance, especially around August 23rd when it is strengthened by Mars’ position. Uranus returns for the final transit in December, exact on the 24th, amid more problematic planetary conditions.

In the coming months Uranus, bringer of the unexpected and the unpredictable, will cross the degree of Cheney’s Mercury (ruler of the Ascendant) remaining there for an extended period, from late March through early July. In addition, the warrior planet, Mars, will be crossing Cheney’s natal Mars and squaring his Moon from late March through August. Thus, the Vice President will be on a rollercoaster of activity, stress, and highly volatile situations during the spring and summer months. Although these transits will stimulate powerful mental energy and forceful action, they will take their toll as well, as indicated by yet another significant planetary configuration of the coming months: converse progressed Sun quincunx Saturn.

As the year winds down, Cheney’s converse progressed Sun (8 Sagittarius) moves into a quincunx (150 degree aspect) of his natal Saturn (8 Taurus) indicating increased limitation, fatigue, and burden (Saturn). This progression will be unfolding in the summer of 2001 and grow in intensity until July 2002. The transiting Saturn station of late December, January, and February at 8-9 Gemini is likely to trigger it. Simultaneously, we will see the final pass of Uranus square Cheney’s Uranus (ruler of the sixth house of health) in late December and the final pass of Uranus conjunct Cheney’s Mercury in January and early February. It is around this December – February period that a possible major health crisis looms.

By March, Neptune, the planet of dissolution, will begin its year-long transit of Cheney’s Sun, indicating a more drifting, unfocused period, no longer caught up in the exigencies of politics. At the same time the converse progressed Sun will be moving into closer aspect to Saturn implying greater limitation. It should be noted here that the Sun in astrology is symbolic of the heart, and health issues relating to the heart often show up in transits and progressions to the natal Sun. Thus, a possible scenario emerges for the Vice President of increasing restriction and possible crisis around the turning of the year that may force the need for a less stressful lifestyle as we move into Spring 2002.

March 18, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The noxious aroma of soft-money payback has left its potent stench in several Bush administration and Congressional GOP initiatives lately. The coal industry, which gave 3.8 million dollars to the Republican Party in the last election, is gloating over the recent reversal of Bush’s promise to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. The banking and credit card industries are delighted with the new bankruptcy "reform" bill that protects them rather than the bankrupt. United Parcel Service, which gave over a million dollars to the GOP recently, will be a major beneficiary of the repeal of ergonomic regulation originally created by former President Clinton to minimize repetitive stress and other work-related injuries in workers. And finally, California, currently reeling from an energy crisis with no immediate end in sight, would benefit greatly from the few months’ respite that temporary price caps would give. However, those Texas energy companies that are making millions off of California’s woes were some of Bush’s biggest contributors. It is this kind of legalized bribery and extortion that the McCain-Feingold bill is attempting to thwart by making unrestricted, huge donations from corporations, unions, and individuals illegal.

One way to gauge the success or failure of the campaign finance reform legislation is to look at the chart of Senator John McCain. There we find numerous indications that John McCain will be a very happy man in the coming months. This to me suggests successful passage of the McCain-Feingold bill as well as increased prominence for Senator McCain.

According to the available birth data, John McCain has a Libra Ascendant and a Cancer Midheaven. This gives greater significance to transits and progressions that include Venus, the ruler of Libra, and the Moon, the ruler of Cancer. Activity involving Venus will have an impact on McCain’s direct, personal experience of the world. Activity involving the Moon, including the movement of the progressed and converse progressed Moon, will describe his evolving public position. What we find in the coming months is a tremendous amount of energy coming to both natal Venus and progressed Venus that will put McCain boldly but sympathetically in the spotlight. (Progressed Venus at 12 Sagittarius is trine natal Mars at 12 Leo, peaking around May 1st. Progressed Mars is conjunct natal Venus at 22 Virgo, waxing until November, 2001.) These are very strong "feel-good" progressions that will be activated by various transits, especially during the first and third weeks of April by transits from Mars and then Jupiter. The progressed Moon square to natal Venus in May will also activate the progression of Mars to natal Venus bringing an entire month of strong positive feelings and successful career experience. This continues over into mid-June with the converse progressed Moon moving into conjunction of natal Venus.

Another planetary indicator of McCain’s current prominence is the transit of Pluto to his natal Jupiter. Already active for the past two months, this transit will continue at maximum intensity through mid-April and then return briefly in December. Pluto here is expanding and intensifying Jupiter’s already excellent oratory skill (Jupiter is near the cusp of and rules the 3rd house of communication) and accessing it to huge numbers of people. This is evidenced by McCain’s frequent appearances of late on the news and talk shows as well as the likely coverage of the Senate debate over the campaign finance legislation.

The only suggestion I find in Senator McCain’s chart of uncomfortable feelings comes with the progressed Moon square to Saturn that peaks around March 19 and then recedes. This intimates his concern over the fate of his bill and over the potential weakening of support demonstrated by some Democrats in recent weeks. Because this progression is exact just as the debate begins, it indicates more anticipatory anxiety than actual opposition beyond the first day or so. Also worthy of note is the progressed Sun opposition to natal Uranus that was exact around mid-March. This brought with it the shock and "blindsiding" of the alternative bill offered by Senator Hagel and supported by Resident Bush. The presence of the Hagel bill also contributed to the sorrow and concern indicated by progressed Moon opposite Saturn.

Thus, it seems that while the negative energies are about to wane, an extraordinary confluence of positive forces are about to envelop John McCain. The Senator from Arizona is soon likely to be basking in the triumph of one of the great accomplishments of his career.

March 25, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The Powell and Rumsfeld Disconnect

In recent weeks much has been made of the apparent disconnect between the moderate and pragmatic Secretary of State Colin Powell and other more ideologically conservative members of the Bush administration. When Secretary Powell publicly promulgated a continuation of Clinton’s Korea policy, he was quickly overruled by Bush administration hard-liners. Other strategic disagreements between Powell and the Bush top echelon, most notably concerning the sanctions in Iraq and the US presence in the Balkans, have also been noted in the press. The question lingers: will Powell be able to work successfully and persuasively within this administration or will he be shut out from the real decision-making and perhaps eventually resign?

Using astrology to take a glimpse at the relationships between some of the major players in the Bush administration, much insight may be gained. In this first section we will look at the interaction between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. When the astrology charts of these two men are compared, we find some very difficult configurations. Most noticeable is the tremendous competition between the two men represented by the Sun square Sun and the Mars opposite Mars. Because both the Sun and Mars symbolize aspects of aggressive, assertive energy, the conflict implied by these two aspects indicates a real struggle for dominance.

Also significant is the Aquarian Moon square Venus in Taurus in Powell’s chart, revealing a rather emotional and sensitive nature somewhat hidden by the seemingly aloof Aquarius. Rumsfeld’s Saturn falls exactly on this configuration (conjunct Powell’s Moon and square his Venus), causing a great deal of emotional discomfort and strain for Powell. Thus, the interaction between Powell and Rumsfeld suggested in a comparative reading of their charts indicates strong competition, differing goals, and a repressed and restricted feeling connection, especially for Powell.

These themes are confirmed and intensified by the Powell/Rumsfeld composite planetary positions. (A composite chart is a separate chart created by the midpoints between like positions in two charts). Here we find the extremely problematic T configuration of Saturn squaring both Sun/ Venus and the Moon which in turn oppose each other. (The Moon may be off up to 3 degrees in either direction due to the lack of a birth time for Powell.) A Sun /Saturn square in a composite chart indicates two people at cross-purposes. Often one will be more dominant and critical, the other more repressed and resentful. In any event, they will be going in different directions and have different goals. Both the Moon/Saturn and the Venus/Saturn squares indicate a stifled emotional connection and a lack of basic affinity and understanding. Hence, as with the chart comparison, we find a strained personal relationship as well as competition and struggle professionally.

Due to significant planetary transits, the Powell/Rumsfeld relationship will undergo some troubled times in the near future as well as in 2003. Saturn will be transiting the composite T-square during the last ten days of April and during the first two weeks of May. There will likely be great tension between the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State during this period, though it may not be made public. Of greater consequence will be the Uranus transit hitting the composite T-square March, 2003, through February, 2004. This coincides at least in part with a converse progressed Sun square to Uranus in Powell’s chart. Taken together, these aspects indicate severe perturbations between the two men. Powell may well rebel against the repressive aspect of this relationship during 2003 and stand more firmly on his own ideas despite the consequences.

Bush and Rumsfeld in Lockstep

In contrast to the extremely difficult relationship that exists between Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld, astrology indicates an extraordinarily warm and attuned connection between Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush. In both the comparative chart analysis and the composite chart we find that the Resident and his Secretary of Defense enjoy both shared ideas and shared goals, as well as an affectionate and gratifying personal tie. Between the charts we see harmonious connections such as: Ascendant trine Ascendant (personality), Sun conjunct Sun (goals), Mercury conjunct Mercury/Pluto (ideas), Jupiter conjunct Venus (affection), and Jupiter trine Midheaven (Rumsfeld’s planets are listed first), all indicative of a strong and mutually beneficial bond.

Once again we find that the composite chart reconfirms and adds to the information found in the chart comparison. In the Bush/Rumsfeld composite several interesting factors emerge. The composite Venus/Mars conjunction at 26 Cancer suggests a highly charged and intense emotional rapport. This conjunction falls in the same degree as Bush’s Saturn, energizing him and moving him away from his own fears or doubts. The composite Moon/ Ascendant conjunction is another indicator of very prominent emotions and shared feelings. These men are truly attuned to each other.

Perhaps the most interesting and potentially dangerous aspect in the composite chart is the very tight Jupiter/Neptune conjunction (20 Virgo). This lends an almost magical or mystical feel to the relationship, though it may not be spoken of openly. It may contribute to some kind of inspired sense of mission or a spiritual sense of communion. According to Rob Hand in his wonderful book Planets in Composite, the combination of composite Jupiter and Neptune can lead to unrealistic risk-taking. “It produces a sense of well-being that may make the two (people) feel that (they) cannot lose.” This is highly significant in a relationship between a Secretary of Defense and a President. From March 29 through April 1 transiting Mars will be square this conjunction. May 28 through June 3 Jupiter will square it. Mars will return on June 16 through 20 and again August 14 through 19. Intense and powerful Pluto will be squaring it throughout much of 2004. Each of these transits could well stimulate the blindly optimistic and otherworldly quality inherent in composite Jupiter/Neptune. Thus, we will have ample opportunity to witness how far the Bush/Rumsfeld magical sense of destiny and shared ideals will go in their risky, unrealistic, and potentially dangerous ventures.

Powell and Bush

In the Bush/Powell relationship we find several contradictory themes. On the one hand, Powell’s Aries Sun, which seeks to assertively engage the world, is square Bush’s Cancer Sun, which seeks retreat and self-protection, implying goals that are not in synch and a certain amount of conflict in the attempt to pursue disparate aims. On the other hand, Powell’s Sun opposes Bush’s Moon/Jupiter conjunction in Libra, giving Powell the sense of Bush’s receptivity (Moon) to Powell’s core goals (Sun) and ideas as well as a convivial and expansive (Jupiter) connection. In other words, Powell suffers from the inherent contradictions and conflict in Bush’s natal Sun/Moon square. It is likely we are seeing this play out when Powell, in confidence, proclaims one policy, only to be cut off at the knees by a contradictory policy coming out of the White House in short order.

An important aspect of Powell’s brilliance can be seen in his natal chart in the T-square of Mercury, Jupiter, and Pluto, with Mercury at the T. A Pluto/Jupiter opposition brings great depth as well as breadth of understanding. Linked to and expressing through the mental abilities of Mercury, this configuration brings considerable mental acuity, substance, and capacity for self-expression. Because George Bush has Saturn exactly conjunct Powell’s Pluto (and therefore in close hard aspect to his Jupiter and Mercury as well), Bush has a dampening effect on Powell’s expression of his prodigious mental capacity and a limiting influence on his power (Pluto). But Powell’s Mercury also falls on Bush’s MC (career point), thus in many ways expressing Bush’s projection of himself in the world. And so, once again, Powell is caught in the inherent contradiction between two aspects of Bush’s character: his Saturn which represents his more conservative, distrustful, and isolationist tendencies, and his Aries MC, which moves to push him aggressively out into the world.

The real potential for conflict and a subsequent break between the Resident-in-Chief and his Secretary of State shows up in their composite chart. Here we find a very stressful Saturn (27 Taurus), Uranus (28 Taurus), and Sun (29 Taurus) conjunction. One person in the relationship wants to be free and unfettered (Uranus/Powell) while the other restrains and represses (Saturn/Bush). In the meantime, tension builds under the surface and open communication is restricted until a major planetary transit causes the whole thing to erupt into open conflict.

Given the recent lack of cohesion in policy between Powell and the administration alluded to in the press, it is not surprising that transiting Saturn is currently crossing the composite Saturn/Uranus/Sun (mid-March through mid-April). This intensifies the limiting and repressive nature of the composite triple conjunction, and so we see Powell holding himself in check and docilely following the administration’s lead. Thunderclouds will begin to rumble, however, beginning in April, 2002, when transiting Uranus begins squaring this volatile configuration continuing until December, 2003. Stress in the Powell/Rumsfeld relationship is also indicated during 2003 due to the same Uranus transit. In addition, somewhere during 2003 Powell’s converse progressed Sun will go into square of his natal Uranus (without a birth time I cannot pinpoint the exact timing of this progression) intensifying his personal impulse toward independence and lack of restriction. We can, therefore, expect tremendous tension to erupt between Powell and the administration, most likely in 2003, that may well lead to open conflict and resignation. The pressure will be enormous on Powell to no longer compromise his principles and his vision.

April 1, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Tertiary progressions provide an effective means of progressing a birth chart that represents a short and defined period of time such as a four-year presidential term. Over the life of such a chart, there are generally not enough years to glean much information from secondary progressions, the one day equals one year technique. With tertiary progressions, however, we are able to use the ratio of one day equals one month with very fruitful results.

We have seen how the three transits of Mercury to natal Uranus in the Inaugural Chart caused a great stir during the early weeks of the Bush Residency. The first brought the reinstitution of the gag rule, the second brought the bombing of Iraq, and the third brought the angioplasty of Vice President Cheney with its accompanying denials of seriousness. In each case, the event was sudden and unexpected (Uranus) and was followed by tremendous public concern and criticism (Mercury/Uranus receives a square from Mars).

The tertiary progressed Mercury that reached its exact conjunction to Uranus during the last three weeks of March exemplified much the same pattern. It brought in its wake numerous policies (Mercury) from the Bush administration that were sudden, unexpected, and contrary to the general mood of the public (Uranus) and that were followed by public anger and enormous criticism (Mars). Among these were the abandonment of carbon dioxide regulations, the repeal of arsenic in drinking water regulations, the withdrawal of support from the Korean negotiations, the repeal of ergonomic regulations, and other such pro-industry and anti-humanitarian policies too numerous to list. The most egregious action taken under this progression and the one that produced the greatest outcry from all across the globe was the withdrawal of the United Sates from the Kyoto Protocol, an international process of many years duration working to halt the destructive process of global warming. This came on March 28 when tertiary progressed Mercury was almost exact in its conjunction to natal Uranus (19Aquarius) and was activated by transits from Mars (19 Sagittarius) and the Moon (19 Taurus).

Coming in June and July (exact on July 24th) there will be a tertiary progression of Mars reaching its exact square to Uranus in the Inaugural chart. We have already seen this Mars in action in the angry and critical response evoked both nationally and internationally by the policies of the Bush administration. This progression suggests that the anger will reach a fevered pitch and perhaps become violent during the summer months. The period from about June 20 to 26 looks especially difficult, dangerous, and tumultuous in that the tertiary progressed Moon will reach its conjunction to Uranus during that time, intensifying the Mars square. It is worth noting that natal Mars is in the seventh house of open enemies, and, therefore, the open hostilities represented by this progression might involve either foreign or domestic adversaries, or both. This progression also coincides with the powerful planetary opposition of Jupiter and Mars and the equally powerful retrograde station of Mars in July. These configurations indicate a rather brutal period for the administration and for the country.

Several further planetary aspects running concurrent to differing parts of the volatile and violent tertiary progressed Mars square to Inaugural Uranus suggest that this will be a very difficult time for the Bush administration. Running from late May through the first nine days of June, the transiting Pluto quincunx to Bush’s natal Sun activates his progressed Mars square to the Sun. This indicates the potential for very aggressive and perhaps rash action on the part of the Resident-in-Chief. Also in June and reaching greatest intensity around the 27th, is the very significant tertiary progressed Inaugural Sun (representing the ruler) conjunction with natal Neptune, the planet of illusion, loss, confusion, and scandal. Though Bush may begin the month with grandiose and dangerous schemes (Neptune combined with the activation of progressed Mars/Sun square), by month’s end he will be in a weakened and confused state (Neptune) in response to the tumult and anger around him (tertiary progressed Mars square Uranus). There is a potential for scandal, loss, and disgrace. National prestige will also be at risk. This chaos and perceived weakness will continue to some degree throughout July while Neptune retrogrades back across Bush’s Descendant.

The end of June and early July also brings with it the first phase of a difficult Saturn transit for Bush, when the planet of frustration and limitation squares his Mars and sesquiquadrates his Midheaven. This transit will be returning with greater force in December, 2001, through March, 2002, and indicates the first real brakes put on the Bush administration, causing him to tread more carefully. It will bring difficulties and major setbacks, especially at the turn of the year.

In summary, June and July bring to Dubya a time of great anger and protest potentially acted out in some form of belligerence by either domestic or foreign adversaries. The period from June 20th through 26th is especially treacherous. After a period of overly bold and possibly aggressive action by the administration, the events of June may lead to a time of retreat, loss, confusion and possible scandal in the midst of great criticism and outrage. It is conceivable that the tumultuous circumstances of the coming summer and Bush’s inadequate response to them may well remain imprinted on the national psyche for a long time and signal a turning point downward for his administration.

April 13, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Al Gore has been noticeably quiet in the last few months, while our current White House Resident unabashedly marauds the country. We know that the valiant former vice president has been teaching courses, and, more recently, we have learned he will be spearheading a political action committee that will fund green candidates. But certain questions linger in the air around him like the promise of coming spring after a heavy April rain. How will his public presence evolve over the next three and a half years? And, more importantly, will he be able to seize the torch and run with it to become the next president of the United States?

To understand the future, we must first take a brief look at the past election (very brief, I promise). To my mind, Gore lost the election (or at least did not make it to the White House) due to two very difficult planetary transits that dogged him from early in 2000 until March 2001. The first, Neptune conjunct the Descendant, made it difficult for Gore to get a firm footing in an appropriate political persona that truly resonated with his inner being. It also made it easy for the pernicious character assassination tactics of Karl Rove, Bush's chief henchman, to stick. This transit began to wane in early December 2000, when many reported their first glimpse of the power, focus, and unswerving strength of the real Al Gore. The Neptunian candidate was gone.

The second challenging planetary configuration to trouble the former vice president was that of Saturn crossing his tenth-house Venus, which lasted from June 2000 through March 2001. The attraction power of Venus is key to winning an election in a media-obsessed world. In each of the past three presidential elections, the winner has had exceedingly strong Venus progressions, upping his "attraction quotient" enormously. Having Saturn on Venus, on the other hand, tends to diminish the charm and charisma natural to Venus, causing a person to feel somewhat stiff, cautious, and inhibited. The easy-going extroversion of the proverbial successful candidate is hard to access.

As of late March 2001, two shifts have come to the planetary alignments affecting Al Gore. Saturn has moved away from his natal Venus, allowing for a more relaxed and comfortable feeling, and his new solar return (birthday chart) indicates an energetic, charismatic, and successful year. As we gain glimpses of the former vice president in the coming months, we will see a man of vision and prodigious creativity, furthering his goals and objectives in group situations (the solar return Sun is in the 11th house and very well aspected). Al Gore will continue this trend over the next few years, with some periods of time more difficult and frustrating and others more productive and fruitful, as he builds his power base.

Come 2004, we will see a coalescence of several planetary configurations that will likely carry Al Gore into the presidency. Two very strong Venus progressions (progressed Venus square natal Sun and progressed Jupiter quincunx natal Venus), already in effect since early 2003, will bring forth all the warmth and charm needed in a successful candidate, while a transit of Pluto trine his Midheaven, that runs from January 2004 through September 2005, will intensify and expand his position of power and prestige. These fortunate aspects are especially strong during November, 2004. Moreover, there are numerous other significant and promising planetary configurations in late 2004 and beyond that also indicate Al Gore will be the country's choice for the next four-year term. With the extraordinary power and penetrating vision of Pluto and the popularity of Venus, he will have the potential to repair a great deal of the damage that is currently emanating from Washington and restore the presidency to the dignity and respect the position warrants.

April 21, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

In the October 1949 chart of the People's Republic of China, there is a Mars/Pluto conjunction in the 7th house, the area that describes relations with other countries. Mars/Pluto in this position suggests a belligerent, aggressive, and suspicious quality in China's relationships. This tone is set by China but also perceived by it as coming from abroad. Furthermore, Mars and Pluto are co-rulers of the Scorpio Midheaven of the Chinese chart. The all-important Midheaven and the planet(s) that rule it describe the government of a nation and the reputation of that nation in the world. With a Mars/Pluto conjunction ruling the Scorpio Midheaven from the 7th house, we see a government defined by suspicion (Pluto) of enemies (7th house) which it aggressively seeks to combat (Mars). These qualities are in evidence in China's relationship to its own population in its aggressive suppression of all perceived opposition (Tiananmen Square and Falung Gong, for example) as well as in its generally bellicose and distrustful attitude to other nations.

The recent escalation of tension between the United States and China may be understood in light of the activation of both Pluto and Mars simultaneously in the Chinese chart. The Chinese converse progressed Sun is currently conjunct natal Pluto. The power of this significant progression has been waxing in strength for several months and will peak around the beginning of June, thereafter waning in strength. The Sun's progression to Pluto here suggests an increase in the power struggles within the government, as well as an increase in the manipulative and suspicious tendencies of the government toward any perceived opposition.

The Mars half of the natal Mars/Pluto conjunction in the Chinese chart is presently being activated by the transit of Pluto trine natal Mars. This came into effect in January 2001 just as a new, hard-line conservative administration with its own bellicose rhetoric took control in Washington. Although this is a trine aspect, it is nonetheless inflammatory due to the natal conjunction of Mars and Pluto that lends Mars a particular sensitivity to any activation from Pluto. This transit activates the innate tendency for strained relations with a foreign country and increases martial rhetoric. The retrograde movement of Pluto across the exact aspect is at its most intense from the end of March through April 25, which exactly coincides with the crisis of the American crew held hostage in China and the rather tense aftermath of that situation. It may further be activated to a lesser extent by the Jupiter/Pluto opposition in the first week of May (14 Gemini/Sagittarius39) which falls about 14 minutes past the exact trine to Mars (14Leo53).

We can infer from the above that the activation of both Mars and Pluto simultaneously in the natal Chinese chart is likely to increase suspicions, anger, and aggressive rhetoric and action. These qualities are most intense from late March through April 25, 2001, with some possibility of reemerging during the first half of May with the Jupiter/Pluto opposition. As we move into June, the power of the converse progressed Sun conjunct Pluto begins to wane as does that of the Pluto transit, and we may expect some decrease in the general tenor of suspicion and need to control on the part of the Chinese, at least in the immediate future.

April 28, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

While struggling California suffers through a raging energy crisis, the current misadministration acts as if the beleaguered state is a foreign country. The noble federal spirit of unity and support in times of crisis no longer stretches 3000 miles west from Washington. Perhaps it is simply because there are no longer enough Republican votes to harvest in California's majestic landscape. Or perhaps it is because the Bush campaign-contributing Texas energy barons are so lustily enjoying their economic rape of California, and the Compassionless Conservative doesn't want to spoil the party. In any event, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's inadequate and futile agreement to cap only the most outrageous energy prices during the direst of circumstances is little more than the casting of crumbs into the wind. A crisis exists in an area that comprises one-sixth of the nation's economy, and, without intelligent leadership from Washington (currently an oxymoron), it cannot help but have a powerful ripple effect throughout the land.

Using the astrological indicators available, it is possible to gain some understanding of the current California energy situation and how it will unfold over the coming months. The most helpful chart in this regard is the one drawn for the swearing-in of Gray Davis as Governor of California on January 4, 1999. Here we find that Pluto, the planet of inexorable and profound transformation, is square the Ascendant. The Ascendant in this case indicates the Davis Administration itself and its interaction with the people of California. Pluto here suggests the need to purge deep-rooted problems that first must be relentlessly exposed to the light of day before they can be transformed. Thus, California's misguided energy deregulation program and the toxic web of thievery and abuse that stemmed from it are currently being telescoped for the world to see. Ultimately, Pluto's presence indicates the death of the old system and promises the eventual rebirth of a healthier and more functional means of energy distribution.

The timing for this profound and painful cycle of "death and rebirth" may be pinpointed by the transit of Pluto to the exact degree of the square to the Ascendant (13 Pisces). In other words, when Pluto reached 13 Sagittarius in December 2000, the problem began to come into focus. (If the swearing-in was a couple of minutes later, this would move to January 2001.) The transit continues through much of 2001 into mid-November. Two things will intensify its impact. First, from June through early October, Pluto will be stationary within one degree of squaring the Davis Administration Ascendant (13 Pisces). This will deepen and concentrate its action. Secondly, Saturn (13 Gemini) will join Pluto by opposition in late July, also squaring the Davis Administration Ascendant and creating a very tense and difficult situation. Saturn brings with it strict discipline and a general feeling of restriction and belt-tightening. Blackouts are likely, as already predicted, as well as tight measures for energy conservation. Although the period from late July to mid-August will be the most severe and harshest of the entire cycle, both planets will be actively impacting California from late July into mid-November.

Another astrological configuration suggesting a year of difficulty for the Davis administration is the solar eclipse of December 25, 2000. Although this eclipse did not fall on an angle anywhere in California (which would be a clear indicator of tremendous impact), its ruler, Saturn, fell exactly on the Nadir of the eclipse chart drawn for Sacramento, suggesting some kind of collective suffering or difficulty for the people of the state. It also fell on the exact same degree as Davis' Sun (4 Capricorn) in his own natal chart (December 26, 1942).

Historically, eclipses are harbingers of troubled times, lasting from 12 to 18 months after the actual event, though they must be read in the context of all other planetary factors in play at the time. A solar eclipse is, in essence, an exact conjunction of the Sun and Moon that falls within about 12 degrees of either the North or South Node of the Moon. The subsequent transit of the Node over the exact degree of the Sun/Moon conjunction often will trigger the eclipse's action. This activating transit of the December 25 eclipse takes place in the month of August 2001, concurrent with the Saturn/Pluto opposition squaring the Davis administration's Ascendant. The eclipse previously was triggered in January 2001, during the time Uranus was at 19 Aquarius and Mars was moving into 19 Scorpio, both positions semisquare the eclipse point. There was a series of rolling blackouts at that time.

In the midst of this difficult but transformative year for Gray Davis and California, there are periods of very productive, creative, and sometimes frenzied energy. The first was from late March through much of April 2001 as Mars crossed the MC and the 10th-house Mercury of the Davis Administration chart. The second period comes in late May and all of June as not only Mars, but also Jupiter, makes powerful aspects to the chart's MC, Mercury, and Jupiter. This portends a time of renewed optimism and energetic, constructive engagement. In mid-November, as both Saturn and Pluto move away from their exact aspects to the Ascendant, and the struggles of the summer begin to fade, there are two indicators of a period of great confidence, success, and general good feeling. Transiting Jupiter will be opposite the Sun in the Davis administration chart and tertiary progressed Venus will be conjunct the Ascendant. Both of these take place in the second half of November and early December 2001. `

Interestingly, the Bush administration will be having its own share of very significant difficulties from June through August 2001. It is quite likely that one thorn in the side of the Resident in Chief will be some very angry and righteous protests from beleaguered Californians. The simple act of firm, consistent price caps to carry California through the next six months would have saved many people much grief.

May 7, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The importance of discipline can not be overemphasized. This great virtue implies an ability to work hard despite the lure of a preferred activity. It suggests the power to delve deeply and purposefully into a chosen pursuit until a job has been completed thoroughly. And perhaps most important, it suggests the capacity to contain one's own impulses and desires, enabling compromise and pragmatism to guide a steady hand, rather than allowing an unleashed arrogance to stamp its will wherever it chooses.

Much has been made recently of the purported "discipline" of the Bush White House, and, by inference, of the Resident himself. Certainly, there are superficial manifestations of discipline to be found in the strict dress code, the timely meetings, and the lack of significant leaks. But in the areas that truly matter, the areas that count for the American people, the realms of finance and domestic and foreign policy, we find very little discipline in the current administration.

Instead we find a narrow, conservative ideology and a desire to reward large contributors. There is a chronic lack of interest in the consequences of the resultant actions. A disciplined administration would have submitted a budget with numbers that add up so that the country would not be catapulted into a deficit after working so hard to recover from the last one. A disciplined administration would have exercised some self-restraint in implementing its conservative goal of limiting government programs by first ensuring no harm would come to those affected by the transition. A disciplined, thoughtful, and responsible government would not have acted with a knee-jerk anti-abortion policy, reinstituting the "gag" rule, which causes irreparable harm in spreading AIDS as well as adding to the number of illegal abortions and resultant deaths. A disciplined, conscientious administration would have avoided the many reckless foreign policy pronouncements, too numerous to list, that have recently caused the United States to be a pariah on the world stage. No, a disciplined mind thinks things through, makes careful decisions based on a full grasp of the situation, even if it means postponement of certain favored goals. Unfortunately, our current White House Resident , with his gargantuan tax cuts, his irresponsible environmental policy, and his tendency to ride roughshod over anything in his path, is anything but disciplined.

In astrology, the planet that represents discipline is Saturn. Other Saturn attributes include a sense of responsibility, endurance, depth, conscientiousness, self-restraint, and self-reliance. Saturn often necessitates living within certain restrictions or boundaries, deferring to an outside authority. When Saturn is weak or poorly aspected in a chart, the individual struggles to learn its lessons, and is often thrown into uncomfortable situations that necessitate self-reliance, discipline, accepting restrictions, etc. These Saturn periods can be times of great crisis to someone who has not inculcated the positive attributes of Saturn into his or her own being.

In the chart of George Bush Saturn is weak by both sign (Cancer) and house placement (12th), as well as problematic in its relationships to other points in the chart (square to Moon, Jupiter, and Midheaven; semisquare to Mars; wide conjunction to the Sun). These factors suggest that Saturn transits and progressions will be especially difficult for Resident Bush, times of frustration not easily handled and limits not comfortably met. It has been well over three years since Mr. Bush went through a significant Saturn transit. Thus, we have not yet witnessed him under its attendant pressures since his arrival on the national political scene. This will soon change.

During the period from late June 2001 through March 2002, Mr. Bush will feel the effects of Saturn in Gemini transiting square his Mars in Virgo and semisquare his Midheaven in Aries. He will be forced to exercise self-restraint and discipline, bending and compromising or suffering the painful consequences. Saturn's influence will be strongest in early July and during the Saturn station from December 2001 through March 2002. It will be exacerbated in December with his progressed Moon moving into square of his natal Saturn. This latter four-month period is likely to be especially challenging and difficult for the administration.

As mentioned in Dubya's Troubled Time, June and July 2001 will also be a very trying period for the Resident-in-Chief, with strong protests against his policies and the possibility of significant disturbances and upsets on many fronts. That the Saturn transit begins in the midst of this likely turmoil suggests that Mr. Bush might do well to reconsider and amend some of his rather reckless, arrogant, and thoughtless policies. It would behoove him to bring some true discipline and responsibility to his stewardship or he will learn that Saturn can be a very harsh taskmaster.

May 22, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Renewable fuel sources and technologically creative conservation are clearly the wave of the future. Within thirty years or less, most of us will derive some of our energy consumption from renewable sources, whether in the public buildings and transportation we utilize, our own homes, or our technologically improved cars. Within sixty years this process will only have accelerated dramatically. Oil, gas, and coal, once the foundation of our industrialized society, will still have their place, but it will be greatly diminished by today’s standards. The seeds for this new phase of energy development have already germinated. They will flourish more quickly with care and attention, but they will grow, develop, and multiply nonetheless.

We are at the threshold of a tremendous transformation in the energy industry, just as the last decade brought a revolution in the information industry via the computer and the Internet. So how are we to view Resident Bush’s plans to institutionalize ever more drilling and excavating for energy at tremendous cost to our environment, both in terms of the destruction of natural habitats and the increase in CO2 expected as a result of this policy? What could possibly be the point of this alarming disconnect? If the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is drilled, it is predicted that the peak of its production will be in 2030. Will there even be a need by then?

The image that comes to mind is that of a battle between the past and the future, the entrenched forces of money and power versus the quiet but extraordinary power of a burgeoning new life. It is almost as if this current pressure to dig and extract and drill, to suck as much money as quickly as possible out of the system, is the last desperate stand of a dying industry, intent on grasping what it can before its demise.

One way to understand this current situation is through the lens of astrology, specifically focusing on the planet Pluto, the planet of death and rebirth, of cycles of profound and immutable transformation. Pluto is presently conjunct the Ascendant of the US Sagittarius rising chart. This powerful transit happens once every 248 years and is a potent harbinger of transformation. It has not occurred previously during the lifetime of the United States. The actual transit takes a little under two years in its most intense form (3/00 to 11/01) and then continues to unfold while Pluto remains in the first house of the US chart over the next fifteen years. During its occurrence, this transit takes on some very definite characteristics that are specific to the nature of Plutonian process.

Pluto, the natural ruler of the sign Scorpio, is most commonly associated with the cycle of death and rebirth. It is significant that death, whether it be to an organism or a type of experience, is first met with enormous resistance. The person with a fatal disease generally attempts all kinds of available medical intervention to prolong or sustain his or her life and, only after great resistance, may finally be persuaded to accept the inevitable. The person in a job that has become limiting or highly problematic often does everything possible to improve the situation, only reluctantly and after great duress, facing the necessity of change. The death part of the Plutonian cycle is always met with tremendous resistance, resulting in a profound power struggle between the forces of the future and the forces of the past for ultimate control. We see this today both in the battle over environmental protection as well as in the battle over energy sources. Indiscriminate use of resources without thought as to the ramifications in the environment is no longer tenable, but industrial polluters and the energy robber barons have a vested interest in the status quo. It is, after all, the source of their wealth.

Because Pluto is currently in Sagittarius, the sign of the higher mind, the power struggle is also taking place in the realm of human thought. The profound political polarization presently experienced in the United States is largely two different versions of the “truth”, each held with equal fervor and with equal demonization of the opposing position. This was particularly noticeable during the post-election drama when Pluto was exactly on the US Ascendant, but it has continued to simmer unabated ever since, both in Congress and in parts of the media. It is likely to once again reach a fevered pitch during the Pluto station of June, July, August, and September 2001, when Pluto remains stationary on the exact degree of the US Ascendant.

It is significant also to mention that in the US chart, Pluto natally is in the second house of resources. Thus a Pluto transit is all the more likely to directly impact the use and flow of the country’s resources. The transit to the Ascendant implies that this transformation in the use of resources will directly affect the life and well being of the country and its citizens. In 1899, when Pluto crossed the Descendant of the US chart (12 Gemini), the point exactly 180 degrees from the Ascendant and thus likely to have similar impact to the current transit, the seeds were already germinating that would foretell extraordinary changes in the American way of life. A number of people were working on the construction of a “flying machine,” and the Wright brothers were beginning their gliding experiments (1900). August 8, 1903, brought the first successful flight (27 seconds) of a heavier-than-air vehicle powered by a gasoline engine. It is worth noting that at this point Pluto had begun its conjunction to the US Mars (21 Gemini) thereby bringing a rush of energy into the changes that were already at hand.

The other momentous change taking place at the turn of the century was the development of the automobile. Gasoline engine research unfolded throughout the 1880’s and 1890’s. In 1901 Oldsmobile successfully marketed the first gasoline-powered automobiles. Although the majority of cars at that time ran on steam or electric power, the more efficient gas-powered auto had begun its penetration into the American market. In June 1903, the Ford Motor Company organized, beginning its revolutionary assembly line production in 1908. This transformed the automobile from a luxury item to a mainstay of the American economy. With the founding of the Ford Motor Company, we again notice that Pluto is conjunct Mars in the US chart.

And so, the transformation of America begun around 1900 with the advent of the automobile, the airplane, and the potential for mass production, now moves into its next phase, the pursuit of renewable energy sources and technologically advanced conservation. Because Pluto will be opposed to Saturn from July 2001 until May 2002, this new birth will not be an easy one. We have already noted the intense struggle to maintain wealth and power by the oil, gas, coal, and nuclear industries. Added to this will be the austerity measures imposed by Saturn, particularly in California. In October 1973 it was a Pluto Saturn square on the US Venus that brought the oil embargo, with its subsequent gas lines, quadrupled oil prices, and tight conservation rules. Now we have a Pluto/Saturn opposition on the US Ascendant/Descendant axis. This is likely to bring similar circumstances with the added quality of the powerful new impulse of an alternative view of energy and the environment that will move us into the future. By 2004, with Pluto opposing the US Mars, we will see tremendous energy moving to foster this new cycle. Alternative sources will be marketed more and more frequently to the consumer, just as the gas-powered combustion engine transformed the world of the early twentieth century.

September 11, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

A ravaging terrorist attack has left America reeling in its wake. The entire country is in shock over the viciousness, brutality, and scope of the devastation. From the point of view of astrology, the confluence of very strong Saturn configurations as well as the transit of Pluto on the US Ascendant may be linked to the present tragedy.

The crossing of Pluto over the US Ascendant during the past year has brought about enormous transformations in the American psyche. Although Pluto in its positive manifestation can bring about leadership and the focused and conscientious use of power, this planet all too often will make itself known in the ruthless use of power, manipulation, coercion, and violence.

The Ascendant in a national chart indicates the people and the state of the country as a whole. As in an individual chart, the Ascendant in a national chart is a highly significant point, and transits and progressions to it are felt by the entire country in a profound way. Thus, Pluto transiting the US Ascendant can bring with it a sense that the country and its people are being manipulated or controlled. It can further bring violence, terrorism, destruction, and intense power struggles in its wake, depending on what other planetary influences may be involved. Pluto tends to give the experience of powerlessness struggling to regain power or, on the other hand, the will to use and sometimes abuse power.

The first crossing of Pluto over the US Ascendant was from approximately November 14 through December 12, 2000. A Mercury/ Pluto conjunction on December 12 provided the final powerful thrust of that phase of Plutonian energy. I will not go into the amount of manipulation and coercion that happened to our country during that month. The story has been told repeatedly, and it will never be forgotten.

The second crossing of Pluto to the US Ascendant during June and the first half of July, 2001, was a retrograde crossing and therefore more muted. Nonetheless, we saw the tremendous power struggles politically that are one manifestation of this transit. The implied power struggle between the US and the rest of the planet was also highly visible. The massive demonstrations in Europe during Bush’s visit in June and the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol without the US were some of the incidents during this period. There was also an American military mobilization in the Middle East due to a terrorist threat.

The final strong forward-moving thrust of this energy comes during most of September. With it has come the most deadly and vicious act of terrorism ever perpetrated against the United States. The World Trade Center, the heart of American financial power, has been destroyed. The Pentagon, the brain center of the American military, has also been attacked. Astrologically, we have entered a new and more deadly phase in the Pluto transit. This is because Jupiter has now joined Pluto by a quincunx (150 degree) aspect. Jupiter tends to expand and increase whatever it touches. In this case it is the intensity, violence, and ruthlessness of Pluto that is expanded and experienced by the people of the country (the Ascendant). This Jupiter transit goes through September 19. About 10 days later Mars will come to irritate and inflame the Pluto/Ascendant configuration from September 30 through October 3. Either of these transits could well signify massive retaliatory strikes by the administration, especially since these same planets also are quite active in Bush’s chart simultaneously. There is clearly the potential for tremendous violence between September 11 and October 4, 2001.

The significant Saturn progression that has played into this tragedy is the converse progressed Sun (29 Scorpio) semisquare Saturn in the US chart at 14 Libra. Though this may seem a minor aspect to some, it is noteworthy that the Ascendant/Mercury conjunction of the chart for the first attack was at 14 Libra, and the transiting Saturn was at 14 Gemini. Moreover, the Midheaven of that same chart was at 14 Cancer. This converse progression will continue to strengthen until approximately March 16, 2002. It brings with it difficulties, loss, sorrow, burdens, and financial difficulties. It seems to indicate the bereavement period we will feel as a nation as well as other hardships, financial and otherwise. On the day of the attack the transits mentioned caused a very strong activation of this progression.

I have previously predicted (see Timeline) strong aggressive action by Bush during this autumn period, and the reason for such action is becoming clear. I have also predicted a brief increase in his popularity during September continuing possibly into early December. This clearly relates to the need of Americans to rally around their leader in time of attack from without, as well as the likely positive response to military strikes that he will demand in retaliation to this ghastly act of terrorism.

Thus, the Pluto transit to the US Ascendant, the first in our nation’s 225-year history, has brought in its wake deep wounds to our individual and collective psyches. Both the Coup and the terrorist-wrought inferno of September 11, 2001, have transformed us indelibly, leaving scars that will remain for a generation and beyond. Each experience has taken from us our innocence and our sense of invulnerability as Americans. We come away with a new depth in our understanding of the burdens and the struggles of life on this planet.

After October, the intensity of Pluto that we have lived with for the past year will begin to dissipate. Though politicians will still disagree, some of the partisan rancor will soften. We are, however, left with a great deal of Saturnian influence, both in Bush’s chart and the US chart. The difficulties with the economy will not go away, and Bush will continue to struggle on many fronts and have a very difficult period until about April.

October 8th, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The recent agonizing assault on America has been followed by a groundswell of patriotism and defiance in the face of those who attempt to demoralize and cripple us. As the leader of our bold response, the President has seen his approval ratings soar, from a tepid 50% to a passionate 85%. Calls to war against evil are echoing everywhere in the streets. Aroused abruptly from his slumber, the mighty giant awakens to brandish his club.

As is always the case, the thoughts, feelings, and deeds of our world evolve over time, shaped by the past and marching toward the future. Astrology may be used as a road map to describe the shifting tones and quality of our evolving experience. Several astrological indicators coincide over the next six months to indicate a difficult and, at times, treacherous period for our country. I have alluded to some of these factors in past writings, but recent tragic events allow me to focus more clearly on the meaning of the coming planetary picture. From the vantage point of today, it would seem that the two biggest factors to consider in the coming months will be the unfolding of the War on Terrorism and the weakness of the national economy.

Although we are currently in the midst of an aggressive and focused response to a profound threat, the next several months will be very difficult, demanding sacrifice and struggle, often with very limited results. A significant shift away from these challenging times will not begin until early April 2002, coming into full flower by the following month. Other times of turmoil are indicated later in Bush’s tenure, but by May 2002, much of the strain and burden of our current hardships will likely be behind us.

To my mind the most significant planetary lineups of the current period are:

Inaugural progressed Ascendant (based on 1/20/01 at 12:02:25 PM, Washington, DC) reaching its exact opposition to Natal Mars (16Scorpio16). This suggests intense and bitter battles with open enemies. It peaks at the end of January 2002. This was triggered by a Mars Moon conjunction at 1 Capricorn, an exact semisquare to Inaugural Mars, on September 11.

United States Sagittarius rising chart converse progressed Sun semisquare natal Saturn (14Libra48). This suggests a time of difficulty, burden, restriction, challenge, grief, and determination in the face of obstacles. It peaks around mid-March 2002. This was triggered by Mercury on September 11, as well as being the degree of the Ascendant in the chart for the first attack.

President Bush’s progressed Mars square to his natal Sun (13Cancer49). This brings an element of increased aggression and assertiveness and, in a national leader, can suggest military engagement, especially when triggered by other planetary configurations. This will peak in mid-March 2002.
Several other astrological factors are also included in my calculations. Many of these are mentioned below in my attempt to further describe the coming months.
September 11 through October 2001. The first phase of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks is manifesting tremendous courage and optimism from the administration, as well as the great likelihood of military strikes. The most critical period for military activity seems to be between September 19 and November 2, 2001, with September 19 to October 6 especially significant. Astrologically, this corresponds to transiting Jupiter conjunct, transiting Pluto quincunx, and transiting Mars opposite the US and Bush’s shared Sun degree of 13 Cancer. The activation of Bush’s Sun is especially potent because it triggers the progressed Mars square to his natal Sun, indicating a far more aggressive and take charge attitude from him during these days.

General undercurrent from September 25 through December 20, 2001. There is a tremendous amount of influence from the planet Neptune during this entire period, primarily impacting Bush and his administration. This indicates somewhat unrealistic and grandiose plans that may initially seem sensible, but in time prove to be more like castles in the sand. Especially during times when Saturn is also active (see below), so much Neptune can indicate losses and disillusionment. This lack of realism is inherent in Bush’s Inaugural chart and has been previously discussed. The significant planetary indicators are: tertiary progressed Inaugural Midheaven conjunct Neptune, 9/25 through 10/25/01; Bush’s converse progressed Moon conjunct Neptune, 11/10 through 12/10/01; and transiting Neptune conjunct Bush’s Descendant, 11/7 through 12/20/01.

October 20 through December 6, 2001. Although Jupiter continues to be active on Bush’s Sun/progressed Mars during this period, indicating a continuation of military activity and optimism, several other factors intervene. The US converse progressed Sun from 29 Scorpio is currently semisquare the US Saturn at 14 Libra. This progression will continue to wax in strength until mid-March 2002. It was activated on September 11 by a transit of Mercury at 14 Libra, and it will be significantly activated again from October 20 through 25 by a Mercury station on the same degree. Moreover, Pluto will stimulate the same progression from 14 Sagittarius during all of November. This is a progression of sorrow, burden, frustration, and difficulty.

December 3, 2002, through January 3, 2002. This is likely to be a particularly trying time for President Bush. Many of the stimulating energies to his Sun are gone, while the depressing and grieving energy of Saturn will be strong. He may succumb to some depression and hopelessness, though this may not be evident to the public. This month begins a three-month period for Bush that will be fraught with frustration, obstacles, and waning popularity. The significant astrological indicators are: Bush’s progressed Moon conjunct natal Saturn, 12/3/01 to 1/3/02, and transiting Saturn square Bush’s Mars and semisquare his Midheaven, 12/17/01 to 3/17/02.

There is, furthermore, the possibility of a crisis from December 7 through December 10, 2001 The Mercury/Sun conjunction at 19 Sagittarius on 12/8-10 will activate Bush’s progressed Ascendant square his natal Uranus. This progression was triggered on September 11 by the transiting Sun and by Mars, in late March 2001, at the time of the downed spy plane incident in China. (This progression will peak around February 20, 2002.) When activated, it brings Bush into a sudden crisis mode due to unexpected events. Further trouble is suggested during that period by the transit of Mars at 29 Aquarius, triggering the converse Sun progression semisquare the US Saturn, mentioned above. This progression was also an element in the September 11 terrorist attack.

Another time of potential difficulties comes on December 20 through December 22, 2001. Here we find a strong activation of the Saturn transit square Bush’s Mars, by transiting Mercury and Mars. This signifies difficulties and opposition for the President. In addition, the transiting Sun will be at 1 Capricorn, triggering the very significant progressed Ascendant opposite natal Mars in the Inaugural chart. This progression, perhaps more than any, signifies the intensification of the experience of “open enemies”, already strong in the Inaugural chart due to the position and aspects of Inaugural Mars. Thus these few days may cause severe difficulties for Bush either with foreign powers or with a hostile Congress.

I would like to mention here that the possibility of Vice President Cheney’s health becoming a significant issue cannot be ruled out during December and January.

January 2002. This promises to be a very difficult month, not only for Bush, but for all of us. I think it is likely we will see increased clashes with adversaries during this time and/or the administration may be struggling with opposition at home. From the 19th through the 31st a great many planetary configurations coincide to cause significant problems.

What I consider the primary war configuration from July 2001 through January 2002, the Inaugural progressed Ascendant in exact opposition to Mars, will be greatly stimulated by the Inaugural progressed Moon semisquare natal Mars through all of January. Furthermore, on January 19 –20 Mars will be at 1 Aries, activating these two simultaneous progressions. Thus, the potential for violence and clashes with enemies is very strong during this entire month, especially 1/19-20.

On January 26 the tertiary progressed Inaugural Mars will begin a two-month opposition to Inaugural Saturn. Mars in the 7th house represents the “enemy”, while Saturn in the 1st, and ruler of the Midheaven, represents the administration. Here, they are opposed, with Saturn attempting to restrain Mars. Concurrent with the first week of this nasty Inaugural progression is the transit of Uranus square to Inaugural Saturn. This implies the administration will be hit by something unexpected, potentially a crisis, that may cause a significant shift in policy or may throw it back into a deeper level of struggle with the enemy. The Uranus transit is from January 15 through February 1, 2002. The overlap with the early stage of the tertiary Inaugural Mars progression is from January 26 to February 1. In addition, transiting Mars will be semisquare Inaugural Saturn on January 30-31. Thus, the final two weeks of January will bring unexpected crisis and confrontation for the administration with a potentially violent enemy, the especially difficult days being January 19-20 and January 26 to February 1, 2002.

February through mid-March 2002. This period may turn out to have the feeling of a protracted struggle without much result (tertiary progressed Mars opposed to Inaugural Saturn). Moreover, Bush will seem weak and confused (transiting Neptune quincunx Bush’s Mars) as well as frustrated and opposed on many fronts (Saturn continues to square Bush's Mars).

It is possible that there may be some strengthening in the economy during this time, as well as some general renewal of confidence. Transiting Jupiter will make a station on the US chart’s Jupiter for this entire period. This is a very positive indicator of abundance and optimism, especially since Jupiter is the ruler of the Sagittarius rising chart.

Mid-March through April 2002. Events move swiftly during this timeframe, possibly signifying a shift away from the struggles of the previous fall and winter. As Bush’s war mood begins to abate (passing of progressed Mars square his Sun) and the more stressful Saturn aspects subside, a strong Uranus conjunction to the US Moon/progressed Sun takes place. This will bring sudden, unexpected events that change everything in a moment. The exact transit will be on March 29, supported by a Venus/Moon opposition in benign aspect. Further Uranus action comes in April, and, for Bush, through June, with a minor hard aspect of Uranus to Bush’s and the US Sun. What changes this may bring I do not know, but events will be unfolding rapidly. After the transit of Saturn crossing the US Descendant for the final time between April 18 and 26, the country will move away from the last vestiges of the mood of burden and struggle that has been with it since the late summer of 2001. Interestingly, it is at about this time that Bush enters a period of improved popularity and success for about a year, although this will certainly be tempered by a myriad of other tumultuous events and challenges down the pike.

February 15, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Begotten in the tumultuous days of the post election struggle, the Bush Presidency was officially born on January 20, 2001, at noon in Washington, DC. As many astrologers have already noted, the Inauguration Chart indicates a four-year term of tremendous difficulty. Not since the Carter Administration, has an Inaugural Chart augured so poorly for the chief executive. The predominant energies in Bush's birth chart over the next four years are warrior Mars and mystical other-worldly Neptune after an initially joy-filled cloud of charming Venus left over from the campaign. The Inaugural Chart reiterates this rather ominous pattern: a predominance of Mars and Neptune.

Bush spent most of his campaign under tremendously strong Venus energy. This bequeathed him an aura of charm and likeability that overrode many doubts about his competence. The "uniter not divider" theme is totally Venus as is his promise to stop the bipartisan bickering and bring people together. This wonderfully protective shield will be with him through mid-March. After that there will be a myriad of crises to keep him busy, but his Teflon coating and super nice guy aura will be dwindling rapidly and have evaporated completely by June. (The relevant planetary indicators of the above are: converse progressed Venus trine natal Moon exact in late October, 2000; converse progressed Sun square natal Venus exact in mid February, 2001; progressed Mercury conjunct natal Venus exact around January 1, 2001; and transiting Venus which will make a station on Bush's natal Moon Jupiter through mid March. The transit of Uranus opposite Bush's natal Venus through February will serve to further strengthen the powerful converse Sun/Venus progression.)

Also entering the equation immediately after the Inauguration is the transit of Neptune conjunct Bush's Descendant. To someone who already has a natal Sun /Neptune square and a 12th house Sun, such a Neptune transit can bring a real disconnect with reality. Combining this with the already glowing Venus feelings, we have someone who is moved by a self-deceptive euphoria of almost messianic proportions. While Venus is strong, there is very little negative feedback, and Bush continues on his merry way guided by his own inner dream. As has been noted by more than one writer, the Unpresident doesn't worry about a lack of mandate from the people, because he feels he has one from God. Neptune is at full throttle.

Another significant planetary factor in Bush's chart that makes the Neptunian magical fog truly dangerous is the progressed Mars square to the Sun. This brings in a strong, aggressive, and sometimes rash will that does not always think before acting. Combined with the Neptunian lack of reality-based decision making, this Mars progression leads to an assertive pursuit of not very grounded or well thought-out policy. A prime example of this is the reinstitution of the gag order on family planning clinics worldwide. The protection of life is the Neptunian ideal being aggressively sought that is divorced from the reality of the impact of the actual policy: an increase in illegal and often deadly abortions, a decrease in contraception, and an increase in poverty and AIDS. Another example is the Neptunian Faith Based Charities initiative that is being forcefully presented as a panacea but in reality will create a quagmire of bureaucracy and confusion.

Unfortunately, though the charming and friendly Venus will diminish greatly after mid-March, there are Neptune transits and very strong Mars progressions throughout much of the Bush Presidency. (Progressed Mars square the Sun, converse progressed Mars conjunct the Ascendant, and progressed Sun conjunct Mars, cumulatively from 11/00 to 9/05) These energies are mirrored in the Inaugural Chart as well as the US chart (Gemini rising). So much Mars leads me to believe there will be a great deal of military activity throughout the four years as well as fierce battles with the Congress. Anger and demonstrations are also likely in response to rash and aggressively pursued policies. On the other hand, the enormous amount of Neptune indicates a tendency to muddled thinking and decisions based on some idealized and vague philosophy rather than fact and a realistic appraisal of the situation.

In addition to its disconnected and otherworldly qualities, Neptune also suggests loss, scandal, confusion, and disillusionment. Significantly, Neptune will be transiting the all-important Midheaven of the US Gemini chart in 2004 while at the same time quincunxing Bush's and the country's Sun. The Midheaven in a nation's chart is indicative of its ruler as well as the nation's prestige. I fear that George Bush will end his presidency in a whimper, having led our country to a loss of respect and power in the world during his time in office that will be the great task of the next administration to heal.

October 8th, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

With American bombs now dropping in Afghanistan, the Muslim world is simmering on the brink of considerable upheaval. Violent demonstrations from Indonesia to Palestine are bubbling up from the disgruntled and propagandized masses. But nowhere is the danger of mass uprising greater and more potentially lethal than in Pakistan. This country, which borders Afghanistan on the South, has a significant percentage of population sympathetic to the fundamentalist Taliban and greatly antipathetic to America. In addition, Pakistan is one of a small number of countries with nuclear weaponry at its fingertips. Whoever controls Pakistan controls these potentially catastrophic devices, and a fanatical fundamentalist, virulently anti-American regime at the controls would be a disaster.

There are several astrological indications of the current turmoil in Pakistan, most of which suggest considerable upheaval through most of November. In the birth chart for modern Pakistan (noon, 8/15/47 in Karachi) the Sun at 21 Leo is currently receiving an opposition from stationary Uranus at 21 Aquarius. This is symptomatic of tremendous disruption and ferment, with the possibility of sudden and sweeping changes. It can indicate brilliant and sudden moves by the ruler to consolidate his power as well as a generally unstable and difficult situation. This transit remains very strong through late November and finishes with the powerful Mars/Uranus conjunction between November 24 and 26, 2001.

In the chart of President Pervez Musharraf's siezure of power (noon, 10/12/99 in Karachi) we find an ongoing battle between the forces of repression (Saturn) and the forces of disruption (Uranus). The square between these two planets in the 10/12/99 chart is within one-degree orb by tertiary progression during the last several months of 2001 and almost all of 2002. This struggle reaches a fevered pitch during the period from late September 2001 through the first half of January 2002, during which it is intensely activated. From late September through October, the tertiary progressed Sun is square natal Uranus. This adds greatly to the incendiary atmosphere of change, upset, and ferment, as well as increasing the power and authority of the president. Musharraf is likely to strongly dominate the situation, imposing sudden edicts that further his goals.

By approximately October 19 the tertiary progressed Sun reaches opposition to the tertiary progressed Saturn remaining in effect for a month. This implies that obstacles and difficulties become more formidable for the president. I feel that this period from late October through late November is the most dangerous for any radical shift in power in Afghanistan. Once past the Mars/Uranus conjunction of 11/24 through 11/26, the chances of major transformation become much dimmer.

The increased Saturn influence for Musharraf (noon, Aug 11, 1943) goes from late October through late November and then returns with greater strength from mid-December through mid-January, when the tertiary progressed Sun opposes natal Saturn in Musharraf’s seizure of power chart. Also beginning in mid-December, Musharraf (born 8/11/43 in Delhi, India) will have transiting Saturn square his own natal Mercury and conjunct his natal Uranus. These continue through late March. Taken together we see Musharraf struggling from late October on to keep a tight rein on his power. It is possible he will become somewhat unpopular during this period. These are planetary aspects that suggest he will be having a very difficult time, feel somewhat thwarted, and have an uphill battle on many fronts. Whether this implies an actual loss of power is unclear, but he will feel limited and somewhat restricted from late October through March.

November 11th, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The astrological chart for September 11, 2001, at 8:42 AM in New York City, represents the birth moment of the War on Terrorism. With the first cataclysmic impact, this perilous battle came screaming into being. A great deal of information may be gleaned from this chart, both in terms of its symbolic description of the very nature of the war and in its potential to describe the unfolding timeframe of events.

The September 11 chart has been examined by numerous astrologers for clues as to why this event happened at this time. What I am suggesting here is that this chart can also be used to describe the War on Terrorism itself. For example, Mercury on the Ascendant suggests the very prominent role of the media in this war. We see this in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab world being waged so skillfully by Osama bin Laden. In response, the Bush administration is attempting to use Arab media outlets to bring a more favorable attitude about America. In the US we have had an absolute blanket of coverage and opinions about the various aspects of terrorism. There has also been an official admonishment for less than patriotic stories, causing some sources to stifle some aspects of the news.

Because Mercury is tied by aspect to no less than 5 planets - Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Pluto and Uranus - the media presence is felt everywhere. The square to Jupiter suggests exaggerations and over-enthusiasm (remember anthrax 24/7?), whereas the sextile to Pluto, in the third house of communications, suggests manipulation of the masses and a selectively and purposely controlled outflow of information.

Probably the most significant aspect in the WTC chart is the Saturn/Pluto opposition, the most descriptive planetary configuration of the entire period from November 2000 through May 2002. Because this aspect lies across the horizon line of the US Sagittarius rising chart (7/4/1776), its impact cannot be overestimated. Briefly, it indicates the tremendous feelings of power struggle, manipulation, and transformation the United States has been undergoing since the infamous November 2000 election. Pluto symbolizes the death and chaos preceding rebirth. It manifests the forces of raw destruction. Saturn, on the other hand, symbolizes the status quo, which attempts to hold back the forces of chaos through control and structure.

The War on Terrorism in many ways manifests the battle between Saturn, the existing power structures in the world, and Pluto, the ruthless and fanatical power of total destruction bent on a new order. In the WTC chart the Ascendant is in exact aspect to the Saturn/ Pluto opposition, bringing the opposition’s tremendous force into manifestation in the environment (the Ascendant). More importantly, the Saturn/Pluto opposition makes a T-square aspect to the Sun in the WTC chart, thereby bringing the opposition’s implied power struggle into expression in the very purpose of the chart, the Sun. Significant transits and progressions to this t-square may well be indicative of periods of great fear, feelings of threat to survival, and intense power struggle with an enemy. When Pluto moves to the exact square of the WTC Sun during much of 2003, the War on Terrorism may well reach a more intensified and destructive level.

The violence inherent in the WTC chart may be seen by the waxing conjunction of Mars to the South Node of the Moon, the waxing opposition of Mars to Jupiter, and the waxing opposition of the Moon to Mars. The culmination of the first two of these aspects by tertiary and/or secondary progression is one way to determine when violence will be a part of this war. Other progressions involving Mars will also be of great significance in this regard.

Another configuration that shows elements of disruption in the WTC chart is the opposition between Venus and Uranus. Due to the Libra Ascendant, the chart ruler is Venus, placed in the 11th house of friends and shared goals. Here we find the focus on the Coalition and the many new “friends” the United States has suddenly (Uranus) found for itself. Unfortunately, Uranus often implies instability and short-term relationships. As this aspect reaches its peak energy both by tertiary and secondary progression, we may see shifting allegiances or great upsets coming to friendly nations due directly to this war. Uranus may also indicate that “friends” are extremely independent in their actions. Because Venus rules the Ascendant, these progressions will also signify surprises, upsets, swift changes, and reversals (Uranus) in the general progress of the war.

One final point I would like to make about the War chart is the meaning of the 12th house Sun. This implies that, despite whatever military activity is going on at various times (Mars), the real essence of the war is happening behind the scenes, covertly and in secret. The 12th house Sun implies secret enemies, hidden agendas, and things generally not being what they seem. Covert intelligence work, secret machinations, and hidden enemies are what this war is about.

November 28th, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The breathtaking expansion of presidential dominion out of the smoke and ashes of a shattering September day has left many Americans speechless with dismay. Suddenly our much-vaunted balance of powers has been replaced by dictatorial edict. Laws are no longer legislated by a representative Congress, they are proclaimed by a chief executive with dubious legitimacy. The good news is that the runaway train of Team Shrub will soon be thwarted in its reckless power grab.

Although some obstacles have already begun to manifest as we approach the last few days of November, the period of Bushian expansion, success, and popularity will continue through the first week of December, at which point the Jupiter station on Bush’s Sun begins to wane. These early impediments to the administration’s steamroller tactics, however, are coming from all sides. Both the liberal and conservative press have written scathing articles denouncing the current dissipation of civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. Congress is presently holding hearings over the use of military tribunals and the wiretapping of lawyer/client conversations. Amnesty International is investigating abuses reported concerning some of Attorney General Ashcroft’s terror suspects. And the European governments are letting it be known they will not support a broadening of Bush’s War on Terrorism outside of Afghanistan. Astrologically, the period 11/25 to 12/2/01 includes transiting Saturn semisquare Bush’s Saturn and transiting Saturn sesquiquadrate the Inaugural Midheaven. Both of these aspects are contributing to the earliest indications of a growing constraint on the administration that we shall be seeing over the next three-month period.

Interestingly, November 25 is also the beginning of a Pluto transit semisquare the Inaugural Sun which continues until about December 22, 2001. From this will derive an intense power struggle between the administration and its opponents. As the power struggle waxes during mid-December, Bush moves into ever-increasing difficulties and may well be forced to back down on some issues. Bush’s progressed Moon will be square his natal Saturn for all of December, suggesting a significantly melancholy mood. Moreover, transiting Saturn will be square his natal Mars and semisquare his Midheaven, both aspects adversely impacting his prestige and position in the world and his freedom to act with impunity. This latter double Saturn transit will affect Bush for three months, due to Saturn’s station at 8 Gemini.

Put simply, Saturn signifies contraction. It is the exact opposite of the expansionist Jupiterian energy we have been witnessing in Bush since mid-September. Bush does not handle limitation, restriction, or external constraints very well, as evidenced earlier in the year by his attempts to free himself from several international treaties. But under Saturn, “my way or the highway” doesn’t fly. Bush will find himself hindered, by the Democrats at home and the Allies abroad, as well as the likely circumstances that will develop in his current war. It is no accident that while Bush begins his frustrating Saturn period, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle begins a year-long transit of Pluto to his natal Sun, increasing his power, charisma, and determination.

The station of Jupiter we have experienced in the last three months has fallen exactly on Bush’s and the country’s Sun. For Bush it has triggered his progressed Mars square to his Sun, also triggered during part of the same period by a Pluto quincunx to his Sun. This is an incredible lineup of planets that together signify very aggressive, martial, expansionistic, and sometimes reckless and arrogant actions. But Jupiter also brings great success, and this has clearly shown up in the military victories of the past few weeks, as well as the initial success in creating the coalition.

Although Mars remains in square to Bush’s Sun until mid-March, suggesting our military activities will continue at least until then, Pluto began to separate after the first of November, and Jupiter will pass after the first week of December. With the increase in Saturn and the loss of Jupiter in December, it is likely that success will not come as easily for Bush as it has up to now, nor will Bush be able to continue unchecked with his every decision. The unusual outburst of patriotism that has contributed to the initial carte blanche given to this administration may be seen as a manifestation of the Jupiter transit stationary on the US Sun, which will also pass in a few weeks (mid-December).

The War on Terrorism chart, drawn for the first attack on September 11, 2001, suggests that around the middle of December, the majority of the military activity will stop, at least for a while. There are strong military indications in that chart from mid-October to mid-December, 2001 (tertiary progressed Mars conjunct the South Node). There are also indications of sudden events, fast-paced and shifting circumstances, and very independent and headstrong allies who are likely to do what they want during the period from November 11 through December 10, 2001 (tertiary progressed Venus opposite Uranus, tertiary progressed Sun quincunx Uranus). In other words, it seems that as the trigger to Bush’s strong war-like progressed Mars fades, so does much of the fighting in Afghanistan. But the outcome at that point in time may not be exactly what has been planned (Uranus).

January 1st, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The War on Terrorism began with great energy and force, fueled by the tears of a nation in mourning. The very strong Jupiter transit to the US and President Bush’s Sun (both 13 Cancer) brought with it the successful forging of many disparate alliances, as well as a fundamentally successful military campaign which ousted the Taliban from power. But as the planets have shifted, so has the tenor of the war. Most of those who were in a leadership position in both the Taliban and al Qaeda have escaped, including the notorious and slippery Osama bin Laden. We are mired in a struggle that only a short while ago seemed close to completion. Many in Afghanistan want the bombing to stop, though we relentlessly continue, while word of the death and destruction of innocents seeps through the news embargo.

As mentioned in a previous article, some of this may be attributed to the strong Saturn element now present in President Bush’s chart. Saturn is currently square Bush’s Mars and semisquare his Midheaven and will linger there through late March 2002. This difficult transit is clearly impeding progress in many areas for the Commander-in-Chief and causing many obstacles that Bush must carefully and meticulously overcome. But it is the aspects unfolding in the Inaugural Chart that can help us more fully understand the swirling energies that will develop in January and February.

There are three significant Inaugural chart events in January that, together, suggest increasing military activity by the US, followed by some kind of crisis or upset that shakes up the administration. The first of these is the Inaugural tertiary progressed Ascendant conjunct natal Jupiter (approximately 1/10 to 1/26/02), suggesting expansion and forging ahead. An indicator in Bush’s chart supports this. From 1/14 through 1/22/02, transiting Mercury will make a station quincunx Bush’s Sun, triggering his very aggressive progressed Mars square to his natal Sun, which implies that he will be in a military and combative mode during the same period his administration is “expanding” under Jupiter.

A further indication in the Inaugural chart of increased confrontation with an opponent or enemy is the progressed Moon, which has moved into a semisquare with natal Mars. This intensifies the power of the progressed Ascendant currently opposed to natal Mars, an aspect that has been in effect for several months. Both of these aspects are peaking in strength during the second half of January. They create a tremendous focus on Inaugural Mars, whose natal position and aspects suggest fierce enemies who act suddenly (square Uranus), violently (in Scorpio), in the open (conjunct the 7th cusp and ruler of the 7th house), and in secret (ruler of the 12th house). The opposition from the Ascendant implies engagement with the enemy (1/19 through 1/21 may be of especial note in this regard).

The third aspect of import in the Inaugural chart in January is the transit of Uranus square to natal Saturn. Because Saturn is rising in the first house and rules the Midheaven, it is particularly representative of the Administration in this chart. The Uranus square implies sudden and powerful events that cause disruption and upset to the status quo. The last time Uranus hit Inaugural Saturn by a direct transit, the American spy plane was brought down over China. The standoff continued until the transit was over in mid-April 2001. This transit will last from mid-January through February 1, 2002. It will be strongest during the last days of the transit, simultaneous to the increased strength of the Inaugural Moon semisquare to Mars. Moreover, there will be some triggering from Mars at 9 Aries and the Moon at 24 Leo from January 29 to 31, 2002. Thus, the last days of January could very well bring forth some kind of significant and sudden crisis for the administration.

As we move into February and March, another Inaugural Chart aspect brings about a further focus on the battle between the Administration and its adversaries. The Inaugural tertiary progressed Mars will be moving into an exact opposition of natal Saturn, roughly from 1/26/02 through 3/22/02. This aspect represents the increasing struggle between the Administration, attempting to control and literally imprison the enemy (Saturn), and the terrorist enemy, wanting to manifest its rage and aggression (Mars). It is quite strongly triggered by the tertiary progressed Moon between February 8 and February 13, 2002.

With respect to events of terrorism and their aftermath, it is my opinion that the transit of Pluto over the US Ascendant, augmented by its opposition to Saturn, was the single greatest indicator of the post-September 11 feelings of trauma, suspicion, and fear that clung to the country like a shroud for several weeks after the attacks. This same Pluto/Saturn opposition continues to live in the 9/11 chart of the War on Terror. In this chart one may read the evolution of the War on Terror by following the transits and progressions over time. I feel that any trigger to Pluto in this chart should be watched carefully as a potential indicator of a terrorist event. Needless to say, there must be several other indicators in other charts as well, but a trigger to Pluto suggests that those same feelings of fear and threat to survival are likely to be made manifest. When the tertiary progressed Moon in the 9/11 chart made a sesquiquadrate (135 degree aspect) to Pluto, from November 12 to November 14, 2001, two things happened. Osama bin Laden announced he had nuclear weapons, and the American Airlines airbus crashed. Whether or not the plane crash was an act of terror, many assumed that it was, and the same feelings of deep distress and fear abounded.

In light of this, there is a period between February 8 and February 14 that I consider potentially quite hazardous. There are several triggers for several different progressions during those six days that suggest violence and significant events in the current war. The Inaugural tertiary progressed Mars opposite Saturn mentioned above is strongly triggered by the Inaugural tertiary progressed Moon, first opposite tertiary progressed Mars (2/8 –2/10/01) and then conjunct natal Saturn (2/11 to 2/13). But the most dangerous aspect, to my mind, comes on February 12 and 13, when the tertiary progressed Moon in the War on Terror chart reaches a square to natal Pluto. The Moon Pluto aspect suggests the possibility of the same feelings of fear and trauma generated by the events of 9/11, albeit for only a few days. The Sun Uranus conjunction on February 13 is another factor to consider; it suggests a sudden, unpredictable and powerful event.

Thus, January and February are likely to bring great turmoil to the administration, particularly during the second half of January and the first half of February. The War on Terrorism will continue to unfold, although progress will not be as direct and clear as it was in the fall. Fierce political battles as well as intense military activity are possible. President Bush is laboring under a difficult Saturn aspect until late March that will bring few victories and likely force him to face some harsh realities during the next few months.

February 9th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The most charitable view of recent events is that George Bush is a man obsessed with a vision. In this inner kingdom, his sole purpose in life is to oppose evil; he is the White Knight opposing the Serpent of Evil-doers that run rampant on the planet. All else pales in comparison and is, consequently, ignored. A more cynical view suggests that this exploitation of fear and insistence on more and more weaponry serves to keep the public clinging to the Republican administration in terrified desperation, afraid even for a moment to look at other pressing issues. The cynical view also points out the current enrichment of the defense industry as we linger in a permanent state of war, and the salivating of the oil industry as it eyes Afghanistan and dreams of pipelines.

Whatever the intention, however, the central theme of George Bush’s current reality is war, to the exclusion of all else. In the months following September 11th, this theme rang true for the American public. We had been viciously attacked, and the enemy was in sight. To go after him and destroy his power to do further harm seemed the only sane response.

Now, however, the enemy is no longer in sight. He is portrayed as omnipresent and yet vague, omnipotent and yet without substance. The president attempts to keep us mobilized by instilling fear in our hearts, but lately, he has become more disturbing than inspiring. Allies who gave us wholehearted support in the aftermath of September 11th, now express intense concern, alarm, and even outrage at Bush’s war-mongering threats toward an “axis of evil”. Pundits from all persuasions of the political spectrum have labeled the speech “dangerously infantile” (Robert Fisk), “blundering… in the hubris of victory” (Pat Buchanan), and a ”vote-winning tactic” (Britain’s Jack Straw).

As we move into the post-Afghanistan phase of the War on Terrorism, Bush no longer remains unchallenged. The Axis of Evil speech elicited a huge outcry worldwide that has caused some backpedaling and rephrasing from the administration. The new budget, which slashes everything except defense, and robs from Social Security and Medicare to do so, will surely foment a huge Congressional battle over scarce resources and, perhaps, over tax policy as well. The administration continues to dig in its heels over secretive energy meetings, as the GAO prepares to sue, and the stench of Enron increasingly pervades the atmosphere in Washington.

As mentioned in previous articles, the strong Jupiterian good-luck charm of September through early December no longer blesses Bush with the golden touch. Frustration and setbacks have been prominent since Saturn’s more restrictive and difficult energies have taken the lead, beginning in mid-December. The inability to capture Osama bin Laden and Mohammed Omar is an outright failure that the administration has been energetically spinning into a victory, essentially by reframing the goals of the war. The mushrooming and malignant Enron scandal is, at best, a huge embarrassment to an administration that was best friends with the beleaguered Ken Lay, and, at worst, spreads the fetid aroma of very troublesome policy choices bought by huge self-serving campaign contributions. Bush is now bunkered-in, pumping out bellicose war rhetoric, and manipulating our insecurities to distract us.

The general mood of the administration from late January through late March 2002 is best described by the tertiary progressed Mars opposite Saturn in the Inaugural chart. Mars represents angry challenges, both domestic and foreign, to the administration’s hard-line approach. We see the GAO about to sue Bush, Inc. for its refusal to offer records of its energy meetings. Foreign allies are grumbling, some louder than others, about the strong military implications in Bush’s recent rhetoric. Numerous journalists have sharply criticized the fanciful accounting and bloated military expenses in the recently submitted budget. Congress is sure to follow. And none of these battles is likely to be easily resolved or offer any successes to Bush in the immediate future due to the very strong Saturn influence that continues to haunt his Mars and Midheaven through mid-March.

Beginning around mid-February and continuing through about the first ten days in May, a totally different planetary combination comes into play, overlapping the above-mentioned Mars-Saturn opposition in the Inaugural chart. In the US Sagittarius-rising chart, the progressed Moon moves to a conjunction of progressed Uranus (2/15 to 3/10/02), transiting Uranus moves into conjunction of the natal Moon (3/10 to 3/28/02, first pass), and progressed Moon moves into conjunction of natal Uranus (4/1 to 5/1/02). This suggests that the people (the Moon) are somewhat stirred up and agitated, with events unfolding fairly rapidly. It further suggests sudden and unexpected events (Uranus) that cause significant and possibly upsetting changes.

The Aquarian Moon in the US chart is in the Third House, and Uranus, as ruler of Aquarius, is the House ruler. The Third House covers the areas of communication, transportation, the media, and education. Furthermore, the Moon rules the Eighth House in this chart, which signifies the areas of taxation, investments, and financial and budgetary policy. The coming Moon/Uranus contacts could thus indicate sudden and significant events, with a wide impact in at least some of these areas. It is possible that there will be wild fluctuations in the Stock Market and/or other upsets in people’s investments. The economy may look particularly bleak during the second half of April when Saturn again crosses the US Descendant. There is also the possibility of labor unrest during April, since Uranus is in the Sixth House of workers.

If we look at President Bush’s chart for this period, we can see the potential for significant crisis from mid- March through mid-April, when his tertiary progressed Ascendant is conjunct his natal Uranus. Since this corresponds to the transit of Uranus to the US Moon from 3/10 to 3/28, we might expect some kind of significant, sudden, and upsetting events during the last 10 days of March when these two overlap.

In April the tertiary progressed Inaugural Sun moves into square with natal Mars, bringing a forceful aggression to the dealings of the administration. This aspect suggests a strong war-like atmosphere, or, minimally, severe criticism and anger from foreign nations, partners, or adversaries. Both are possible if Bush chooses this period to enlarge his War on Terrorism, a distinct possibility with tertiary Sun square Mars. Things are not likely to go well until after April, when Saturn begins to separate from the US Descendant.

In summary, the events from mid-March through early May are likely to be somewhat dramatic, sudden, and unpredictable (Uranus). This energy may impact the Market and various investments with a period of significant instability. Or it may in some way disrupt media, transportation, or communication activities. Bush is likely to be quite aggressive, possibly furthering his war aims in April, incurring the wrath of many in the process. Things will ease up and calm down considerably by the second week in May. In the meantime, fasten your seatbelts.

March 10th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

When Cowboy George W. threw his rhetorical lasso at the now notorious Axis of Evil Gang, a collective gasp was heard around the world. Concern was instantly generated over the potential impact of such language, as well as the likely aggressive policy it implied, especially towards Iraq. Early rumblings in the administration had already hinted at a possible confrontation with Iraq to complete the unfinished business of the Bush Dynasty. After the attack of 9/11, a great effort was expended to find a connection between Saddam Hussein and the al Qaeda terrorists, to no avail. But on January 29, 2002, during his State of the Union address, President Bush officially expanded the War on Terrorism to include those sovereign nations who had weapons of mass destruction and might be inclined to use them on the United States. Iraq was at the top of the list.

Regarding a possible war with Iraq, the question at this point seems to be no longer if, but when. Using astrology, we can attempt to determine the probability and timing of such a war. For this purpose, the birth chart for Iraq, the birth chart for Saddam Hussein, and the chart for Hussein’s swearing-in to the office of the Presidency are being used. Also useful has been a look at some of the transits and progressions from the Gulf War, 8/2/90 to 2/27/91. Using this data, the first time period to come up significantly on the astrological radar screen is from about mid-December 2002 through late March 2003. The second is from late November 2003 through at least May 2004.

In Saddam’s natal chart there are three planetary configurations that, when triggered, can indicate aggression, striving for power, and sudden, disruptive, unilateral action. These are: the Sun/Uranus conjunction (sudden, unilateral, ill-considered action); the Pluto/Jupiter opposition (expanded sense of power and control); and the Mars/Moon conjunction (anger, rash action, and recklessness). It is important to remember that a strong planetary transit, even when it does not directly touch a natal configuration that contains that planet, can activate the planet’s qualities in the natal chart. Thus, when transiting Uranus crossed Saddam’s Midheaven from mid-July through October 1990, it was activating the extremely willful, disruptive, unilateral tendency indicated in Saddam’s chart by the First House Sun/Uranus conjunction.

On August 1, 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait and began the Gulf War. At this time transiting Jupiter was crossing his Pluto and opposing his Jupiter. Such a transit could make someone who is already somewhat megalomaniacal feel truly invincible. When the air war began on January 16, 1991, there was a New Moon conjunct Saddam’s Jupiter and opposing his Pluto. The next day, as the Sun made its exact aspect to these two planets, Saddam launched his first SCUD missile attack.

There are some indications that Saddam will be involved in an intense power struggle that begins with a strong expression of his power, in either late December 2002 or early January 2003. We find transiting Uranus making a quincunx to Saddam’s Pluto (12/14/02 to 1/08/03), while at the same time his progressed Moon will be in square to both Jupiter and Pluto (12/25/02 to 2/1/03). The overlapping days between these two configurations could bring some dramatic events (12/25/02 to 1/08/03). Other indictors in Saddam’s chart that indicate subsequent and possibly violent and aggressive events through early March are: tertiary progressed Sun quincunx natal Mars (angry, warlike energy, 1/23 –2/23/03); transiting Node opposite natal Mars (2/12 –2/19/03); and transiting Jupiter square natal Uranus (2/23 –3/5/03), which will trigger the converse progressed Mercury square natal Uranus (9/02 to 3/03).

In Saddam’s Swearing-In chart the significant natal aspect for our purposes is the Mercury/ Jupiter conjunction square natal Uranus, again an indicator of sudden, precipitous action. In the Gulf War this was triggered by a transit of Pluto opposite natal Uranus and square to natal Mercury. In November and December 2002, there is a Jupiter station square natal Uranus, indicating the possibility of some sudden, willful, and aggressive act.

In the midst of all of this, of course, is the fate of the Iraqi people, who are pawns in the great power games of nations. The birth chart of Iraq tells the story of a suffering people who have been restricted, frustrated, and living in harsh circumstances for years. In the Iraqi chart we find natal Moon conjunct Venus in a tight opposition to Saturn. Moreover, the natal Sun is in quincunx to Saturn. All of these aspects indicate suffering and difficulties for the population and the burden of a heavy-handed ruler. The progression of Saturn in the Iraqi chart has only exacerbated these extremely difficult circumstances for the general population, making a station since the late 1980’s in very exact opposition to the Moon (indicator of the people). This aspect has just begun to wane, but can still be triggered by a significant transit.

And here is where we come to the strongest indicator of big trouble brewing for Iraq. From late December 2002 through late May 2003, transiting Pluto will be stationary opposite the Iraqi Moon, triggering the still active progressed Saturn opposite the natal Moon. During the Gulf War period, from December 1990 through May 1991, transiting Pluto was quincunx Iraq’s Moon/Venus conjunction. I think that this Pluto transit of 12/02 to 5/03 and the one following it in 2004 (see below) indicate tremendous suffering for the Iraqi people. It is not insignificant that a similar transit happened during the last war.

A further indicator of powerful events, probable violence, and extremely aroused emotions during this period is the tertiary progressed Mars that will be opposite the Iraqi Moon from 12/4/02 to 1/16/03. Tertiary progressed Mars overlaps with transiting Pluto opposing the natal Moon from 12/25/02 to 1/16/03. (Please note the correspondence with the double triggering of Saddam’s Jupiter/ Pluto opposition from 12/25/02 – 1/8/03.) Also of note here is that tertiary progressed Jupiter will be opposing the Iraqi Moon from 12/1/02 to 4/18/03, thereby intensifying the aggression and power struggles going on during this period.

There are numerous indications in the US chart, George Bush’s natal chart, and Bush’s Inaugural chart of a very significant crisis for the US in January 2003. (See Timeline) It is possible that Saddam will act precipitously in some kind of pre-emptive strike, or it may be that the US aggressively begins the course of events. Also possible, but unlikely in my opinion, is that both countries will go through rather dramatic events unrelated to one another during the same time period.

It is likely that this war between Iraq and the United States will continue through much of 2003 and into 2004. President Bush’s progressed Sun will be conjunct his natal Mars and triggered by the transits of both Jupiter and Mars from July to November 2003 and again in April and May 2004. These are clear indicators that he will be actively involved in the role of Commander-in-Chief, whether in Iraq or elsewhere. But there are no easy victories here. It would seem that Saddam puts up a furious resistance, both in the early months of 2003 and 2004.

The destabilization of Saddam’s regime seems to take place under the numerous Uranus transits that hit his natal chart and his Swearing-in chart from November 2003 through May 2004. (Progressed Moon conjunct natal Uranus, progressed Moon conjunct progressed Uranus, and transiting Uranus square natal Moon/Mars conjunction in Saddam’s chart. Progressed Sun square Uranus, repeatedly triggered from November through May, in the Swearing-in chart, as well as tertiary progressed Sun opposite Uranus in the Swearing-in chart.) While these Uranus aspects suggest defiance from Saddam, with an eventual overturning of the status quo, the continued Pluto transit opposing the Iraqi Moon (ending in 11/03) and moving to oppose the Iraqi Venus and conjunct natal Saturn through most of 2004, suggest a very difficult and painful time for the Iraqi people. Their entire situation is likely to be transformed, but in the slow and agonizing way that Pluto often brings.

For the United States the entire period of 2003 through 2004 will bring great challenges and painful lessons. Transiting Saturn will be conjunct the US and Bush’s Sun for part of this period. Transiting Chiron will be opposed to the US Sun and Bush's Sun in 2003 (crisis, breakdown, and subsequent healing potential). In the US tertiary progressed chart Saturn will be opposed the US Sun for most of 2003 and square the US Saturn for most of 2004. How much any of this has to do with a war with Iraq is anyone’s guess. But if such a war is the predominant theme during this period, it may end up as somewhat of a pyrrhic victory for the United States, a war in which the victory gained was at too great a cost. Whether this is due to losses incurred in the actual fighting, the devastation caused by the use of weapons of mass destruction, the political fallout at home, the fury of international opinion, the instability caused by the destabilization of Iraq, or some combination of the above, is unknown. But we will not see the rousing and seemingly swift victory of the Jupiter station of late 2001 again. In its stead, we will experience the lesson inherent in Saturn’s wisdom: without restraint, caution, and humility, there is suffering.

March 23rd, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

On May 14, 1948, after the Israeli Proclamation of Independence had been read and signed, Ben Gurion proclaimed, “Israel has been born! The meeting has ended.” The time for this moment is alternatively given as either 4:32 or 4:37 PM. In my previous work I have always used the 4:37 time, but I have recently come to the conclusion that the relentless violence that has plagued the region in the past month is better described by a time a few minutes earlier. In the article below, I had improvised using 4:33 PM, but I had not actually seen a source for that time. I have since noted that Nicholas Campion in The Book of World Horoscopes mentions a 4:32 time.

Careful calculation using this time yields a progressed Midheaven conjunct progressed Mars that has been building in intensity for at least two years. Moreover, this aspect will continue to wax in strength for several months. The progressed Mars/progressed Midheaven conjunction at 24 Virgo, although currently only about 12 minutes apart, continues through mid-October 2002. It is a very strong indicator of an intensified military focus in Israel during the entire period of its duration.

In the past year this progression has been rendered especially violent by its square to natal Uranus (24 Gemini21). Although progressed Mars is now slightly past natal Uranus as of early March, progressed Midheaven remains in square to natal Uranus until early June. This implies sudden changes and shifts in policy due to unexpected and distressing events. It also suggests that virtually any transit triggering 24 degrees of the mutable signs can stimulate potentially aggressive, violent, or military events.

With the Mars/Midheaven/Uranus energy as a background, the coming transit of Uranus opposite Israel’s natal Mars (28Leo19) takes on a more ominous note. This is yet another very violent aspect that implies sudden, unpredictable and dramatic events. This transit will be very strong in April and is likely to be significantly triggered by the Mars /Uranus square of April 8 – 10 at 27Taurus/Aquarius42. Until about mid-July, Uranus will make a station opposing Israel’s natal Mars, continuing the hyper-stimulation of war-like energy and violence. During this transit, any stimulation of 28 degrees of the fixed signs, 28 degrees in general, and 13 of the cardinal signs, will act as a trigger, especially when the aspect is close to exact (second half of April and mid-June through July 10). The final phase of this aspect comes in late January and early February 2003.

Thus, despite the current attempts at peace negotiations, the existing cycle of attacks and reprisals seems destined to continue for at least a few more months. It seems that the most dangerous period will be from now through mid-July with the concurrence in Israel’s chart of progressed Midheaven conjunct progressed Mars, progressed Midheaven square natal Uranus, and the coming transit of Uranus opposition to natal Mars. After mid-July it seems that a lull in the violence is possible, although the progressed Mars/progressed Midheaven aspect is seemingly still in effect (based on the 4:32 PM time), suggesting that at least some level of tension will remain.

The final act of the current Palestinian/Israeli conflict is likely to come during December 2002 through mid-February 2003. That period includes Israel’s tertiary progressed Sun square natal Mars and the last phase of the transit of Uranus opposite natal Mars. (It should be noted that the same period shows up as a potential time of military events in Iraq.) However, when the planetary configurations of early 2003 are past, it seems that a real possibility exists for peace to take hold in the Middle East. In my calculations, I can find no further indications of the violence and turmoil that have plagued the region increasingly for the past 18 months.

March 10th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

As predicted in both Fasten Your Seatbelts and the Timeline of the Bush Residency, the end of March indeed brought a crisis to the Bush administration that the President has been grappling with ever since. The brutality of the Passover Massacre sparked a full-scale invasion of the Palestinian territories by Israel. This rapid escalation of violence demonstrated in cold clarity the absolute bankruptcy of Bush’s Mideast policy. Not only had he purposely done nothing as violence escalated for 15 months, but once engaged, he floundered and flip-flopped impotently like a hooked fish.

The crisis level of activity which peaked in mid-April with Powell’s belated twin negotiations with Sharon and Arafat can be seen in Bush’s chart by the tertiary progressed Ascendant conjunct natal Uranus. This has kept events moving at a dramatic and upsetting pace, with shifts and changes daily. No doubt Bush has been irritable and somewhat agitated from this very intense energy.

The continued level of frustration and failure of policy, which continues at least through April, can be seen in Bush’s tertiary progressed Sun square to tertiary progressed Saturn, exact about April 26. Interestingly, the timing of this is mirrored in the transit of Saturn to the US Descendant (4/14 –4/26), an aspect suggesting a somber and difficult time for the country and a diminishment in world status (natal Saturn in the 10th house).

Despite the frustration of these Saturn aspects, we will see the Bush administration become more and more aggressive in its statements and policy formulation through April. This may be attributed to the Inaugural tertiary progressed Sun square natal Mars. The administration will likely seem somewhat belligerent and angry, but so too will its adversaries. The morning of April 21 is likely to bring us a clear example of the administration’s aggressive stance when the Mars/Sun aspect is strongly triggered by both the Moon and Mercury.

A second wave of crisis builds in late April and most of May for President Bush as Uranus makes a station in exact sesquiquadrate to Bush’s Sun, and the Inaugural Moon reaches a semisquare to natal Uranus (4/25 – 5/10/02). Events will again move rapidly for the President, with circumstances changing quickly. As mentioned in Update on Israel, some level of tension and violence is likely to continue in the Middle East through the first third of July 2002, at which point the transiting Uranus, which is currently stationary on Israel’s Mars, will begin to wane. There seems to be a particularly dangerous period of time in the Middle East from May 11 through May19 during which Bush may be more fully engaged, quite bold, and seem far more effective and successful in his efforts (5/12 –5/17/02). During this time, we find transiting Uranus sesquiquadate Bush’s Sun, powerfully strengthened and triggered by transiting Jupiter conjunct his Sun. Unfortunately, just as Jupiter moves away from the “success” aspect in Bush’s chart, Mars moves into a very dangerous position (23-24 Gemini) in Israel’s chart that could ignite tremendous violence (5/18 –20).

Immediately upon the heels of this high voltage period in the Middle East and Bush’s more aggressive and successful stance, we have the final pass of the Saturn/Pluto opposition from May 20 to 26, 2002. There may be a strong sense in the world at this time of a real battle against the forces of chaos, especially on May 25th and 26th with the additional triggering of the stationary Uranus by Mars and the Moon. There is also the possibility that the oil weapon will be used during this period, though I would expect that to diminish shortly after this transit is over. Saturn and Pluto in opposition suggest a tremendous power struggle as well as a scarcity of resources and economic contractions. On a positive note, the final pass of this opposition is quite brief. Though turbulence is likely to continue in the Middle East through the first ten days of July or so, there may at last be an end point in sight.

May 4th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

On a hot, sultry day one can almost feel the heavy moisture in the air slowly coalescing to form a layer of dense clouds. Within a few hours, a thunderstorm is brazenly whipping through the foliage, with deafening thunder roaring out its warnings to all. Soon cascades of water are plummeting from the heavens, and lightning is randomly selecting targets for destruction.

Like the heavily laden, moist air in hot summer, many policies of the Bush Administration have barely begun to take their toll. The financial debacle that is likely from the irresponsible tax cuts of last year is nearing the horizon and may soon impact not only the US but the global economy. The quagmire of military involvement in Afghanistan is also just beginning to be apparent. The potential destabilization of Asia by a US invasion of Iraq, as well as the outrage and fury it will unleash in the Arab world, are similarly waiting in the wings for their cue to appear on the world stage. Even the US War on Terrorism, though seemingly somewhat effective in weakening al Qaeda cells, may have consequences unexpected and unseen in irritating great masses of humanity who do not want US military forces on their doorstep. With all of these controversial and potentially hazardous policies unfolding, it seems a hazy layer of clouds is slowly forming over the Bush Administration. To the astrological eye, this is but the early stage of a dark and dangerous storm.

The year of destiny seems to be 2003, although the first half of 2004 also will bring high drama. Numerous astrological configurations suggest tumultuous events beginning in January 2003 that will have a powerful impact on President Bush and the country. The larger themes of 2003, however, can be understood through the meanings of Saturn and Chiron.

Saturn represents the straight and narrow path. If one is cautious, humble, disciplined, and self-sacrificing, Saturn’s influence can be benign and, indeed, strengthening. However, if one is reckless, overextended, self-serving, and arrogant, Saturn periods will mercilessly bring the lessons of humility and selflessness down upon the offender, often through limitation, forced restriction, and loss.

Chiron is a planetoid between Saturn and Uranus. It combines the meaning of the two planets: the responsible, strengthening, limiting, and humble qualities of Saturn and the awakening, sudden explosive quality of Uranus. Chiron is known as the “wounded healer”. Through pain and difficulty come awakening and redemption.

The lineup in 2003 is pretty impressive. From late January, throughout most of the year, President Bush will have transiting Chiron either opposed to his natal Sun or square to his Moon, Chiron, or Jupiter. This prolonged Chiron transit to Bush’s chart suggests that, whatever else is going on in 2003, the events of that time will be extremely difficult and challenging, as well as emotionally painful. The Chiron/Sun aspect suggests issues around authoritarianism, the need to be right, and arrogance, masking a weak inner center. The Chiron/Moon aspect could bring about moodiness and hyper-emotionalism, as well as some painful experiences with his mother (illness?). Chiron/Jupiter can indicate messianic tendencies and grandiosity and the difficulties these would engender.

The US chart will also be undergoing a significant Chiron transit during 2003, specifically square natal Saturn and opposite the Sun. The significant periods here are mid-January to mid-February, July and early August, and mid-October to late November. These suggest, especially given the other transits mentioned below, that the US will be going through some rather painful experiences that will provide the opportunity for the country to deepen its understanding of its place in the world and awaken to a more appropriate and selfless role.

There is also a tertiary progression of great significance to the US chart during 2003. The tertiary progressed Saturn will be conjunct the US Sun from February through October, building in intensity until exact in October. This will be compounded by the transit of Saturn conjunct the US Sun in late September and most of October 2003. This transit will be repeated in mid 2004. The Sun in a country’s chart represents the ruler. Thus, in the US chart, aspects that impact the Sun suggest events or conditions that have to do with the president. These two planetary configurations of Saturn in hard aspect to the Sun are another indication of a very traumatic and difficult time for President Bush. Saturn here suggests obstacles, unpopularity, and grave difficulties. The last time Saturn crossed the US Sun, President Nixon resigned and the US was embroiled in the final, demoralizing phase of Vietnam. The previous crossing was in 1944-45 when the US was actively engaged in World War II, and the crossing before that was 1915 –1916, World War I. Thus, Saturn crossing the US Sun inevitably brings with it exceptionally trying, hazardous, and difficult times for the country and its leader.

This very significant Saturn transit to the US Sun makes its final crossing in the first half of June 2004. Saturn’s influence here is magnified by the tertiary progressed Saturn square the US natal Saturn for most of the year. Again we have the suggestion of a trying and frustrating time for the US. The President (Sun) is struggling, and there is a challenge to America's international prestige, as well as a potential loss of respect (10th House Saturn issues).

There are several indicators of war during the early months of 2004. Most notable is the transit of Pluto conjunct the US Mars and the triggering of Bush’s progressed Sun conjunct his natal Mars by the transit of Jupiter. But with all of the Saturn element involved, national and military goals will be difficult to reach and lessons in humility and limitation may be forthcoming.

The ultimate lesson for the US is that its great power and abundance must be used for the greater good of humanity. To whom much is given, much is also expected. In a global world, there is little room for self-serving power grabs to maintain hegemony over all. There is no place for national gluttony and a policy that supports and encourages it. Such actions will lead inevitably to chaos and destruction when the karmic reapers, Saturn and Chiron, come around to collect their dues.

May 24th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Pandora’s Box has been opened, and the Bush Administration is desperately trying to get it shut again. The recent revelations that President Bush knew of an impending al Qaeda hijacking and did precious little to thwart it have led to demands from Congress for a full inquiry. With Dick Cheney as its lead henchman, the administration is attempting every possible means to encase any investigation in secrecy and minimize its extent and impact. Insisting that all congressional scrutiny be kept away from the public eye, Cheney is also pushing a refusal to release critical data, including the now notorious August memo that warned about potential airplane hijackings by terrorists. Cheney is even leading the attempt at diversionary tactics by dourly announcing an imminent, brutal, and nonspecific terrorist attack in order to shift the focus of the headlines away from Dubya’s deadly negligence of last summer.

As of this writing, some of the furor over the initial story has died down, but the seeds of distrust have nonetheless been planted. There is now a big ugly crack in the façade of our Fearless Leader. If a full investigation is conducted, it will lead inexorably to the ghost of John O’Neill, the lead FBI Al Qaeda specialist who quit last summer in frustration over the many roadblocks put up against his investigation of bin Laden. According to Bin Laden: the Forbidden Truth by Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquie, O’Neill complained bitterly that the Bush administration had purposely slowed down FBI investigations of al Qaeda and terrorism in Afghanistan to pursue its oil pipeline negotiations with the Taliban. If these facts emerge in a publicly aired investigation side by side with Bush’s knowledge of an imminent hijacking threat, charges of criminal negligence will not be far off. Thus, we have the administration’s increasingly desperate and aggressive attempts to seal off further scrutiny with extraordinarily lame excuses (a “traditional hijacking”?), smoke and mirrors.

The astrological indicators for Bush during this period are quite interesting. Uranus, the planet of sudden awakenings, reversals, and upsets has been stationary at exactly 135 degrees (sesquiquadrate) from Bush’s Sun. This minor hard aspect gains strength from the duration of the station: May 10th through June 13th, using a 10-minute waxing orb. Previously, I had predicted that the Jupiter transit to Bush’s Sun, May 11 through May 17, would bring successful initiatives and acclaim. It did bring the announcement of a significant nuclear arms pact with Russia and Bush’s wildly successful $33 million fund-raising effort. But, more importantly, the Jupiter conjunction to Bush’s Sun acted as a trigger to the slower-moving Uranus. This transit occurred during the height of the controversy over Bush’s less than stellar performance pre-9/11. The astounding speed of the transition from Bush the Teflon-Coated War Leader, to Bush the Vacationing Negligent, was truly Uranian.

Since March, transiting Uranus also has been stationary near to its conjunction (exact in late March) of the US Moon. In the US chart, the Moon is in the 3rd House, in Aquarius. This indicates the importance of free speech and a free press in the national psyche. Uranus has a tendency to wake people up and bring them closer to a deeper truth. It is about breaking the inhibitions of societal norms and speaking out in freedom. During this recent upset over the pre-9/11 intelligence, there were certainly rumblings of a press that was waking up to its true mission. Dan Rather even made a statement admitting that his role as a questioning journalist had been somewhat self-limited by the surge of patriotism of the last several months. He courageously spoke out and said, in essence, “No more!” We can expect this trend to continue through mid-August and again receive a jolt next January ’03. It is important to remember here that Uranian changes usually signify a change in direction that continues after the transit is long gone. The new direction then becomes the status quo.

In addition to the Uranus station in Bush’s chart, currently we find a progressed Moon square to progressed Saturn. This began in mid-May, but will wax in intensity during the first half of June. It is an aspect of sorrow, loss, and hypersensitivity. Things will seem frustrating and lonely to the Resident-in-Chief. This aspect may well coincide with the departure of Karen Hughes, which is an event far more disturbing to Dubya than we have been told.

The final aspect in Bush’s chart worth noting is the transit of Neptune opposite his Mercury, moving towards its second pass all of June and up to July 23. Here we see the endemic confusion, obfuscation, retreat, and inability to separate fact from fantasy that so plagues this administration. Significant Neptune transits weave all through this presidency, with the influence of this planet clearly imprinted in the Inaugural chart as well. Neptune is the planet of spin, smoke, and mirrors. Nothing is as it seems. Neptune eventually leads to great disillusionment after unrealistic expectations. The further the flight into fantasy, the greater the fall back to reality. Dubya’s “divine mission” received on the mountaintop of ash that was the World Trade Center is a setup for this kind of plunge.

As for Dick Cheney, he is coming to the end of some very difficult planetary configurations. In recent months he has gone from one failure to the next, probably capped by his disastrous trip to the Middle East and numerous legal challenges. Even his recent dire terror warnings, a clear tactical distraction from Dubya’s malfeasance, managed to propel the Stock Market into a nosedive. Cheney’s converse progressed Sun is currently quincunx his natal Saturn, triggering the natal square between them. This aspect has been increasingly active for a year and will be exact around 6/24/02. It brings frustrations, difficulties, criticism and failures. It also adds to his intransigence and general stiffness. In addition, transiting Neptune has been conjunct Cheney’s natal Sun since early March, making successful manifestation of goals almost impossible and adding to his “slippery fish” persona on all things relevant. For the moment this transit will lose most of its impact after mid-June. But difficulties continue for Cheney through the first half of July, when Saturn will be squaring his Moon. Again we may see failures, frustrations, and difficulties in many areas. Any of these aspects can indicate health difficulties, which I would not rule out until these planetary positions shift (after mid-July).

June 10th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

President Bush’s foreign policy resembles a battle with a swamp fire. As one blaze is controlled, another erupts elsewhere, and all efforts go to attack the new conflagration. Currently Bush is being jostled between the potential disasters in the Middle East and India/Pakistan, with periodic threatening bursts erupting from the quagmire of Afghanistan and potential for trouble developing in Columbia. Into this mix, Bush wishes to throw a torch into Iraq, amid dissent from most of the world, including his own generals. Moreover, Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive strikes against perceived terrorist threats, recently reiterated forcefully at his commencement speech at West Point, has already served to legitimize aggressive military solutions in both the Middle East and South Asia.

The recent increase in hostilities between India and Pakistan over the control of Kashmir has brought the world seemingly to the brink of a potential nuclear clash between these two countries. Thousands of foreign residents are fleeing in panic. Astrologically, the increase in belligerence of the past few weeks may be seen in the transit of Mars over the Indian and Pakistani Uranus, Node, and Mars conjunction, as well as the strong aspects of transiting Mars to Prime Minister of India Vajpayee’s Sun, Jupiter, and Mars. This should pass after June 3, 2002. There are, however, some dangerous patches ahead.

During the first half of August 2002, the transiting Sun/ Mars conjunction (15 –20 Leo) may well trigger significant violent event(s) that again increase hostilities between the two countries for a brief period. I do not foresee a nuclear exchange, but I do expect a great deal of tension and belligerence to occur. The Sun/Mars conjunction falls exactly on Pakistani President Musharraf’s Sun (17Leo46) and very close to the India/Pakistani Sun (21Leo07). Moreover, it will also trigger a tertiary progressed Sun conjunct tertiary progressed Mars (19 Taurus) in Prime Minister Vajpayee’s swearing-in chart (3/19/98, New Delhi). This latter aspect continues until October 2002, suggesting that Vajpayee will not hesitate to stand firmly and aggressively on India’s behalf. It also implies a continuation of some level of tension and, perhaps, military activity through the early fall.

Also of great concern are two tertiary progressions to the two countries’ Mars (00Cancer35) over the next year and a half that, when activated, could once again cause hostilities to spike. Beginning around July 2002, tertiary progressed Uranus moves into orb of natal Mars, peaking around 12/1/03. This is a very serious progression, implying aggression (Mars) coupled with sudden devastating impact (Uranus). It will be especially strong during the last six months of 2003 and could easily indicate terrorist activity or powerful military events when activated. Tertiary progressed Jupiter (00Aquarius) will be quincunx the same natal Mars (00Cancer35) from January 2003 through January 2004, further intensifying the powerful and dangerous Mars/ Uranus aspect.

From early August through early October2003, several very significant triggers to the Mars/Jupiter/Uranus progressions come with the transits of Uranus (00 Pisces), Mars (00 Pisces), and Jupiter (00Virgo). In August the tertiary progressed Sun reaches natal Uranus (25 Gemini) as well. Thus, this period could spark alarming events that add to the ever-increasing danger of war as we move through the latter half of 2003.

Of greatest concern is the period from mid-December ’03 through mid-February ’04. It is at this point that the tertiary progressed Sun (00 Cancer) in the Indian and Pakistani charts joins the tertiary progressed Uranus (slightly past exact) in its conjunction with natal Mars (00Cancer35), still receiving a quincunx from tertiary Jupiter (00Aquarius35), and triggered by transiting Uranus (00 Pisces). This is a very inflammatory mix. Further adding to the likelihood of war at this time is the Indian/Pakistani converse progressed Mars (21 Taurus) square the natal Sun (21 Leo), which will be triggered by transiting Pluto (21 Sagittarius) from December ’03 through early June ’04.

Thus, although the months from August to October 2003 are likely to bring a tremendous and critical increase in hostilities, the months from November 2003 through February 2004 bring a grave danger that these hostilities will move into a full-scale war. One can only hope that during the intervening period, between the August 2002 increase in tension and the growing struggle of late 2003, the international community may diplomatically find a way to further insulate South Asia from its more destructive impulses and prevent the possibility of a nuclear holocaust.

June 18, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The last few days of May 2001, marked the first real downward turn for the Bush Residency. The defection of Jim Jeffords followed by the loss of the Republican Senate indicated the earliest stirrings of real resistance to meet the Backslapper-in-Chief. A few weeks later Bush was off to Europe, where he was greeted by a wall of opposition to his policies as well as hordes of angry protestors. In fact, Baby Bush was the inspiration for the first mass mooning in history, not a thing to make the Americans back home very proud. As mentioned in a previous article on this site and on my Timeline, the summer months of June and July and, to a lesser extent, August are likely to be very stressful for Bush, confronting him with tremendous criticism, upsets, and unexpected and painful challenges.

The greatest culprit in this picture, astrologically speaking, is the Inaugural Chart. Many of its inborn tensions will be blazing alive with great force during the summer. The most potent is the Mars/Uranus square, enlivened by the movement of tertiary progressed Mars to the exact square. This will be strongly triggered by transits from the 19th to the 26th of June, although it will be in effect until the last week of July. As we have already seen by the European trip, this configuration brings intense anger and some violence aimed at the Dim Son and his unpopular,extremely conservative agenda.

Another planetary aspect of concern during this period is the retrograde transit of Uranus square to the Inaugural Saturn. This is active all of June and the first two weeks of July, the latter period being the strongest. This same transit was in effect (with other influences as well) during the downing of the US spy plane. It suggests confrontations with the conservative administration (Saturn) by rebellious, disruptive forces (Uranus). It was triggered by a semisextile from Jupiter during the week of Bush's European trip when he encountered a great deal of opposition to his rigid and backward-looking (Saturn) policies. It has no major triggers in July but several minor ones, thus adding more of a flavor of tension than a huge incident by itself.

One further planetary indicator of a general feeling of anger and criticism toward the Shrub misadministration and its policies is the secondary progression of Inaugural Mars square Inaugural Mercury. This has actually been in effect since the Inauguration itself, but reaches its peak in late August. The waning of this progression after August may signal a decrease in the intensity of opposition and disagreement to Bush until the next strong indicator of such sentiment arrives around January 2002. There are several trigger times for this aspect in July.

Another planetary configuration that must be addressed regarding the summer months is the Inaugural Chart tertiary progression of the Sun conjunct natal Neptune which lasts most of the month of June. It has thus far brought three minor scandals to the Bush White House and may bring more. The underage drinking arrests of the Resident's twin daughters and the conflict of interest issues surrounding Karl Rove and Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill have certainly cast a shadow on the administration. The revelation that the Clinton transition /White House trashing stories were dishonest, slanderous, and manipulative in the extreme may also be attributed to this aspect. Besides the unearthing of scandals, however, the Sun/Neptune progression is likely to bring to light the innate weakness and vacuity of His Fraudulency. These qualities are inherent in the Inaugural Chart by virtue of the natal Sun/Neptune conjunction in the 10th house, but they become more fully apparent with the progression.

A further characteristic of this Sun/Neptune is described well by Molly Ivins in her oft repeated description of the former Texas governor: "What you see is not what you get". This is quintessential Neptune: the image obfuscates the reality. "Compassionate conservatism" is certainly a prime example of this since the results of Bush's far-right policies are anything but compassionate. The budget/tax cut duplicity is another, exhibiting extraordinary smoke and mirrors gimmickry. A more recent example of the cognitive dissonance between reality and appearance is the purported bonhomie of Bush's European trip, especially the chummy relationship now claimed between Bush and Russian President Vladamir Putin. The reality underlying all of the charming friendliness and humor of the Traveling Frat Boy is his fundamental and significant disagreement with virtually all of Europe on numerous policies. Even worse, the US positions are derided and disparaged by many on the eastern side of the Atlantic.

All of the planetary energies thus far discussed derive from the unfolding of the Inaugural Chart. In a way, these may be seen as energies swirling around the Resident that color the evolution of his administration. For significant impact on the Shrub himself, we must find indicators in his birth chart. In this regard we find three consequential aspects that will affect him during the summer months.

The first aspect of importance is the transit of Mars opposite Bush's natal Uranus, currently square his progressed Ascendant. This alignment acts primarily as a trigger to surprising and upsetting events that are better described by the other planetary energies of the moment. The last Mars transit to activate this progression happened when the US spy plane was downed and when Bush announced our repudiation of the Kyoto Protocol, which precipitated a much stronger reaction around the globe than he expected. The next Mars transit to 19 Sagittarius comes on June 19 through June 23, 2001. The transit will also be triggering the tertiary progressed Mars square to Inaugural Uranus mentioned above. It is likely to herald destabilizing and sudden, rather disturbing events that include an angry attack of some kind on the administration's policies.
The final Mars crossing of 19 Sagittarius will be from August 10 through August 13. Although Bush may be dealing with some surprising and disturbing events at the time, they do not seem to tie in as strongly with the fate of his administration as do the June events since there are fewer simultaneous indicators.

The next significant Shrub planetary event is the first phase of his upcoming Saturn transit when Saturn will both square his Mars and semisquare his Midheaven. We may look at this transit as having two layers: the broad qualities it imparts over the entire period that it is active, including late July 2001 until mid-March 2002, and the three periods of intense activation when the transit is most exact. The first phase of the latter is from June 25 to July 3, 2001. This transit, perhaps more than any other, may signal a turning point for Shrub, Inc. It is the first real sign of brakes being administered to the administration's activities since the Inauguration. Saturn tends to force the limitations of reality into the consciousness of the individual. It causes frustrations, obstacles, and difficulties. When handled well, it signifies discipline, compromise, and restraint. None of these qualities, however, have been in evidence in this administration since its inception, despite talk of timely meetings and business attire. I think we will see some brief regrouping and attempted restraint in early July, although the real wake-up call won't come until the turn of the year with the Saturn station (December through March 2002).

The final significant planetary event in Dubya's chart during the summer months is the retrograde motion of Neptune over the Descendant during all of July and the first week of August. We have already seen the Neptunian flavor of the current administration in the unrealistic and ideological nature of its policy formulation. The magical appeal of a "star wars" missile defense despite enormous opposition at home and abroad as well as its clearly unproven feasibility is one example. The Bush II fixation on the magical power of the "free" market to cure all economic ills, including the economic rape of California by competitionless Texas energy barons, is another. Any Neptune activity touching the Resident-in-Chief will always bring a whiff of unrealistic and ideologically-driven, almost magical, policy conception. Thus, what can we expect from Neptune crossing Bush's horizon line? Unfortunately, Neptune may undo some of the realism offered by the first phase of Bush's Saturn transit in early July and bring him back to pursuing his own fanciful yet dangerous agenda. More problematic is the "what you see is not what you get" aspect of Neptune of which we have already had more than enough. There may be an attempt to give the impression of cooperation and conciliation, while pursuing the same right- wing agenda we came to understand after the initial compassionate, bipartisan charade wore off. (The first phase of this Neptune transit was in February when this backslapping charade was at full throttle.) But Neptune can also indicate disillusion and feelings of loss as reality clashes with fantasy. It may be that the combination of Saturn and the angry Mars energy still strong in July will penetrate the rather impervious Resident Bush, leading him to retreat inward in confusion, questioning some of his earlier decisions and their disconnect with reality. One can only hope.

June 25th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

Like a cancer quietly ravaging from within, the Bush administration’s profound dishonesty and soulless manipulations of the public are rapidly creating severe dysfunction within the Ship of State. From the bogus arithmetic upon which the tax cut of 2001 was crafted to the thin excuses for non-policy on the environment, Bush has simply ignored Truth in order to pursue the self-interested goals of Corporate Capitalism. There is even a growing number of citizens who doubt the entire basis for the War on Terrorism, wondering aloud if it was ignited by devotion to an oil pipeline through Afghanistan and a corresponding purposeful negligence that let a lethal terrorist strike incite the public’s determination for war.

In the past month, we have had startling evidence of this craven policy of self-interested dishonesty at the expense of the Republic. In mid-May, we were stunned to learn of the administration’s many early warnings, previously denied, during the summer of 2001, of an imminent terrorist event on American soil, likely utilizing an airline hijacking. Then came the shocking memo from FBI agent Colleen Rowley, which pointed out, at best, gross negligence and incompetence in the pre-9/11 intelligence kingdom. Like a snake in the grass, interspersed amidst these rather riveting stories, were several ominous terrorist warnings from top officials, throwing the country into a tailspin of anxiety. More recently, during further significant testimony on pre-9/11 intelligence, we were given a frightening headline of a dirty bomb plot quelled in the knick of time by our trusty officials. Needless to say, such terrifying headlines wiped away any discussion of information critical of the Bush administration. But despite such prodigious attempts at damage control, these flagrant maneuvers may ultimately have backfired.

Throughout the media, both national and global, the Bush administration has been censured for its callous manipulations of public opinion and its attempts to stoke up public fear to its own advantage. It has now become almost common knowledge that the administration has been cleverly distracting us with its hyper-inflated warnings and exaggerated stories of peril averted. Citizens are becoming cynical and lackadaisical about terrorist warnings. The credibility of the administration is in a shambles, so much so that we begin to dwell within the story of the boy who cried wolf.

Another example of this negative balance in Bush’s credibility is the current determination of Governor Jim Hodges of South Carolina to thwart Bush’s plan to dump spent plutonium in his state. Governor Hodges has called for state troopers to block the transport of this radioactive waste across the state line. What this comes down to is Hodges’ disbelief in the assurances of the Bush administration that this plutonium will be a temporary rather than a permanent part of the South Carolina landscape. Hodges wants an absolute guarantee that is legally binding since the president’s word is evidently not enough. The president’s word was certainly not enough in Nevada. Despite promises to the contrary from a campaigning Bush and despite insufficient scientific support, Yucca Mountain has been mandated to be a repository of nuclear waste, unless the Senate manages to stop it.

Astrologically, several configurations may be seen to correlate to recent events. Certainly the speed of daily revelations and sudden shifts in the political landscape may be connected to Uranus, the planet of sudden upsets and powerful, transformative awakenings. For nearly five weeks, Uranus has been nearly exactly stationary, in a minor hard aspect of 135 degrees, to Bush’s Sun. This aspect peaked as of June 10, 2002. Furthermore, due to the square of Bush’s progressed Saturn to his progressed Moon, the past four weeks have been somewhat upsetting and difficult. But it is to Neptune that we must turn to understand the underlying dishonesty and the perpetual weaving of illusion by the Bush administration.

By its very nature hard to define, Neptune is the Master of Illusion, the Ultimate Spinmeister. What you see is not what you get. In addition to this snake oil salesman archetype, Neptune also can indicate self-deception. Seemingly clear thinking is often infused with fantastic and unrealistic perceptions and plans, possibly even flavored with a divine or mystical purpose. This planetary energy is most at home in the inner life of the true mystic, the ecstatic emotions of the new lover, or the heightened sensitivities of the artist, where it can safely inspire a more sublime emotional state. But when focused on the realities of the political or global landscape, pragmatism evaporates, and an ungrounded, idealistic fantasy colors everything. In the geo-political game of chess, such grandiose schemes can cause enormous and dangerous repercussions.

The amorphous clouds of Neptune permeate the entire Bush presidency. In the Inaugural chart of January 20, 2001, Neptune is conjunct the Sun. The Sun in any chart is its heart, its true inner essence. Thus the inner essence of the administration is merged with an unrealistic, almost mystical sense of purpose. Its goals are not based in fact and practicality but on a subtly self-deceptive illusion. Moreover, the reality presented to the world is based on illusion, artfully molded to sell the snake oil.

In Mr. Bush’s natal chart, there is a Sun /Neptune square, as well as a Twelfth House Sun. Both of these suggest the same Neptunian themes mentioned above. In addition, the Twelfth House often implies a desire to retreat and avoid the harshness of the earthly world. Mr. Bush’s history of alcoholism fits perfectly with the implications in these two aspects. The alcoholic’s main defenses are avoidance and denial. A great deal of the work in recovery is to transform these tendencies, rather than continuing to ignore problems until they fester into nightmares.

In Mr. Bush’s natal chart, we also find very significant Neptune transits throughout most of his four-year term. These serve to reconfirm the strong Neptunian flavor of his birth chart, as well as the implications of the Inaugural chart. During most of 2001, and especially strong during a station from July through December, Neptune was opposite Bush’s Ascendant, completely coloring his view of the world (Ascendant). From February 2002 through January 2003, Neptune intermittently opposes Bush’s Mercury and Pluto, as well as quincunxing his Mars. Mercury/Neptune combinations indicate rather muddled thinking, often with a belief in the possibility of fulfilling divinely inspired but impossible tasks. The prominence in the President’s thinking, during this period, of plans to conquer Iraq is an example of ignoring the pitfalls of reality while focusing on the grandiose scheme.

The Mars/Neptune combination seems to erode Bush’s prestige to some degree. This is due to Mars’ rulership of Bush’s Midheaven, the point in the chart of world esteem and career. The first pass in February occurred when there was worldwide fallout over the infamous Axis of Evil speech and the emerging plan for steel tariffs. This transit will reemerge in July and early August 2002, as well as in November and December 2002, the latter perhaps indicating a less than happy outcome for Bush in the fall elections.

Other than a return of Neptune opposite Bush’s Pluto in September through early November 2003 (which looks to be a very difficult period by several other indicators), most of 2003 seems relatively free of the Neptune-like trance under which Bush currently spends most of his time. Saturn, the planet of very harsh reality lessons will be quite strong in 2003, and may be the reason for the enforced groundedness. (See Timeline for details.) By February 2004, however, Bush will be once again under a strong Neptune transit, a quincunx to his natal Sun, which continues through December 2004. Confusion, illusion, deception, and impractical, unrealistic goals may well be swirling around him at that time.

Operating under the smooth talking, fairy dust rules of Neptune, the Bush administration has created for us a game of Let’s Pretend. Though it is a bit like tiptoeing through a minefield, the game is simple. We must pretend that:

The tax cut of 2001 is a great success and will generate lots of money to bolster the economy, and it is not bankrupting the government;

Global warming is no big deal, and if we ignore it, everything will be fine;

The Strategic Missile Shield is affordable and can be made to work;

Ending the Nuclear treaty with the Russians will not cause an arms race;

Invading Iraq and ousting Saddam will be a cakewalk with no disastrous repercussions;

The terrorists hate us because we love freedom;

The whole country agrees with Dubya, and there is no dissent.
I’m sure there are a few more. Please feel free to add your own.

Clearly there will always be other planetary energies operating in addition to Neptune at any given time. But the underlying quality of Neptune seems to be a major component in the mindset of the Bush administration. In the myth of Icarus, the young man and his father attempted to reach the Sun on wings made of feathers and wax. Eventually the heat of the Sun melted the wax, and the two fell into the sea. The sea is Neptune’s domain.

July 5th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The feeling of late is that the Ship of State is dangerously adrift, with storm clouds swirling malevolently above, and the Captain peacefully asleep below deck. Warning signs abound that the economy is sputtering. Global warming looms as a crisis, exponentially dwarfing the feckless Osama and his gang of cutthroats. A war with Iraq seems imminent, with the likelihood of massive death and destruction, as well as the probable use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. And the Middle East is stuck in a compulsive cycle of violence, blame, and revenge. But the Captain sleeps on, dreaming of a world full of SUV’s and infinite oil, and a treadmill in every home.

Until early January 2003, but especially strong from early June through mid-August 2002, Dubya has been and will continue to be under particularly strong Neptune aspects (Neptune opposite natal Mercury and Neptune quincunx natal Mars). These suggest a weakness of will, vacillation, a lack of leadership, grandiose schemes that are lacking in grounded reality, and a tendency to obfuscation and deceit. In particular, the Neptune aspect to natal Mars would seem to seriously undermine Bush’s capacity to control or shape events. This transit is especially strong from July 6 to August 12, and during it, Bush is likely to seem somewhat irrelevant and ineffectual.

Unfortunately, as predicted elsewhere, there may well be events of great consequence during this period. The Middle East situation is likely to worsen until approximately July 11, 2002, though some sparks may continue to fly over the following weeks with Mars in Leo. The greatest indicator of violence, transiting Uranus opposite natal Mars in Israel’s chart, has been stirring up a hornet’s nest of trouble since late March and will continue to do so until it begins to wane after July 11, 2002.

There is, however, one brief period when Emperor Bush will have an opportunity to be bold and appealing. This is from July 2 through July 6. The Mars/Jupiter conjunction falls exactly square to Bush’s Midheaven, lending him an aura of strength and energy. Simultaneously, Venus will be on his natal Venus adding to his appeal. All three of these planets will be triggering Bush’s progressed Venus opposite his natal Midheaven, so look for this July 4th weekend as a dynamic and popular time for our Fearless Leader. I see no indications of any terrorism at that time.

A period of significant turbulence, however, may be coming to the administration, beginning slowly around mid-July, and intensifying through mid-August. Two powerful aspects will run concurrently during that period. The first is the tertiary progressed Inaugural Sun coming to a conjunction of Inaugural Uranus. This suggests powerful, upsetting, and sudden changes that impact the administration. Foreign policy upsets and domestic crises are possible, as well as unexpected internal shifts and transformations within the administration. This progression could also intensify Bush’s unilateralist tendencies, signified by the 10th house Uranus in the Inaugural chart. Although the big trigger time is between August 5 and 13, this progression will continue to some degree through mid-September, with the tertiary Sun crossing tertiary progressed Uranus.

The second planetary configuration of importance during the late July into early August period is the retrograde transit of Uranus to the US chart Moon. This transit is likely to stimulate the protest movement, as well as cause disruption and possible accidents in the transportation and communications industry. There will be a huge potential for violence and disturbance that could impact American citizens, especially during the time the transit is exact, which is concurrent with the volatile Mars/Sun conjunction, August 8 through August 10, 2002.

It is also possible that India and Pakistan may erupt again briefly during the first half of August. The lingering Mars/Sun conjunction from 13 to 19 Leo triggers points in the charts of the leadership of both countries, as well as both countries’ natal charts. Another standoff is sure to stir up the world’s anxieties, though I expect any difficulties there to be of short duration.

In addition to the time of turmoil and potential danger from August 5 through 13, there is one further period from August 19 through 24 that is likely to be extremely disruptive. This period includes both a Sun/Uranus opposition and a Mars/Uranus opposition. It also includes the tertiary progressed Moon in the War on Terror chart moving to conjunct natal Pluto. There may well be incidents during this period that initially seem like they may have been caused by terrorists. The explosion of the Airbus on 11/12/01 came during a similar Moon/Pluto aspect in the War on Terror chart and a Sun/Uranus square. The blood bath at Mazar e Sharif prison on 11/25/01 came during a Mars/Uranus square. I urge extreme caution during this time and suggest people do not fly, if possible.

Thus, it seems that Mr. Bush will have a difficult summer, begun in a dreamy state of denial, and ending with powerful events beyond his control which may impact him and the country profoundly. There are several minor Saturn aspects that will plague him as well, making the period all the more challenging for him.

July 7, 2001
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The Bush administration no longer seems like a runaway train. As we approach high summer, the hapless Resident has morphed into a floundering fish. The Republican House abandoned him on his energy and environmental policies. The right wing battles within itself over stem cell research, with Bush meekly looking for a vapid compromise sure to irritate everyone. The Democratic Senate ignores his veto threats. Even Bush’s supposedly successful European trip lingers in the national psyche as little more than a “soul-glimpsing” joke. And, of course, the ubiquitous polls are sagging.

This tone of criticism, leading to frustration and a thwarting of policy, previously predicted, is indicated astrologically by the tertiary progressed Inaugural Mars square Uranus (criticism), the first phase of Saturn square Bush’s Mars (thwarted and frustrated), and the return of Neptune to Bush’s Descendant (floundering and indecisive). These energies continue to set the general tone through most of July.

The next astrological event of significance does not impact Bush’s chart directly, but indicates a more general mood in the country and the world. This is the Saturn/Pluto opposition that will be most strongly felt from late July through early November, but continue in influence until May 2002. If we assume that the US Sagittarius rising chart is correct, the Saturn /Pluto opposition will fall right across the horizon line of the US chart. This indicates an exceptionally difficult time for the country. We have already been feeling the Pluto transit on the US Ascendant since November 2000 and, with it, a tense political polarization hardening in the American psyche. As Saturn moves into this picture, it is possible that the polarizing will get nastier and even more brutal. The reactionary forces of Saturn will struggle with the transformative power of Pluto. California may be a major battleground for this planetary activity due to the configuration of Governor Gray Davis’ swearing-in chart. However, an element of limitation and restriction is likely to impact not only California (blackouts), but the entire country, again assuming the correctness of the US Sagittarius rising chart.

As the Saturn/Pluto opposition unfolds beginning in late July, we may witness a forced belt-tightening resulting directly from Bush’s ill-conceived tax cut and the simultaneously dwindling surplus. An undercurrent of tightly controlled partisan fury and resentment is likely to result. Some kind of discipline and restriction due to finite resources will be experienced during this period as well as an increase in the nasty political polarization to which we have already been witness. There is the possibility of an economic slump under Saturn/Pluto as well. The Federal Reserve chart (12/23/1913) has a natal Mercury/Saturn opposition on the exact degrees of the transiting Saturn/Pluto opposition, implying that its policy of interest rate reduction will be ineffective during this time.

What is intriguing about this period is that after August, Bush seems to be coming briefly out of his doldrums and gaining strength and focus. Though this may seem promising at first, due to transiting Uranus returning to oppose his Venus in late August and much of September, we will rapidly move to an over-optimistic, somewhat reckless, aggressive Bush (déjà vu). Pluto will return to quincunx Bush’s Sun (currently squared from progressed Mars) from about September 22 to November 2, 2001. This is a repeat of the transit in May that brought Bush’s environmentally unfriendly energy plan and his internationally unpopular Star Wars announcement, both over-bold and ill-conceived policy pronouncements. Simultaneously, transiting Jupiter will be conjunct Bush’s Sun, lending arrogance and over-confidence. This will be particularly strong from September 19 to 29, 2001, and again, a little past the Pluto transit, from November 26 to December 6, 2001. Given our current Resident’s rather poor judgment and his Texan cowboy subtlety, this combination of Sun, progressed Mars, Jupiter, and Pluto is rather ominous. It evokes bold, strong, somewhat reckless moves, an over-optimistic plunging into policies that may not be very well-conceived, and an imperviousness to the concerns of the rest of the world.

In addition, there is the added danger of a very strong Neptunian quality during this period of Bush’s over-confidence and forcefulness. This suggests that once again ideology, muddled and fanciful thinking, and a lack of pragmatism will have undue influence on the policies pursued. Because Neptune ultimately blurs boundaries and confuses reality, it can cause scandal as well as imprudent policy. What seems clear becomes murky; what seems certain becomes unsure; what seems honest becomes unethical. Collectively this period will run from about October 10 through most of December 2001. It includes: Inaugural tertiary progressed Midheaven conjunct Neptune, 10/10-11/10; Bush’s converse progressed Moon conjunct Neptune, 11/10-12/10; and the final pass of Neptune to Bush’s Descendant, 11/7-12/23/01.

The combination of reckless, over-confident and ungrounded policy is, unfortunately, a hallmark of Bush’s tenure. Discussed in An Overview of the Bush Presidency, this blend of aggressive, uncompromising, and forceful pursuit of policy (Mars) with grandiose, illusory thinking (Neptune) is truly dangerous. Thus far it has brought us Star Wars II, an irresponsible tax cut likely to wreak economic havoc for years, and the probable unraveling of several international treaties designed to protect the planet from nuclear holocaust and environmental disaster. Although reality will once again thwart and frustrate Bush’s plans by mid-December, I am not looking forward to its prelude.

August 24th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

The early rumblings of a promised war against Iraq have been gathering momentum, becoming, of late, more like a loud and insistent drum roll. The most recent member of the administration to pound this compelling message into the collective brain is Condoleeza Rice , who tells us that Saddam is an "evil man" who given half a chance will use weapons of mass destruction against us all. It is not coincidental that a recent Gallup Poll shows that fear of these weapons and fear of terrorism are the strongest reasons given for support of a war against Saddam.

It appears not to matter to the Bush administration that there is not one country on the entire planet that supports the U.S. in this coming war. Nor does it shake their self-satisfied arrogance that some leading Republicans and many of the Joint Chiefs have grave reservations about this relentless march to mayhem. Despite a vague pretense at dialogue, there seems an inevitability to the whole process which nothing can deter.

Astrological investigation suggests several periods of increased turmoil and potential war during the remaining two years of this administration. Powerful events begin either in very late December 2002 or January 2003 that unleash a new and very turbulent phase for the administration. It is possible that this will be the beginning of the Iraqi War. In any event, in early 2003, the administration will be caught in a swirl of forceful and dramatic circumstances. In Mr. Bush's chart, we find his progressed Midheaven coming to natal Uranus (19Gemini09) from October 2002 through November 2003, and triggered profoundly from January through mid-May 2003, by an opposition from transiting Pluto (19 Sagittarius). This suggests decisive action, ruthlessness, and unilateralism. He will be operating in high gear amidst a whirlwind of unfolding and transformative events.

The Inaugural chart also suggests that January will be a crucial time for the administration. The Inaugural tertiary progressed Midheaven will be conjunct natal Uranus (12/22/02 - 1/22/03) suggesting a sudden shift in focus and activity, as well as a relentless and grim determination. The Inaugural tertiary progressed Ascendant will be opposite natal Pluto, suggesting a consolidation of power, and a profound experience of power struggle with an enemy or adversary. This clash of wills may be exacerbated by the simultaneous transit of Pluto to the Inaugural Moon during this period.

In the Inaugural chart there is a natal Moon /Pluto conjunction. This is descriptive of the underlying suspicion and distrust which so motivate this administration, as well as its almost obsessive need to control everything so as not to feel threatened. The Moon in this chart is also descriptive of the people who are under the administration, and the Moon's position conjunct Pluto suggests a populace that is frightened of an unknowable and uncontrollable power (terrorism), as well as distrustful of a government that attempts to manipulate and control. There is a basic power struggle inherent in this position that goes through the entire four-year term and is reiterated in the basic structure of the chart by the Inaugural Sun semisquare to natal Pluto. The coming transit of Pluto to the Inaugural Moon, which dominates the first five months of 2003 and returns at the end of the year, suggests a time when the administration will strongly experience these feelings of suspicion and the need to control. In turn, the population is likely to feel resentful and distrustful.

There are two aspects in the US chart that further suggest the possibility of hostilities somewhere between late December and mid-February. The US tertiary progressed Sun will be opposite natal Mars (21Gemini23) from 12/18/02 - 1/18/03, and the tertiary progressed Mars will be square the natal Sun (13Cancer19) from 12/20/02 - 2/16/03. A Mercury station will trigger the latter aspect from 1/18 to 1/26/06, a time when several other aspects are at their strongest. A transit from Uranus will further trigger it from 1/21 to 2/8/03. There is no question in my mind that events from about 1/10/03 to approximately 2/1/03 will be very significant.

There is hardly a demarcation between this first period from roughly January through mid-May 2003 and the second period from May through about mid-September 2003. The biggest difference is that some of the intensity of the initial phase is gone, signified by the Pluto transit not being as dominant after May until it reappears at the end of the year. There is a great deal of Mars activity in this period, which suggests ongoing aggression for several months. The biggest indicator here is the progression in Mr. Bush's chart of the Sun coming to a conjunction of his natal Mars (9 Virgo 18). This is a powerful aspect for a president and is often an indicator of his role as Commander-in-Chief. This begins around May 2003 and continues into June 2004.

From mid-July to mid-October 2003 there is almost nonstop Mars activity in Bush's chart, including very strong triggers from both transiting Mars (7/13 - 8/10/03) and transiting Jupiter (10/6 -10/11/03) to his progressed Sun/natal Mars aspect. There is also a tertiary progressed Sun square to tertiary progressed Mars (0 -1 Gemini/Virgo) from 7/19 to 9/19/03 that is triggered by transiting Uranus for the entire month of August and by Mars and Jupiter during the first half of September.

In an eerie bit of synchronicity, the very same aspect will be going on in the Inaugural chart: tertiary progressed Sun square to tertiary progressed Mars, from 7/30 to 9/20/03, at analogous degrees in the mutable signs (2 -3 Sagittarius/Pisces). Transiting Mars will also trigger this aspect, during the middle week of September and again in mid-October. Transiting Uranus and transiting Jupiter will come close but will not be exact.

The combination of these aspects suggest an angry and focused Bush, once again calling for the head of an enemy, and reminiscent of the post 9/11 Commander-in-Chief who had the strong Sun/Mars/Jupiter/Pluto activity in his chart. But there is one huge difference. The first few months post 9/11 saw Jupiter stationary conjunct Bush's Sun and the US Sun, lending an aura of success and patriotism to that entire phase of endeavor. The coming events of 2003 and 2004, on the other hand, include the increasing influence of Saturn, suggesting multiple problems, obstacles, and a lack of success, unless activities are extremely careful, small, and narrowly defined. Caution, humility, and negotiation are the keywords of Saturn.

It should be mentioned here that the US chart has a very strong Jupiter, conjunct both the Sun and Venus, in the exalted sign of Cancer, and empowered as ruler of the Ascendant. This lovely combination of planets suggests success, generosity, expansiveness, and power. When Jupiterian elements are strong by transit or progression, as they were last fall, these elements come to the fore. But the US chart also has a very tight Sun square to Saturn, and Saturn in the very dominant 10th house. So lessons come in learning to not overreach, restrictions come on power, and pride and arrogance (10th house Saturn issues) come up repeatedly and are harshly dealt with whenever the Saturn/Sun square is triggered. In early 1968, when public sentiment turned against the War in Vietnam and the Tet Offensive dealt the US a stunning blow, Saturn was square to the US Sun. In August 1974, when Nixon resigned from the presidency, Saturn was exactly conjunct the US Sun. Inevitably, Saturn aspects to the US Sun bring powerful lessons and painful and difficult times. The Saturn aspects of the last half of the Bush Presidency include: tertiary progressed Saturn opposite the US Sun from February through October 2003; tertiary progressed Saturn square the US Saturn from February 2004 to November 2004; and the transit of Saturn conjunct the US Sun from late September 2003 through mid-June 2004.

The third phase of likely war activity, which runs from roughly October 2003 through June 2004, seems like it will be the most difficult. This entire period includes very significant Saturn activity. It also begins with the final trigger of transiting Pluto to Bush's progressed MC/natal Uranus, as well as Pluto once again crossing the Inaugural Moon. These aspects, coming with a Saturn station on the US Sun, suggest that we can expect a huge crisis for Bush during October and November 2003.

Bush's very aggressive progressed Sun conjunct natal Mars culminates during early June 2004, and will be triggered by a powerful station of Jupiter from 4/4 to 5/22/04. Also of tremendous significance during this period is the transit of Pluto opposite the US Mars (21Gemini23), making a powerful station from January through May 2004. Thus, it seems likely that the period from January through May 2004 will include renewed or increased hostilities either in a war with Iraq or elsewhere.

The coming transit of Pluto opposite the US Mars will span almost all of 2004, until late November. To understand this transit, it is instructive to look at 1968, when transiting Pluto was square US Mars (10/67 through 8/68). March 1968 also included a square of Saturn to the US Sun, and so that month offers two very similar aspects to those coming in the first months of 2004. The 1968 period under the transit of Pluto square US Mars includes: the Tet Offensive, beginning 1/30/68, which became the turning point in the Vietnam War; the MyLai Massacre, 3/16/68 (Saturn and Pluto aspects both very strong); LBJ's withdrawal from the Democratic Primary, 3/31/69; Martin Luther King's assassination, 4/4/68 (Sun/Saturn conjunction square US Saturn); Robert Kennedy's assassination, 6/5/68 (Pluto/ Mars square aspecting US Mars); and several anti-war demonstrations and riots with significant police brutality, including the infamous Chicago Democratic Convention (both Venus and Mercury were conjunct Pluto that week, triggering the square to US Mars). These tumultuous events suggest the possibility of a strongly aroused populace, civil unrest, and likely violence in response to the upcoming situation in 2004, especially if there is an ongoing and increasingly unpopular war.

In an earlier article, War with Iraq , I have discussed what the relevant Iraqi charts suggest over the next few years. Many of the significant time periods are analogous to those found in the Bush, Inaugural, and US charts. Whatever the details, however, it is clear that 2003 and 2004 will be difficult years for the country and its leadership, and painful lessons in arrogance and overreach will once again be seared into the national psyche, with potentially devastating results.

September 1st, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

As humankind moves into the 21st Century, the concept of globalization gains a stronger foothold. In its most profound sense, this term suggests that the nations and peoples of the planet are becoming more and more interdependent and are increasingly united in global pursuits, particularly economic and environmental. In striving to move with the onward flow of human evolution, nations struggle to find common ground and common goals that support the greater good of the whole. The founding of the United Nations in 1945 was perhaps the first significant step in this crucial process. More recently, attempts to stem the threat of global warming, such as the Kyoto Protocol, and attempts at instituting some form of global justice, such as the International Criminal Court, have gained momentum.

But this process is in its fragile infancy. Thus, when one nation, particularly the one with the greatest wealth and military power, begins to swim against the global tide, the result can be profoundly disruptive and destructive. When such a nation clings to its own narrow and short-term interests, the entire thrust of modern humankind’s fledgling attempts at unified achievement can be completely derailed, as witnessed recently at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Even worse, flagrantly ignoring international laws can set a dangerous precedent, leading ultimately to global anarchy.

September 30th, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers, LCSW

In promulgating his much-desired Iraqi War, Mr. Bush has badgered and bludgeoned us with warnings of a dire and imminent threat. Although there are few hard, cold facts to buttress his argument, he nonetheless plunges ahead, sometimes pulling supportive evidence out of a magician’s hat. The most recent example of this is the chorus of accusation from administration officials that al Qaida is clearly connected with Saddam, though no real proof has emerged to bolster this conclusion, even in Tony Blair’s dossier of Iraqi sins.

According to several sources, these bullying tactics were Mr. Bush’s hallmark in Texas. They were certainly apparent when he rammed his tax cut through Congress last year. With both the tax cut and the current Iraqi enterprise, Bush has demonstrated an intense persistence that borders on the obsessive, and the reasons justifying the stated goals are neither coherent nor consistent. What is consistent is the badgering and the pressure felt by those who oppose him.

October 17, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers

Since the beginning of October, numerous terrorist events have erupted in various places in the world, causing a multitude of brutal and sudden deaths, grievous loss for the families of the victims, and fear and anxiety for perhaps millions of those living in the wake of these disastrous deeds. The recent explosion at a Bali nightclub has claimed more victims than any attack since September 11, 2001. A French tanker exploding in the port of Yemen and deadly shots fired at US servicemen in Kuwait are also examples of this recent spate of violence. In the Washington, DC area, a vicious sniper has terrorized over a million inhabitants who now fear such mundane tasks as buying gas for their cars or groceries for their families. Schoolchildren have not been allowed outside for almost two weeks.

Astrologically, since the first days of October, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon, in various combinations and at various times, have been in aspect with Saturn, which is currently making a station in the 29th degree of Gemini. This is an extraordinary amount of stimulation for a planetary energy that tends to bring difficulties and challenges that are often quite painful. When Saturn is extremely active in a chart, due to either transits or progressions, feelings of hopelessness, fear, loss, and despair are a potential result. There is also a strong impetus toward mobilization, concentration, focus, and the feeling of an added burden to be carried.

November 1, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers

With the control of Congress hanging by a thread, this year’s midterm elections have taken on a particular ferocity and viciousness. Despite all the blather about bipartisanship on any given subject, the split between the parties is as sharp and nasty as it has ever been. The rampant distrust of government by those on the Left, and, increasingly, in the Center, threatens the very fabric of our civil society.

November 10, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers

The Election Debacle is being dissected from all fronts, with many either assigning blame or rationalizing the results. The greatest consensus seems to be that the Democratic leadership has been essentially AWOL, leaving in its place a Republican-lite robot. Uninspired by the lack of a passionate program on their behalf, many voters consequently remained home on Election Day. Other pundits have focused on the continuing dark shadow of national security, opportunistically played by the Republicans, and eclipsing all other issues. George Bush, of course, thinks that his radical right-wing and warmongering agenda has been given a huge mandate, and that his superior Republican candidates simply succeeded through an honest and positive campaign. Self-delusion was always one of his strong suits. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that we lost, if only by a few thousand votes, and George Bush now has the keys to the Ferrari and an open road, with no cops in sight.

November 27, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers

Into the tumult of current events, Al Gore has reappeared on the national radar as predicted in September on this site. The current Jupiter station on his natal Mars (18 Leo) has focused on the congenial, witty, and visionary aspects of his character. In addition, tertiary proressed Venus has been in opposition to his natal Mars for the past few months, exact through November 2002. And finally, transiting Pluto has begun its year-long trine aspect to Gore's Mars, intensifying his contact with larger numbers of people and his personal power.

November 27, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers

Since August 2002, and continuing through February 2003, we find the Uranus in the Inaugural chart (19 Aquarius) getting a huge amount of stimulation from both progressions (conjunctions from progressed Mercury, tertiary progressed Sun and tertiary progressed Midheaven) and transits. This is accentuating the administration’s tendency to pursue bold, aggressive, and sometimes unilateral policies that may run against the current stream of opinion. The sudden and intense push for war with Iraq that began in late August, as well as Mr. Bush’s tying of that policy to a campaign broadside in October, are examples of that energy. On the domestic front, Mr. Bush’s recent rollback of clean air standards for industry is another example.

November 27, 2002
Nancy Lubar Sommers

As is quite apparent from recent news, the Middle East is once again entering a period of increased violence. Incidents of terror and the resulting counterstrikes are becoming more numerous, and the general mood is one of growing pessimism. Into this mix we find an upcoming election in which the Labour Party’s Amram Mitzna is running on a peace platform.

Nancy Lubar Sommers

Below, I will briefly look at the upcoming trends in the charts of Senator Tom Daschle, Representative Richard Gephardt, Governor Howard Dean, Senator John Edwards, Senator John Kerry, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, each a potential presidential contender.

Nancy Lubar Sommers

The final month of 2002 has brought with it a time of uncharacteristic restraint from the White House. With respect to Senator Lott, there was an enormous effort, despite unofficial back-door manipulations, to be seen as not interfering with the workings of the Senate. In Venezuela, the initial misguided administration call for early elections in this strike-paralyzed country was interpreted as support for the anti-Chavez faction, and not a word, or even a policy, has emerged since. Despite several allegations of Iraqi “material breach” in the past weeks, the US has, surprisingly, not yet jumped into a full-scale conflict.

Nancy Lubar Sommers

As we leave January and enter February 2003, the tension in the air grows more and more palpable. The relentless push for war from the Bush administration continues unabated, bolstered by vague and unsubstantiated claims of Al Qaida/Iraqi collusion and Saddam’s supposed plan to attack America. In the midst of this unsettling cacophony, the tragic and unexpected disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia seems an ominous reminder of America’s lack of omnipotence.

We are currently in a peak period of Mr. Bush’s unilateralism, signified by the strong activation of Uranus in both the Inaugural chart and Bush’s natal chart. Uranus’ position in a chart designates where ideas run counter to the prevailing mood of the times, where there is a sense of fixedly adhering to a “truth” that others are unlikely to grasp or agree with, and where “marching to the beat of a different drummer” is the norm.

Nancy Lubar Sommers

Most of the indicators of military aggression and unilateralism that I have been able to find in the US chart and the various the Bush administration charts are now beginning to wane. It is hard to imagine, however, that Bush might not move forward, given the huge troop buildup he has amassed in the Gulf and the loss of face he would sustain in pulling back after months of interminable bluster, badgering, and bullying. The many disparate and confounding pieces to this puzzle suggest the possibility of war between March 10 and April 4, but the signs are not overwhelming.

Currently, the Saturn station is doing its job of delaying and frustrating Mr. Bush’s reckless march to empire. Both Germany and France have thwarted his attempts to browbeat the Security Council into capitulation. Turkey is resisting American bases on its domain, asking for astronomic sums of aid to grease the wheels. Even the inspectors, led by the indomitable Hans Blix, have not found anything worth starting a war over and have even disputed many of the elements in Bush’s rather porous case against Saddam.

We can depend on the Saturn station to thwart Bush’s progress until about February 23. Significantly, this covers the time during which Jupiter will be on Mr. Bush’s Pluto (2/15 –2/21), a transit likely to empower him and add to his propensity to bludgeon away resistance to his plans. Thus, despite his increasing bribes and threats, as evidenced in the battle of wills with Turkey, Saturn will keep him from gaining ground, at least until it starts moving away from its semisquare to Bush’s Ascendant and its conjunction to the US Mars, on February 23.

A further impediment to Bush’s obsessive war plans is an antiwar movement that has now gained critical mass.

Nancy Lubar Sommers

On February 15, 2003, people joined hands across the globe to oppose an unjust war and to stand united against the policies of the British and American governments that support military intervention in Iraq. Like a bird leaving the nest for the first time and sailing through the air on its newfound wings, protesters felt the nascent magical power of a world united against aggression and greed. The exalted and intoxicating feeling of earthly consciousness awakening to a more evolved state was extraordinary. For many, this vision of humanity’s potential enlightenment will continue as a lamp in a dark world.

Despite the ten or so million world-wide protesters, however, the hard and cold reality of impending war remains, as well as the overbearing power of the Bush administration to bribe, threaten, and extort in pursuit of its will. The astrological aspect of relevance here is the Jupiter/ Neptune opposition that was exact on the weekend of the protest, and joined by the Moon during the actual event. Both the Moon and Jupiter acted to intensify and exaggerate the sublime qualities of Neptune on that unprecedented day.

Nancy Lubar Sommers

It feels as if the planet has been perched on a precipice for months. The precariousness of the situation continues, waiting for George W. Bush to push us over the edge. Any day, it seems, the go ahead will be given to invade Iraq, topple the Saddam regime, and occupy the country. Accounts differ as to the likely results of this action, ranging from a joyful welcome to the American liberators and the installation of democracy to the incitement of civil war and an increase of world-wide terrorism. World citizens are holding their collective breath.

Sally Cheyne McDonald
mcdonaldsa -at- qwest.net

“Blowback” is a CIA term first used in March 1954 in a recently declassified report on the 1953 operation to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran. It is a metaphor for the unintended consequences of the US Governments International activities that might have been kept secret from the American people. The CIA fear is that there might ultimately be some “blowback from its egregious interference in the affairs of another country. (Article by Chalmers Johnson from “The Nation” September 27, 2001)

No doing, without some ruing (Sigred Undset 1920)

Will we rue the day absolute power was handed to GWB to wage war?

Nancy Waterman

With the colossal might of the world’s only superpower at its fingertips, the Bush administration seems drunk on its grandiose schemes and sense of omnipotence. The bludgeoning of the United Nations and the disdain for world opinion can lead to only one conclusion: this administration will allow nothing to interfere with its neoconservative goal of global hegemony - neither international law, nor treaties, nor the concerns and protestations of allies.

As has been true from the dawn of time, those who seek unrestricted power have invariably come crashing down from the heights. Such self-delusional attempts to move beyond the healthy boundaries of human communal interests inevitably meet up with a rude awakening. The Greek myth of Icarus and his father, Daedalus, tells the tale succinctly. These two, in attempting to fly too close to the sun, went hurtling into the ocean as their waxen wings melted from the heat of the solar presence.

And so it will be with the Bush Cabal, though unfortunately, we are along for the ride.

Nancy Waterman

Like a drunken fool driving a Ferrari down a treacherous mountain road, the Bush administration has driven the American military into a second Gulf War, flawed with muddled, unrealistic and irresponsible planning. Inebriated by its grandiose schemes and its delusions of hyperpower invincibility, Bushco suddenly finds itself ducking for cover and looking for scapegoats. Having ignored the seasoned advice of the Pentagon and the sobering intelligence of the CIA, the administration precipitously began its war with too few troops and expecting rose petals strewn in its path. It has been a rude awakening.

Nancy Waterman

Since the infamous hijacking of the Ship of State in December 2000 by a band of extremist ideologues, the USS America has surged through uncharted and dangerous waters. Our current crew has taken us to realms unsought and to deeds anathema to our sense of justice and rectitude. It is the understandable fear of many that this nightmare will never end and that the America we once knew will disappear into the mist.

Ever since the fall of Baghdad in mid-April, an increasingly loud and jarring note of triumphalism has been ringing through the corridors of America, reaching its crescendo in the past week with Mr. Bush’s victory extravaganza aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and Mr. Rumsfeld’s gloating trip to the Middle East. The official message is that we have removed a rogue nation with an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction from the World stage and weakened those who committed the atrocity of 9/11. Of course, no weapons of mass destruction have been found, and no proof whatsoever exists of any significant link between Saddam and Osama. But the somnolent American citizenry, hypnotized by the daily images and messages of propaganda from their Fearless Leader, has been conditioned to believe the party line despite convincing evidence to the contrary.

As May moves toward June and the beginning of summer, the triumphal military victory in Iraq is metamorphosing into a humanitarian and diplomatic nightmare for the Bush administration. Violence and crime are escalating in Baghdad, while a cholera epidemic is threatening in Basra. Electricity and clean water remain unavailable in many areas, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns of impending starvation for most of the population. In addition, the entire basis for the war – Saddam’s much publicized hoard of weapons of mass destruction – is looking more and more like a fabricated ploy used to manipulate the American public and the UN. And finally, this week’s vicious terrorist attack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has shredded Bush’s bogus claim of al Qaida’s increasing incapacitation.

Until now, the teflon-seeming Bush has been generally immune from the unintended consequences of his military adventure. Last week, cloaked in the garb of a naval pilot, Captain America crowed his great victory to the swooning masses from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. More recently, he has been happily preaching the Good Word on his tax cuts, promising they will cure everything from poverty to the common cold. But this optimistic and expansive attitude, with its aura of untouchable success, is about to end. It derives from Jupiter, which has been hovering around Bush’s Ascendant/ Mercury/ Pluto conjunction since mid-February. Especially strong since early April when Jupiter turned direct, this benefic transit ends as of mid-May.

Wearing his cloak of power like a Roman Emperor, Secretary of Defense Donald “Darth” Rumsfeld strides through the halls of Washington’s power elite as though he owns them. And perhaps he does. His smooth, sleek style, his utterly cavalier attitude and confidence, his tentacles of control that span the globe in the guise of American military might are nothing short of breathtaking. To many, Rumsfeld is the scariest man in this administration. Underneath that breezy and assured exterior lies a ruthlessness that will not tolerate any disagreement or interference. In the Department of Defense it is said he will wreck the career and reputation of anyone who crosses him. He has alarmed and infuriated the State Department by callously sabotaging their plans and usurping their domain. His dismissive comments, which often discount the toll in human suffering caused by his policies, are well known on a number of subjects. And, of course, his sweeping, go-it-alone military goals are in perfect lockstep with the neo-conservative plan to essentially run the planet.

The sharks are circling. No weapons of mass destruction have been found, and the world is wondering if it has been colossally duped by the right wing cabal in the Oval Office. Intelligence agents are coming forward in droves to protest the blatant dishonesty used by the administration to foist its war on the American people. It seems the indisputable “facts” concerning huge caches of diabolical and destructive weaponry have been manipulated, exaggerated, or even made up.

In order to circumvent the more traditional sources of information in the CIA and the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, in late 2001, created his own intelligence cadre, the Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans. Run by fellow neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, this intelligence agency was spawned specifically to find evidence of Saddam’s connection to al Qaida and prove that the dictator harbored a huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. All contradictory indications were studiously ignored. And it was largely on this spurious “evidence” that the administration shrilly promulgated its case for war.

George Bush’s policy failures increasingly litter the globe. In Iraq, the inept and ill-conceived occupation is fueling an indigenous resistance movement that daily grows more fierce and could one day rival Vietnam in the quagmire department. Afghanistan, the killing field of yesterday’s war, is virtually overrun by warlords and criminals, with a resurgent Taliban in the wings. North Korea is getting feisty and threatening, but Bushco rigidly refuses to negotiate. Even the United Nations and NATO have been adversely impacted - severely weakened, perhaps even crippled, by the belligerent and self-righteous diplomacy of the Neocon Nellies. And limping painfully across the desert of Republican tax cuts, the American economy is putting all its faith in a mirage that will soon turn to sand and dust. Perhaps worst of all, the Bush administration has lied to the American people and the peoples of the world in order to gain support for its hegemonic lust. For this, its reputation has been diced and shredded, at least beyond the borders of the American corporate media.

Although the White House spinmeisters continue their attempts to shroud these painful realities, wisps of truth are penetrating the fog. As Saturn continues its relentless march through Cancer during the next two years, reality and its consequences will overshadow illusion. The disastrous results of Bush’s dictatorial and militaristic foreign policy and his hallucinatory fiscal policy will be impossible to ignore. Already we can see the shift begin with the just finishing transit of Saturn square the US MC (1Libra53). The missing weapons of mass destruction story has now metamorphosed into a tale of deceit, lies, and manipulation, a tale of the administration playing on the fears of 9/11 to draw the public and Congress into supporting a war based on falsehood. Every day a new thread emerges in an expanding tapestry of chicanery: intelligence agents complaining about pressure to distort and fabricate results; unwanted information buried; Hans Blix “leaned on” to deceive; and even Wesley Clark told by the White House to dishonestly proclaim the connection between al Qaida and Iraq.

Lost in a reverie of ideology, inebriated by power, and blinded by arrogance, the snake oil salesmen of the Bush Administration have entangled us in an impossible morass. What was portrayed as a battle against an imminent threat and promised to be a quick and noble victory for freedom and democracy has become, instead, an unlawful occupation attempting to crush an indigenous resistance movement. Despite the official denial of words such as guerilla warfare and quagmire, these are the reality in today’s Iraq.

As indicated in detail in my recent article Summer Fever, fierce fighting is likely to develop during the summer of 2003. The solstice chart, which covers the period from June 21 through September 20, is particularly brutal. In addition, the Mars station of mid-July to mid-August will be stimulating a great deal of aggression and likely military action in George Bush. A recent article in a Pakistani journal suggests that this may relate to a confrontation between the US and the Iraqi resistance. Recent rumblings about sending American troops to Liberia suggest an additional possibility.

With his nose buried in a neo-con travel guide for the past 18 months, King George XLIII studiously ignored the flashing neon warning signs posted ubiquitously on his way into the Swamp of Ineptitude. Not only in post-war (sic) Iraq, but in Afghanistan, and, at home, with regard to the ever-crumbling economy, Bush’s misbegotten policies have led to problematic situations from which extrication will be extremely difficult, i.e. a trifecta of quagmires. Saturn’s arrival in Cancer, impacting the US chart and Bush’s chart through June 2005, has assured there will be no simple or straightforward solutions to any of these issues.

Desperately struggling like a bug caught in a spider’s web, the Bush administration has been wriggling for the past two months to extricate itself from its own web of deceit. In the most recent chapter of this sordid tale of chronic deception, blame for the infamous 16 misleading words has been projected far and wide so that the rather unconvincing mea culpas would not besmirch the White House. After weeks of finger-pointing, Mr. Bush, in a recent press conference, finally admitted that he is actually responsible for what comes out of his mouth. Nonetheless, the slow erosion of his pristine image continues its relentless march onward, and he will never return to Oz.

The almost continuous impact of Saturn transits throughout June and most of July 2003 (see The Tide has Turned), coupled with the ongoing Uranus station quincunx the US Midheaven during the same period, created an atmosphere of daily upsets, revelations, and insurmountable difficulty for the Bush administration. By late July, however, the regime shifted to a much more aggressive stance, hoping to distract the public from the consequences of its ill-conceived policies. The Mars station opposite Bush’s progressed Sun/natal Mars conjunction, as well as square the US Uranus, and the Uranus transit square Inaugural Jupiter are all contributors to this shift from defense to offense.

The great legacy of the George W. Bush presidency will be the political culture of sociopathy it has engendered. We are witnessing a shredding of the very fabric of acceptable norms of respectable behavior and custom that have greased the machinery of government and diplomacy since our country’s founding. In their place, rapidly metastasizing like a malignant presence, and perniciously destroying all that has made our country great since its founding, is the political application of bullying, mass deception, and a relentless and completely unharnessed pursuit of power.

Catapulted into being with the blatant hijacking of the 2000 election, this administration from its inception has manifested disdain for the principles of democracy and the rule of law. A true counting of the presidential vote in Florida was steamrollered on many fronts, replaced by the rapacious lust for victory at all cost. Thousands of registered Florida voters were denied their vote due to a fraudulent list of felons created through the chicanery of Governor Jeb Bush and his accomplice and party chairman, Secretary of State (now Representative) Katherine Harris. In addition, the Republican Florida legislature at the time simply refused to accept any change that might result from a recount, with the intention of sending Republican electors to Washington no matter what. The sham interference of the usually state’s rights Supreme Court completed the coup of democracy when it refused to allow the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court to proceed.

Since Mr. Bush’s Inauguration, a clear pattern has emerged of bullying, manipulation, and the refusal to operate within any restriction, both domestically and in foreign policy. The Patriot Act, which tramples the Constitution on so many fronts, exemplifies the bludgeoning of the rule of law so pervasive in this administration. On the international front, Bush’s dismantling of an international nuclear treaty, his refusal to participate in the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court, his current plans to create nuclear weaponry for battlefield use – contrary to decades-old international norms and agreements – and his coalition of the “billing”, bribed into acquiescence when the United Nations refused to support his plan to invade Iraq, all point to a refusal to bend to any laws created for the greater good that might impede the selfish pursuits of the few. The preemptive strike doctrine, cynically cloaked in unsubstantiated threats to national security, and fueled by a desire for unrestricted global hegemony, is the ultimate manifestation of this pattern.

A dangerous myth has been shattered, like crystal hitting a cold stone floor. It is the myth of the indomitable American colossus, a giant striding the Earth among pygmies. Only mere months ago, we heard countless references to our unique superpower status. We were invincible in the eyes of a suddenly nervous world. We would do as we wished, with or without our allies, and held only disdain for those who dared to disagree. But the emerging truth, as currently played out in Iraq, is not nearly so Olympian.

Americans are awakening now out of a dream, foisted upon us by an administration of megalomaniacal dreamers, the PNAC crowd, who view the world as an unruly American province. The plan, shrouded for the benefit of mass consumption in patriotic platitudes and threats to our survival, was to establish an American outpost in Iraq from which to orchestrate a transformation of the entire Middle East. Like accommodating dominoes, the countries in that region would fall to the irresistible force of democracy, sometimes with a little nudging from our omnipotent military, modeling themselves on a newly liberated and pliant Iraq, itself a Mini-me of America. A more myopic and ill-advised plan has not been attempted in recent history. Perhaps it was conceived by the Brothers Grimm. In any event, the magical coach turned into a pumpkin as soon as the smoke from the bombs cleared. Bush’s refusal to cede any real power to the UN derives from an unwillingness to relinquish this plan and its attendant hope of a US power center in Iraq. Increased UN control would allow the Iraqis more latitude to create their own destiny, which may not accommodate American hegemonic interests. This is the elephant in the living room.

Like meat thrown to starving dogs, the newly-declared candidacy of Wesley Clark has aroused and greatly energized the Democratic faithful. For those not already smitten with Howard Dean, Clark’s candidacy offers hope of a new and potent weapon that can be deployed to crush the Incompetent Emperor. Already, only a week after his announcement, there are polls that show a Clark candidacy rushing to the top of the Democratic ladder and smiting the increasingly vulnerable Bush.

Struggling to find his footing in the treacherous terrain of the political landscape, Clark has already stumbled over a key issue: how he would have dealt with the war resolution passed by Congress last fall. The tentative and recalibrated positions he has espoused have called into question whether or not he is ready to plunge into the deep end of the political pool. His domestic policy positions are somewhat murky as well. It seems Clark will need a Rhodes Scholar-level crash course over the next few weeks just to catch up. But for the moment, his star is rising despite recent mishaps, and the people hunger to hear more from this new beacon of light in a dark world.

Unfortunately, we have no birth time for General Clark (d.o.b.12/23/44), which is always a huge handicap in attempting predictions. Nonetheless, there are several planetary indications that are worthy of discussion. It is generally some form of very strong Venus energy that renders the candidate appealing and attractive to the popular imagination. Currently, Clark’s progressed Venus is square to his progressed Node from May 2003 through June 2004. This, in turn, will meld into the progression of Venus to his natal Node from May 2004 through July 2005. This aspect is currently triggered by the transit of Pluto (quincunx), from June 8 through October 7, 2003. The highly charged Venusian nature of this period has brought with it a burgeoning support for a Clark candidacy which has grown to such an extent that he has now declared himself in the race. We can expect his popularity to be quite strong during these early weeks through October 7. Other pockets of intensified popularity will come when Jupiter triggers this aspect by sextile from 11/27 through 12/6/03 and 1/17 through 2/2/04 and when Uranus triggers it by a semisquare from 2/1 through 2/18/04. The latter times are during the Democratic primaries, which suggest that Clark will make a reasonably good showing during this early primary period.

It seems the Pied Piper of Crawford has led us over a cliff and into the sea. The beguiling sound of his hypnotic tune filled our heads for months with fantasy threats and magical, simplistic solutions, molding us first into frightened children and, later, into noble heroes out to save the world. As we begin to rouse from our somnambulistic stupor, aided by a bracing plunge into dangerous and icy surf, our sanity slowly returns. With it comes an awareness of the wretched situation in which we find ourselves, and that we were led here by the Pied Piper.

Despite the lateness of the hour and direness of the situation, our White House Resident persists in his bewitching rhetoric, though it is sounding quite tinny of late. He continues to link the tragedy of 9/11 with the conquest and plunder of Iraq, as if one could excuse or make sense of the other. No one who listened to him at the United Nations took any of it seriously. They knew it was for domestic consumption, to shore up his dragging poll numbers, which are plummeting rapidly as people become aware of the fetid financial sinkhole that stretches beyond the horizon.

For many, Bush’s appeal (sic) to the UN was the last hope for financial support from other nations and increased troop involvement in Iraq. That Bush failed so miserably at this task will not go unnoticed. People are balking at the $87 billion price tag that is surely not the end of the story, and angry that we are carrying this burden with no aid from allies. A majority would like to pay for this by cutting back the Bush tax cut. But the Emperor is resolute in his inability to reassess policy in the midst of changing circumstance. As I have said repeatedly, Saturn demands humility and compromise, and Bush has refused to do either.

We have just witnessed the stupendous blockbuster hit, Terminator IV, a riveting and suspenseful tale merging the ever-popular superhero genre with reality TV. In this extraordinary story, the glamorous Robotic King of the Befuddling Sound Bite swept into the post-bubble wasteland of a besieged California and single-handedly terminated the corrupt and sinister Gray Politician who had ravaged the land. The audience, well trained by decades of immersion in cinematic experience, was able to suspend all rational thought, and delve into the simple and refreshing plot line in which the mere presence of the dazzling heroic powerhouse could invigorate and galvanize the destitute terrain.

Unfortunately for 21st Century Americans, life doesn't precisely imitate art. Reality is far more nuanced and complicated than a two-hour thriller, and a robust democracy demands a well-informed and intelligent electorate. With each passing election, however, we see glitz and illusion increasing its triumph over substance and rationality. With the ever-expanding hold of the visual media on our imaginations, the candidate who is the most viscerally appealing and whose sound bites best fire the imagination of the masses, tends to win the day, despite his or her past actions, policies, and statements. The media plays its own enormous part in manipulating perceptions - by which stories they pursue and which they ignore, by who gets the most air time, and by the acclaim or criticism they subtly (or not so subtly) infuse into their reporting. More often than not, they follow the best story line, with news rapidly metamorphosing into entertainment. Even worse, they are often guilty of supporting the candidates whose policies are compatible with those of their corporate owners. It is hard to imagine a more dire situation for the future of democracy.

In the not so far distant past, when a sea-faring vessel crossed the vast and indomitable ocean, it was embarking on a perilous journey. Its success depended on the captain and his crew and how well they worked together, the structure and soundness of the ship itself, and the conditions encountered on the voyage. Ideally, a strong and purposeful captain could wield a disparate crew into a cohesive unit. Likewise, a well-built ship, kept in up-to-date repair, was most likely to have a fortuitous journey. And finally, the impact of unforeseen and dangerous circumstances, such as wild storms, catastrophic illness, or attack from other ships, could significantly challenge the mightiest of vessels and the most stalwart of captains.

As the United States proceeds on its own perilous journey, charting its course over the unpredictable waves of life in the 21st Century, the success of its passage depends on similar concerns. There is a need for a strong and able president working with an able and cohesive team. Similarly, the ship of state itself needs to be economically and militarily viable, and therefore less vulnerable to the vicissitudes of fortune. For most certainly, circumstances will always arise that challenge the leadership and the power of the nation. And, as with the ocean voyages of earlier times, success or failure in the nation's sojourn through uncharted waters depends on the pivotal interaction of its leadership and resources with unfolding events.

Astrology affords us a means of understanding the president, the patterns and characteristics of his administration, and the issues impacting the nation during any particular administration. The president’s birth chart, the Inaugural chart, and the chart of the US each give insights into the current flow of history. The progressions will show which inner characteristics will develop, wax, and then wane, and the transits will introduce the outer energies that come to meet these inner energies.

Like a teenager, who brazenly takes the family car on a wild and drunken joy ride and ends up smashed and in a ditch, the Bush administration, intoxicated on its grandiose dream of American Empire, has driven the nation head-on into the wreckage of Iraq. As with the hapless teenager, there really is no successful exit strategy. We can continue to escalate and meet with increasing indigenous resistance, as well as increasing hostility and growing terrorism in the Arab world. We can retreat and withdraw, allowing the Iraqi nation to be torn apart by civil war and become a “failed state” and a nest for al Qaeda. Or we can give up our oversight power in Iraq (and our economic and military designs) to the United Nations, and hope they would be willing to step in, despite the deteriorating and dangerous situation. To those of us untainted by corporate schemes and fantasies of American power, the third option is by far the best, though it too comes with a price. All of that blood and money will have purchased a decidedly mixed bag, for Iraq is likely to become a potentially unfriendly Islamic state if given a truly free election, and American dreams of an alliance, limitless oil, and a military base could well go up in smoke.

For the moment, the Bush administration has chosen to escalate its military response to the insurgency, coupled with a plan to install a provisional Iraqi government and train Iraqi police and military to take over the security of the country as swiftly as possible. The current goal for transition is July 1, 2004. To many, this is a veiled version of cut and run. In a recent post on his Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall describes the paradox in this plan perfectly:

What's really troubling about the moves we now seem ready to make is that we're about to launch the wobbly new Iraqi provisional ship of state out into the very same gale force winds that we ourselves have found too difficult to endure.

The increase of violent rebellion and instability in Iraq in the past few months may be seen in the transit of Uranus opposed to Iraq’s natal Sun/Mercury conjunction from early September through December 14, 2003. Since Uranus has gone direct on November 8, this process has gone into high gear. The resulting crisis for Bush is indicated in his chart by the final transit of Pluto in opposition to his progressed Midheaven/natal Uranus, which manifests through the entire month of November. This configuration intensifies Bush’s sense of power and his aggressive attempts to eradicate the resistance, while simultaneously stimulating a feeling of desperate fear and power struggle. It also has the potential to bring about sudden and powerful transformation, as we have seen by the recent upsurge of violence and the resulting about-face in plans to pass the torch to an Iraqi Provisional Authority as soon as possible.

The blistering battle for the Democratic nomination is now in high gear. Passionate followers of the various candidates duke it out with their counterparts from other campaigns all across cyber space, with barely six nail-biting weeks to go before Iowa and New Hampshire. Former Governor Howard Dean, the current frontrunner, has clearly run a remarkable campaign, with many already gleefully anticipating that he will win the nomination. Al Gore’s recent endorsement of Dean has jolted the primary landscape and added enormously to Dr. Dean’s prestige, viability, and, perhaps, inevitability. Many, however, continue to fear that a Dean candidacy will doom the country to four more years of President Bush and his incredibly disastrous policies. To these concerned Democrats, Dean’s total lack of foreign policy or military experience and his plan to eliminate all of Bush’s tax cuts seem ripe for a Republican assault that will leave him, and us, in tatters.

Questioned at a fundraiser one night, Dr. Dean gave as his birth time 7:21 PM. Despite the seemingly irrefutable source (himself), I still have doubts about the accuracy of this data and so will avoid focus on predictions most specifically related to the exact time.

Dean’s current popularity, success, and the intense feelings he inspires seem most clearly described in the converse progressions: converse Venus conjunct Pluto which peaked in June 2003; converse Venus conjunct converse Pluto which peaks in early March 2004; and converse Sun square Jupiter which also peaks in early March 2004. What is striking in these aspects is that of the two still active, both rapidly begin to dissipate by mid-March 2004. Thus, at least some of the powerful emotion surrounding the Dean candidacy (Venus/Pluto), as well as its over-abundant optimism and high success (Sun/Jupiter), may rapidly stream away in March 2004.

George Bush is currently basking in the glory of a myriad of recent successes.
In the blink of an eye, a presidency mired in foreign quagmires and massive deficits pirouetted into the warm glow of a multitude of seeming triumphs. It began with the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and the 8.2% economic growth recently reported. Since then, Saddam has been captured, Libya’s Mohammar Qaddafi has given up his weapons of mass destruction, and the Dow has risen above 10,000. Bush even grabbed some accolades for his surprise Thanksgiving visit to the troops, despite the little-known plastic turkey with which he posed. In an increasingly Attention Deficit America, the news of the previous month was blown away like a wisp of smoke. Perhaps we need Ritalin in the water supply.

For those who feel they were just getting some traction on a hoped-for ouster of George Bush in November 2004, gloom has set in for the holidays. The pundits claim he is now invincible, and seem impervious to the speed with which unexpected events can also sabotage a sitting president. Nonetheless, for the moment, George Bush is on a roll, and his increased popularity is likely to continue, at least through January 2004.

The most significant astrological factor empowering Bush’s rise to the mountaintop has been the Jupiter station sitting in opposition to the Inaugural Venus, ruler of the Inaugural chart. This dazzling combination of Jupiter and Venus, intensified by the slowness of Jupiter’s motion, brings with it success, achievement, and popularity for the administration. This aspect literally came into one-degree orb with the passage of the Medicare drug bill. It continues through January 2004.

As the days grow colder in late December, a little noted celestial event takes place yearly. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun passes through its time of greatest darkness, and the days once again begin to grow longer. The Winter Solstice, which was celebrated by ancient cultures as a sacred time when the Light is reborn and triumphs over the Darkness, passes in the modern age with little more than cursory notice. In the contemporary Western world, the Solstice celebration has been largely superceded by Christmas, which shares many roots with this ancient festival, most notably the birth of the Light in a time of darkness. Hanukah, which also comes during the month of December, bears within it a similar theme of the Light triumphant.

But there is another holiday that has grown in modern times as a sort of secular cousin to the Solstice Festival. This is the New Year celebration that circles the globe on January 1 in those countries that use the Western calendar. At the stroke of midnight in these many nations, the New Year is born, and within that birth moment may be seen the seed characteristics for the coming year.

In every January 1st New Year chart, the Sun is around 10 degrees of Capricorn and falls close to the nadir (known as the IC) of the chart, the place in the chart where the Sun will always be found at midnight. Depending on the longitude and latitude of the city for which the chart is drawn, the Sun's nearness to the IC can vary by several degrees, but the Sun degree itself may vary only up to one degree. Thus, a strong planetary aspect to the 10 degree Capricorn Sun in the New Year chart may be experienced in some measure by all of the countries that celebrate the New Year on January 1st. It is noteworthy that during some of the most difficult and devastating years of the 20th Century - 1915 and1916, 1930, and 1944 and1945 - Saturn has repeatedly (through retrograde motion) crossed either conjunct or opposite the New Year chart Sun.

Since the early days of the 2000 campaign, when George W. Bush first ascended onto the national stage, murmurings about his less than stellar intellectual capacities became fodder for media gossips and late night comedians. Nonetheless, due to the many benevolent planetary aspects enjoyed by Bush at the time, as well as the GOP's complete control of the corporate media, he blithely waltzed into the White House after a contentious and bitter campaign, with his personal charm trumpeted as his most significant attribute. Essentially asleep at the wheel, Americans had overlooked Bush's startlingly shallow grasp of the world and ushered into the White House the backslapping Governor of Texas, whose most creative moments manifested when he invented nicknames for his entourage.

As the right-wing propaganda machine took increasing control of Bush's public image over the ensuing months and years, we were purposefully indoctrinated with specific words chosen for their impact on our vulnerable minds: strong leader, man of integrity, persevering, compassionate conservative, deeply religious, humble, etc. And as is the goal of propaganda, we began to doubt the perceptions of our own senses. Bush's continual mangling of the language, his refusal to have impromptu or unscripted press conferences, his totally vapid appearance when reading from the teleprompter, like a bad actor reading lines he doesn't fully understand, all were spun into positive attributes or endearing qualities in our Fearless Leader. The completely opaque quality of his administration, where every decision and process is buried under an impenetrable veil of secrecy, was successfully transformed into the image of a "highly disciplined" Commander-in-Chief who runs a "tight ship" and demands loyalty from his team.

It now seems that a well-aimed arrow of truth has pierced the tightly scripted White House illusion. Paul O'Neill, former Secretary of the Treasury, and noted straight shooter who calls it like he sees it, has told the story of his White House years in a recently released book, The Price of Loyalty, written by eminent journalist Ron Suskind. The book contends that the Bush administration was planning an aggressive, militant regime change in Iraq from early 2001. This bombshell essentially confirms the allegation that Bush and his cronies got us into Iraq on totally false pretenses, the real goals having nothing whatsoever to do with the War on Terror and everything to do with the PNAC-inspired vision of world domination and control of oil.

As the restless Democratic winds gather speed during the primary process, it is hoped that the unfocused fury of the country’s moderate and left-leaning partisans will coalesce into a tornado-like vortex, capable of wreaking a huge swath of destruction on the Republican landscape. Inexorably, the nominating process will lead to one candidate, whose singular goal will be to upend the reign of the Emperor Bush and his Neocon Nazis.

It is hard to imagine a more consequential moment in the history of our Republic. The coming election offers us a critical choice, a momentary fork in the road with two widely divergent paths streaming from it. The Democratic nominee will strive to paint a brutally clear picture of where these two very different roads will lead. The Rovian Propaganda Ministry will attempt, as always, to obscure and distort what the public most needs to know – the truth.

Iowa and New Hampshire are now behind us, and Senator John Kerry has claimed the mantle of a dramatic victory in both states. Will Senator Kerry continue this sweeping march to victory in the South and the West, or will the candidacies of John Edwards, Wesley Clark, and Howard Dean gain new momentum in the coming weeks as the primary process spreads far and wide across the American homeland?

The next big primary events are on February 3rd in South Carolina, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Delaware. Kerry is still under the beneficial impact of Jupiter square his Moon for these primaries and is likely to do well, but it will not be a clean sweep. He will, however, greatly benefit from the Mars opposition to his Venus on February 7 and 8, which indicates great promise for the very delegate-rich Michigan and Washington primary combination.

In the biography of a human being, the fingerprints of his or her character are visible on every page. Even in childhood, the smallest deeds are often a harbinger of the man or woman to come. The sensitivities, the strengths, the hungers, and attitudes will grow and evolve, but the ultimate maturation is largely consistent with the early roots. Who we are flows through everything that we do and everything that we will do. Like a piece of music, our lives reflect an integrated wholeness echoed in repeated and evolving themes and patterns.

In recent weeks a rather disreputable pocket of George W. Bush’s past has been wrenched out of its hiding place by a chance comment from Michael Moore. At a Wesley Clark campaign event, Moore used the term “deserter” in referring to our Commander-in-Chief. A few days later, during a televised Democratic debate, Peter Jennings asked General Clark why he had not refuted this term on the spot. Clark defended Moore’s right to free speech, but the story quickly metamorphosed into a reminder that there are significant unanswered questions about Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Despite the White House’s frantic attempts to quickly eliminate the AWOL story before it became a full-blown campaign issue, damaging references to it continued to emerge in the media, and now, with so much blood in the water, the hungry sharks are circling.

The compelling majesty of the rising sun each day is a moment that can give pause to even the most cynical among us. As the darkness slowly recedes in deference to the increasingly omnipresent light, a celestial paintbrush burnishes the sky with color, like rose petals strewn before the advent of the king. A boisterous choir of birdsong also rises with the sun, solemnly heralding its daily journey.

In astrology, the placement of the Sun just reaching the eastern horizon is considered a position of great potency, containing within it the power and determination of the imminent day, like the gathered strength of the lion about to leap across a great distance. This extraordinarily dynamic first house Sun can be found in the chart of Senator John Kerry and has colored his life with an inordinate sense of focus and dynamism.

Kerry’s birth chart is also strongly impacted by a waxing, almost exact Full Moon. This tempers and sometimes contradicts the fierce striving of the rising Sun with sensitivity, an awareness of others, and a healthy objectivity, as well as endowing it with a tremendous emotional energy.

And coloring all of this – the striving ambition, the power, and the sensitivity – is the profound sense of duty, responsibility, and depth of Saturn, which sits very near the Moon and opposes the Sun. Although Saturn can give a very serious and sometimes dour demeanor to one so thoroughly infused with its energy, it also offers a steady, solid trustworthiness, especially in times of great stress. Saturn is the carrier of burdens who will not shirk from any duty. Combined here with an enormously dynamic solar position, it indicates the determination, depth, commitment, and resolve that will be necessary to restore the shattered landscape that will be left when the Bush Family Circus leaves town.

Currently, Senator Kerry is enjoying the progression of his Moon conjunct natal Jupiter, which will continue through March, and a trine from transiting Uranus to his Venus, with the first pass peaking on March 8. These aspects are bringing with them the sense of popularity and success that come with the newly secured role of Democratic presidential nominee and leader of the Democratic Party, a role that has remained virtually empty for three years. But come the end of March, the real fireworks may begin.

After three years of being marginalized, out-maneuvered, and simply laid flat by the Pennsylvania Avenue bully boys, Democrats are delighted to see the Chief Thug of Washington's political streets battered, bruised, and on the defensive. The combination of a largely united and well-publicized assault by the Democratic primary candidates, as well as several hard, right punches to the chin by victorious nominee Senator John "Street Fighter" Kerry, has served to destroy the myth of Bush's invincibility. Moreover, generally mounting and obvious incompetence and dishonesty by the Commander-in-Chief himself has thrown the White House reelection campaign wildly off its political stride. Even Republican leaders are squirming at the recent avalanche of ineptitude and obvious deceit streaming out of the White House. It seems that every step Bush takes to garner support leaves him with a black eye instead.

Like trying to minimize damage from a leaky roof in a storm, the Bush Bumblers run from one misstep to another, clarifying, backtracking, and mumbling. The State of the Union was a flop. The proposed Lunar colony and Mars voyage were quickly vaporized. The Meet the Press interview was an embarrassment. The Constitutional amendment against gay marriage was dead on arrival in a Republican Congress. The first campaign ads celebrating Bush's war heroism were deemed offensive and in poor taste. And the newly appointed job czar was quickly recalled when it was discovered that his business success came from outsourcing jobs to China. In a world of rapidly cycling news, the last two months have seemed like an eternity of disasters for the Bush political machine.

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Ralph Nader was considered a hero. The mere mention of his name generated a profound belief that the dedication and strength of an individual could go up against the powerful and change the world for the better. Known as a consumer advocate, Nader harshly criticized the American auto industry for its unsafe products, leading to the US government’s enactment of significant new safety standards for all automobiles sold in the US. Following these pioneering efforts, Nader began to call for stricter standards in several other American industries. His single-minded endeavors subsequently brought radically improved standards in meat and poultry processing and coal mine safety, as well as restrictions on radiation emissions from TV’s, to give but a few examples. In the minds of the still-young Baby Boomers, this man inspired a belief in the ultimate triumph of right over power and, consequently, a belief in a hopeful future.

Three decades later, the dramatic and mind-numbing 2000 election brought George Bush to the White House by a razor-thin majority in Florida. Many have blamed the once-heralded Nader, who ran on the third party Green ticket and siphoned off votes from Al Gore, for enabling the rise of the most radical, right-wing, pro-industry, anti-populist government in American history. Despite Nader’s dubious claims that there was no difference between the centrist Democrat Al Gore and the radical plutocrat George Bush, it is more than obvious that the country and the world would be far different today had Al Gore taken his rightful seat in the White House. As for Ralph Nader, that idealistic man who once stood up bravely for the people against the powerful, he has become known in the 21st Century as the Spoiler who enabled the insatiable corporatocracy and its ally the Republican Party to enormously increase their stranglehold on American life and politics.

Doomed from its inception, the Bush administration's crusade to "liberate" Iraq has become a violent conflagration of conflicting intentions and discordant ideologies, with the casualties and the potential for disaster increasing daily. The wildfire of nationalism has begun to sweep the land, uniting Sunnis and Shiites for the first time in centuries against a common enemy, the Americans. Already, more troops are being injected into the equation, and the repeated American mantra is that we must "stay the course and prevail," always accompanied by threatening assurances of civil war and regional chaos if we do not.

Underlying all of the failures of this war in Iraq, however, and all of the deception used to get us there, is a flawed ideology that obsesses a small cabal of neoconsevatives currently sitting in the highest reaches of power. The ambitious and grandiose plan of men such as Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle, to name but a few, is well-documented in the writings of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). In short, it seeks to maximize American hegemony, prevent any other nation from competing with that global dominance - both militarily and economically, and it begins with the ousting of Saddam Hussein and the creation of a puppet democracy in Iraq. According to this plan, Iraq would then become a strategic center for American military power and dominance from which the entire oil-rich Middle East would be policed and controlled. It is important to understand that any significant transfer of authority to the United Nations during the current Iraqi transition, any allowance of the UN to supervise the creation of the new government and its economic foundations, is to relinquish the heart of the neoconservative agenda. This is why the Bush administration has thus far refused.

Despite an ongoing string of failures in Iraq, a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, several percolating scandals, and a slew of highly discrediting books, the Bush administration has managed lately, against all expectation, to improve its poll numbers and edge past Senator Kerry's slim lead of last month. While Democrats are panicking, pundits are scrambling to explain away the unlikely bump. In a world of instant news, pervasive attention deficit, and vanishing short-term memory, every shift in the ubiquitous presidential election polls creates a mini-tsunami.

TV journalists wonder aloud if it is the intensified war effort and the consequent tendency to rally 'round the Chief that has contributed to Bush's unexpected fortune. Or perhaps, somehow, Kerry is deficient and needs to take more risks or maybe fewer risks, be more critical or maybe more positive, attack more, or whatever. Bush's multimillion-dollar ad blitz also gets stirred into this pot of explanations. Possibly most telling are the statistics about those who continue to believe a connection between al Qaida and Saddam and who think that we have already found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. Not surprisingly, these souls, deluded by Bush's propaganda machine, are the ones most likely to support the president and his war policies. That their numbers continue to be so large is a testament to the power of the Pinocchio bully pulpit, as well as cognitive dissonance on a massive scale.

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that describes the discomfort that comes when new information contradicts what is already known or believed. If a person is committed to the prior knowledge, he or she will resist assimilating the new information. Thus, if you are committed to believing that Bush is a great leader and divinely inspired, you will resist the facts presented that show he has deceived you or failed in any way. If you believe that the US could not go to war except for the most honorable of reasons, you will resist accepting that there were no WMD's or that Saddam had nothing to do with al Qaida or 9/11. The harsh, but true, information is too threatening to the core beliefs that the president is honorable and that the country will go to war only for the noblest of reasons. Perhaps it would take failure on a massive scale to shake some of these people out of their intellectual insulation. It is hard to say. But what is clear is that Bush is currently enjoying a brief hiatus before a couple of real tsunamis hit him between the eyes.

Like a blazing torch lighting up a dark, untrodden path, the shining jewel of Democracy illuminated the founding of the United States of America with ideas of equality and freedom that marked a giant step forward in the evolution of human consciousness. In the New World, no king would rule by Divine Right and supercede the laws of men, no aristocratic class would rule by accident of birth. Instead, we were given the promise inherent in these immortal words from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..

The ideas of freedom and equality that pervaded the country's founding were given further definition in the subsequently written Constitution and its many amendments, added over the course of years as the meaning of democratic principles evolved further. The Constitution itself represents the foundation upon which the rule of law is built. Most significant is the First Amendment, which resolutely and without exception provides for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, and freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances. Interestingly, not only are these freedoms guaranteed to all individuals, but their very existence creates the free flow of ideas and the interchange of opinion that stimulate the development of healthy and fruitful policy, as well as the unmasking of abuses of power, when necessary.

At present, through a series of extraordinary trespasses on the vulnerable fabric of democracy, the Bush administration is deeply mired in a failing war in Iraq, now further complicated by a humiliating prison abuse scandal that threatens to shred American's reputation throughout the world. Under the current White House regime, the flourishing garden of American democracy has been struggling under drought conditions. Freedom of speech has been shriveled by the administration's intolerance of any criticism or even any opinions at variance with its own. There are numerous stories of character assassination directed at those who spoke out and exposed administration mistakes or weaknesses and examples of threatened job loss for those who wished to. As a consequence of this, because truth was bludgeoned and then buried under an avalanche of pre-existing ideology and an inability to hear opposing views, Colin Powell, General Shinseki, and the allies at the UN were all marginalized and dismissed. We ended up in a war that should never have been fought, a war based on lies and now mired in corruption. In a healthy democracy, the free interchange of ideas can be the cornerstone of a sound, flexible policy, whereas a tightly circumscribed debate, suffocated by a rigid worldview, often leads to a bitter failure.

Sometimes on a warm summer day, one can see a brightly colored balloon rising over the treetops, buffeted by the wind. Having stealthily slipped out of the hands of a sorrowful child below, the balloon rapidly loses itself in the vastness of the cloud-speckled sky, now completely disconnected from the tears it caused on the ground.
To witness a speech by George Bush is a bit like watching that balloon. As he floats blithely along envisioning a fruitful Iraqi garden that needs a bit of pruning and weeding, down below stretches the smoking and festering ground zero created from his devastating ineptitude.

In the alternative universe in which George Bush dwells, a few lowly soldiers committed the degradations and perversions at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The systemic pervasiveness of an arrogant and brutal disregard for international law is not even on the radar screen. According to the Commander-in-Chief, Iraq will have complete sovereignty as of June 30. Never mind the ongoing presence of the American military and the global corporate profiteers over which that sovereignty will not extend. Bush describes Fallujah as now secured by an all-Iraqi security force, conveniently omitting that it has become a Taliban-like Islamic mini-state, complete with abeyahs required for women and floggings for selling alcohol. The war in Iraq continues to be characterized as the center of the War on Terror, with the opportune omission that it has in fact been a highly successful recruiting ground for terrorists and a magnifier of hatred for America across the globe. The useful confabulation of Iraq and 9/11 persists, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Completely ignored by Mr. Bush is the nationalist flavor of the Iraqi rebellion against an occupying American military mired in a security nightmare and the increasing resentment and distrust of the Iraqi people. Instead, all problems are derived from the “the enemy” or “the terrorists” who “hate our freedom”. The presiding American administration in Bush’s universe is unblemished by miscalculation or mistake.

In order to extricate themselves from the inescapable Labyrinth of the Minotaur, the mythical Icarus and his father, Daedulus, ingeniously devised for themselves wings of feather and wax. Their plan was to fly off the steep cliffs of Crete and over the ocean to a distant and safe shore. Not listening to his father’s warnings, however, Icarus, ascended far too near the immortal Sun god’s burning heat. As a result, the fragile waxen glue of his wings melted, and the heedless Icarus fell into the sea and was heard from no more.

This story speaks to us of those who, in their personal feelings of exaltation, ignore warnings and feel themselves invincible in the face of tremendous odds, those who see themselves as worthy of commerce with the gods and forget they are subject to the laws of Earth. Inevitably, disaster results. A clear parallel can be seen in the actions of the Bush administration in recent years, an administration that has set itself above and beyond both international and American law in its “preemptive” military actions and its abusive treatment of prisoners.

Perhaps the faltering Icarus realized his folly and attempted belatedly to descend from the heights. It may be that George Bush has chosen a similar path. After three years of reckless endangerment of the nation’s economic, military, and moral standing, Bush has lately been showing some signs of much-needed compromise. Significant concessions from the US government can now be found in the recent UN resolution concerning Iraq. After much resistance, it seems we have actually agreed to let the interim government govern, at least to some degree. Bush has also made some significant gestures of reconciliation to allied governments, suggesting he is beginning to understand the concept of multilateralism. But unfortunately, the monstrous hole he and his administration have been bulldozing since January 2001 is now so wide, so deep, and so engulfing, that escape from the pit seems close to impossible.

On that fateful day in early September 2001, Americans received a searing wound, a brand in the national psyche that would reshape priorities, policies, and perceptions for years to come. Our naïve bubble of security had been breached, and we spent the succeeding days and months anxiously anticipating a Second Act. The Bush administration’s response was simple and direct: attack the perpetrators, catch them, and “bring them to justice.” Initially, this met a deep, visceral need for revenge, and seemed, as well, an important step toward future security. The War in Afghanistan, aimed at the terrorists and their sponsors, enjoyed universal support. But the administration’s drumbeat soon became monotonous. Anyone who wanted to explore how this could have happened was deemed a traitor and silenced. The spreading mythology was that we were victims of a horrible malignant force, and our sole purpose was to destroy this global evil. How such an event could have bypassed our billion-dollar intelligence network and why we had been attacked in the first place were, for a long time, not part of the national discussion.

After much resistance and continual stonewalling from the Bush administration, the 9/11 Commission was finally formed and has been able to explore, to some degree, the enormous intelligence failure that led to this massive terrorist attack on American soil. But the question of why it happened in the first place has been largely glossed over by phrases such as: “They hate our freedom.” This administration clings to the image of a battle against evil and refuses to acknowledge that, however heinous the acts of terrorism, the perpetrators are a part of our collective human family. In fact, the entire story of the events leading up to 9/11 and the subsequent almost three years would surely be told in an entirely different way from the perspective of those who committed and planned that day and the numerous acts of terrorism which have followed.

Sometimes Mother Nature strikes us with a crippling blow. A tornado, a hurricane, or a vast forest fire is often forceful enough to wipe out homes, power lines, and even lives. In the midst of the initial chaos, we wait anxiously for the titanic force to exhaust itself, sometimes fearing that it never will. Once the event itself is past, the long arduous cleanup begins. The inherent struggle is to reclaim some sense of normality. In some places, however, where the damage has been too great, this may never be possible.

For many Americans, beginning with the Stolen Election of 2000, the Bush administration has been one long nightmare, accompanied by the ongoing, chilling fear that the dismal reality it has brought may never end. As November 2004 approaches, there is a collective longing to end the illegitimacy of the “interregnum” and elect a sane government that will go about the people’s business and restore order to the Bush-created chaos currently at hand. The uneasy hope of many is now entirely focused on the newly formed duo of John Kerry and John Edwards. In fact, the entire world is watching them with baited breath.

With the advent of the primary season in January, what had been the parched desert of the Democratic Party at last began to show signs of life. The discontent, the anger, and the cries for new leadership and new ideas were being given a voice for the first time in three years. Six months later, enthusiastic partisans immersed themselves in the glowing energy of the Democratic Convention. The lush rhetoric of hope, vision, and purpose, culminating in the rousing and inspiring address by John Kerry at the Convention’s climax, further transformed the once-withered landscape into a veritable garden.

The Convention itself and its immediate aftermath have been colored by a strong Jupiter transit square both Kerry and Edwards’ Suns. This aspect is bringing optimism, expansiveness, and success. As a result, we are likely to see a significant bounce in the polls in the first few post-Convention days. The following period, from August through the election, is likely to bring increasing popularity and appeal for both Kerry and Edwards, although September may also bring some significant upsets, stresses, and difficulties.

It is like living in a cesspool. The surrounding sludge reeks of hidden decay, and even if you can avoid touching it, you feel its creepy, slimy ooze trying to penetrate your every pore. This is what it is like in a world filled with lies, lies that penetrate your most intense vigilance, lies that have a dark purpose slyly buried under the cascade of emotions they invariably arouse. This is the essence of the presidential campaign of George Bush. In fact, this is the essence of his entire administration, one lie after another, each crafted to arouse the emotions of the masses and hide the true purposes of the regime.

It is time to speak the truth about those who currently wield power. The issue is not whether or not the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (sic) are lying or not. Nor is it that Bush and his cronies always use slanderous character assassination, often emanating from a supposedly independent or vague source, as a weapon in every one of their campaigns. No, the truth is far broader and far uglier. These men know what they want, whether it is to win the presidency of the United States, to deregulate big business and enrich the corporate elite, or to militarily move America toward some neoconservative fantasy of global hegemony. They know what they want, and they will do anything, anything, to further their agenda. They maliciously lie to put their adversaries and critics on the defensive and to distract us from the real issues; they incite fear in the population to garner support for their war aims and their disingenuous leadership; they slip a few sentences into legislation when no one is looking to facilitate the weakening of industrial regulation. The list goes on and never stops. The American public has been played for a patsy.

With the passing of Labor Day, the quadrennial national wrestling match is in full swing. Drenched in illicit steroids, the defending “champion” is pummeling the challenger with a set of punishing brass knuckles. Meanwhile, the stench of Rovian dishonesty and dirty tricks is befouling the air like a toxic cloud. Although somewhat bloodied, our standard bearer is not yet down for the count.

Closer to home, we find neighborhood right-wing Brownshirts shredding Kerry lawn signs and egging houses. Horns beep at us, followed by invective, to disparage our bumper stickers. In Galveston, Texas, a Democratic campaign headquarters has its front window broken, with a Bush/Cheney sign left to speak amongst the shards. Elsewhere, another fascist thug, this one from a “Christian” organization, starts punching Veterans for Kerry who are marching peacefully. Here is the real trickle down of the Bush regime: The Bully Brigade.

Senator John Kerry threw a flaming brand onto the parched grasses of American political discourse recently and started a raging conflagration. He boldly stated a simple, but devastating truth that instantly resonated across the land. According to Kerry, George Bush has been living in a fantasy regarding Iraq since before the war and continues to be in total denial about the reality on the ground there. Despite Bush’s many early proclamations, neither weapons of mass destruction nor programs to build them were ever found in Iraq, and, despite his current bluster, there never were any ties to al Qaida nor any imminent threat. There have been no rose petals strewn at our soldiers, and more recently, no progress toward stability and democracy despite the administration’s protestations to the contrary. In fact, while George Bush resolutely continues to paint a glowing scenario embellished with platitudes about freedom and democracy, devastating suicide bombings and attacks increase daily, sabotage of oil pipelines continues relentlessly, reconstruction is all but halted, Iraqi and American casualties continue to mount, and large swaths of the country are controlled by insurgents.

Within hours of Kerry’s September 20th speech, every media outlet picked up the story, and the general consensus over the next several days was one of acknowledgement of the painfully obvious. From the President’s own party, Republican Senators McCain, Lugar, and Hagel issued a statement that basically said the Commander-in-Chief needs to level with the American people about the facts on the ground. Even the country’s intelligence agencies belie the president’s continued optimism in the latest rather pessimistic National Intelligence Estimate, which describes the potential trend in Iraq as ranging from barely stable to an erupting civil war.

The First Presidential Debate of the 2004 election crystallized the reality of George Bush’s Saturn return. Early rumblings were already apparent during John Kerry’s September 20 foreign policy speech when he accused Bush of being in “a fantasy world of spin” and in denial about conditions on the ground in Iraq. But the essence of this planetary configuration was driven home during the debate. Like wild and untamed waves in a stormy sea, reality came crashing onto the shore of Bush’s increasingly fragile delusions, inexorably washing them away in the public mind. Kerry successfully pounded away at Bush’s false conflation of Iraq and al Qaida, as well as at the preposterous claims that the war was going well and that we had a grand coalition of shared struggle and responsibility. On a more subtle level, but potentially more destructive for the current White House Occupant, Kerry’s imposing presence of calm, strength, and clarity gave the lie to Bush’s flip-flop propaganda message about his opponent. And conversely, Bush’s defensive, irritable, and reactive demeanor greatly undercut his own defender-of-national-security image and his glorified war leader persona. Unfortunately for the Commander-in-Chief, reality’s return can be quite painful when one has been avoiding it for years.

As always in presidential campaigns, Kerry was aided by Venus, in this case by its conjunction to his ruling Jupiter on September 30. Covering the next two debates, and continuing through October 20, Kerry’s progressed Moon will be sextile his natal Venus, also affording him an increase in that ever-important likeability quotient. In addition, during the Second Debate Venus will be square to Kerry’s natal 6th house Uranus. This suggests that we will enjoy (Venus) hearing some of his more visionary and ground breaking ideas (Uranus) in the areas of health care and the environment (6th house).

There is a deep and abiding fear in many Americans that our most hallowed, secular rite, the election of our leaders, is about to be desecrated beyond repair. At the heart of our democracy lies the irrevocable promise that we choose our leaders and that they lead by our consent. When steps are taken to thwart this process, to deny the right to vote to those citizens who are entitled to do so, the taint, if untended, can become a malevolent scourge deep within the American soul. The infamous felon purge of Florida’s voter rolls in the 2000 election that systematically disenfranchised many thousands of mostly African American, Democratic voters, will go down in history as one of the foremost examples of a shameless and despicable power grab that changed the course of history, bringing the radical George W. Bush and his corporate cronies into the halls of power.

Unfortunately, there are already several examples of brazen voter suppression erupting in the 2004 election season. In both Nevada and Oregon, Democratic voter registration forms have been purposefully destroyed. Several states have reported intimidation of minority voters. And Greg Palast, who uncovered the nefarious Florida voter purge of 2000, claims that most of the unfairly expunged voters of four years ago have not yet been reinstated on the eve of the 2004 election. Given that the presidential race is in a dead heat nationally, as well as in many battleground states, these numerous assaults on our democratic process may have enormous ramifications.

After much consideration of the many astrological factors, I am predicting that we may well have a post-election power struggle that will culminate between November 20 and 25, with John Kerry the winner. Our present-day increasingly vicious cultural civil war is likely to be ruthless, fierce, and deeply disturbing during these three weeks. Unfortunately, though the Kerry victory will be immensely important, it will not herald the end of this bitter war between two opposing and mutually exclusive world views. One can hope, however, that with appropriate presidential leadership, some of the excesses of this ongoing battle can be muted in the coming years.

The battlefield is now deserted, but the smoke of spent gunfire lingers in the morning mist. Underfoot, the earth is softened with the blood of Democracy’s wounds. The brazenly triumphant Warrior King calls for peace, but few of his former enemies, deceived countless times already, risk trusting his empty promises. It is time to take to the hills and regroup for another day. As has been shown throughout the ages, when battling a foe with superior force and overwhelming odds, a guerilla war with focused goals and cunning strategy is the only path of resistance.

For four long years, those on the left have been nurturing their anger and feeding the flames of outrage with each new travesty committed by the brazen radicals in the Bush administration. To abandon the rage was to lose the war, and so, they soldiered on, exchanging harrowing tales in cyberland of shredded treaties, furious allies, environmental pillage, and fascist audacities. The flames grew into a wild inferno of fury and disdain, focused with precision on an administration that was to be defeated at all cost. Multi-millions of hard earned dollars were donated in bits and pieces; thousands of hours of barely-free time were freely sacrificed to the cause. But when the election passed, and the Evil Emperor and his Goon Squad trumpeted their victory, the once vast conflagration became an immeasurable tract of burnt-out devastation and smoking ruins. The survivors still wander aimlessly, trying to asses the damage and completely unsure about how and what to rebuild.

Whispers of impending economic disaster are spreading as the dollar continues to plummet and the swelling American deficit looms darkly on the horizon, threatening to engulf us like an approaching tsunami. Meanwhile, Emperor Bush fiddles as America spends itself into oblivion. Among the many voices crying in the wilderness, Stephen Roach, the chief economist of the investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, and Paul Krugman, the esteemed Princeton economics professor and New York Times columnist, are both using apocalyptic phraseology to describe our impending fiscal doom.

The concern is that as the dollar weakens, it becomes a less attractive investment for sources of foreign capital, which currently pour $2.6 billion dollars per day into the US. If these investors, some of the largest being the governments of China and Japan, decide to decrease their investment in dollars, the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise interest rates high enough to lure some of that capital back in. Higher interest rates will then place a strong downward drag on our vulnerable economy, as well as greatly exacerbate the already record-level debt of American consumers, possibly pushing many into bankruptcy. A downward economic spiral would then unfold in the US, while the world struggles to find a new fiscal homeostasis, most likely one that is far more reliant on the more stable and strengthening euro. The first step might well be a shift in the oil trade from dollars into euros.

In early September 2004, a brief moment of panic ensued among economic experts when foreigners did not show up, for the first time in recent history, at a routine sale of US Treasury bonds. They returned for their regular purchases the following month, but the unnerving memory lingers on. A recent statement by China that it was pulling back on its dollar investments instigated a sharp decline in the value of the dollar and the Stock Market, both of which rebounded the following day when China rescinded its report.

Just as the barren trees, the plummeting temperatures, and the forecast of snow tell of the coming of winter, so too do the bitter winds of international noncooperation and an avalanche of smothering deficit point to a waning of American influence and power. In perhaps the greatest irony of the dysfunctional Bush administration, militaristic and thuggish policies meant to ensure American hegemony for decades to come, have instead led to an unwinnable quagmire that is depleting our resources, as well as our global influence, while increasing the number of our enemies. In addition, fiscal policies of reckless irresponsibility have so weakened the dollar that fears abound of significantly higher interest rates to stem the growing flow of foreign investment out of the country. Many wonder how much longer the dollar will be able to remain the world’s leading currency if the rudderless Bush economic policies do not make a dramatic course correction. In brazenly reaching for the stars, those running the US government have instead fallen off the mountain and are bringing us along for the ride.

In this twilight time between terms, there remains the familiar tone-deaf swagger of the last four years mingled with a foreshadowing of the storm clouds to come. While George Bush gloatingly tells of the earned political capital he intends to spend doing what he will, the formidable Republican monolith of recent years is beginning to fragment around a number of issues. Strong criticism of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and suggestions that he retire are coming from numerous corners of the Republican camp. In addition, Senator Lindsey Graham is putting forth a plan to raise the cap on payroll taxes to pay for a future Social Security deficit, in spite of Bush’s firm opposition. On another matter, Senator Charles Grassley wants to establish a commission to investigate government oversight (such as it is) of the pharmaceutical industry, an untouchable part of the rat pack of Bush’s corporate cronies. Meanwhile, just across the border to the north, Canada has steadfastly refused to participate in Bush’s missile defense scheme, which itself has recently failed its first flight test in two years.

The New Year floats into existence on a sea of tears. The tsunami disaster that has engulfed Southeastern Asia has grasped us all in its grisly tentacles. And perhaps that was its purpose, rather than some vengeful manifestation of divine wrath for a swath of supposed sinners. For a brief moment, we have awakened to the deeper truth of our united human family. Our petty disagreements have faded into the background, momentarily replaced by our collective effort to bring aid and comfort to the suffering of our brothers and sisters half a world away. This fleeting feeling is one we need to steadfastly remember and one that we all too often forget.

More commonly, nascent attempts at global cooperation to resolve the world’s most pressing problems clash with a regressive narcissistic nationalism that sees international geopolitics as a Darwinistic struggle for the survival of the fittest. Witness the examples of the International Court and the Kyoto Treaty in which the United States’ refusal to participate puts short-term national gain over long-term collective responsibility and benefit. At our peril, we ignore the handwriting on the wall, especially with regard to our choice of energy sources. The air we breathe causes an ever-increasing rate of asthma amongst our citizens; scientists warn of devastation related to global warning if we do not reduce our use of fossil fuels; we are fighting an unwinnable war against an indigenous and growing insurgency in our effort to control a waning resource upon which our civilization depends. And yet, we do not hear the trumpets blaring, calling us to awaken from our slumber.

Like tiny islands spread out in some unfathomable sea, alone and disconnected from each other and the world, the various constructs that dwell within George Bush’s mind have no contact or even awareness of each other. On stage for all nations to witness on the day of his second Inauguration was the Evangelizer-in-Chief who proclaimed his God-given mandate to bring the One True Faith of Democracy to the oppressed masses of the planet. He clearly stated that the central purpose of his second term would be the promotion of democracy "in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." Mutating idealism to the fantasy realm of a fairytale, Bush casually brushed aside the constrictions of the arduous and challenging reality in which we live.

Hiding in the wings on that same day, however, and insulated completely from the Crusader of Freedom and Democracy, was the Avenger of Evil, whose goal is to destroy all terrorists, no matter their cause, and hence all evil, from the world. In this corner of the Bush psyche, an alliance with several repressive and tyrannical regimes, such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, is appropriate and welcome. Unfortunately, the Avenger of Evil is unaware that many of these same terrorists that he wishes to annihilate see themselves struggling against what they experience as oppressive tyrannies, and they feel that terrorism is their only means of fighting against a high-tech and more powerful enemy. Granted their methods may seem repugnant and brutal to many in the civilized world, but their ultimate goal is often understood by them as liberation from the control of an outside force, in many ways similar to the goals so loftily and grandiosely described by the Evangelizer-in-Chief.

The Truth is a potent weapon and one that the Democrats need to wield far more effectively against a persuasive and devious adversary. Masterful at dissembling and obfuscation, the Bush/Rove juggernaut is also highly practiced in the sly art of distraction. Our pressured entry into Gulf War Two, under the ominous threat of a toxic mushroom cloud, is a prime example. Not only was the entire operation empowered by exaggerations and outright deception, but the real motivating ideas were largely obscured and buried under a demagoguery-inspired fear. Barely a handful of words in the mainstream media dealt with the neoconservative/PNAC plan for global hegemony and its precondition of an American power center established in the oil-rich Middle East. Perhaps if the Democrats had spoken loudly and clearly about the truth behind the military push into Iraq instead of getting caught up in the squabbles about how many weapons and how much actual danger, things might have turned out differently. Instead, we kept looking at the wrong issues and went round and round, while Bush planned and executed his crusade for an American power grab.

Now, as we enter the second Bush term, we are once again being badgered by trumped up charges of danger in order to ensure a policy, like Iraq, fraught with enormously problematic consequences. Like a card shark taking your money with a three card monte, using distraction and deception to keep you from guessing where the ace is hiding, Bush is focusing our attention on a bogus Social Security crisis while distracting us from his ideologically-inspired attempts to destroy New Deal social welfare policy, as well as from two imminent and potentially disastrous tsunamis that are about to hit our shores.

For an administration that condemns the entertainment studios of Hollywood as a bastion of everything counter to GOP moral values (sic), it is a great irony that the antics of the Bush Cabal increasingly resemble a lively version of Hollywood on the Potomac. From its swaggering Wild West foreign policy to its ludicrous snake-oil budgetary numbers, life in the nation’s capital has begun to imitate art. Recently, we have even been treated to a special presentation of the Theater of the Absurd, where a faux journalist/gay male prostitute finds his way into the halls of power to help defend the “honor” of the administration from the attacks of the “liberal” media. Even FOX Broadcasting could not have come up with anything this brazen.

Indeed, the one shining success of the Bush administration, which stands in sharp relief to its huge clutter of failed policy, is its ability to manipulate and stage its presentation to the unsuspecting public. Using well-choreographed public events, campaign speeches, and press conferences, it has meticulously sculpted its own image with the skill of a Michelangelo. Due to this hitherto unprecedented message control, many perceive George Bush in mythic dimensions - the ultimate heroic, compassionate, and strong president, touched by the fingertips of God.

Please continue the discussion from the last thread. Sally's computer is down so I am starting this one on her behalf. Warm greetings to all!!

Nancy

For those who have taken to watching TV lately as a way of escaping the dismal reality in the Kingdom of Bush, the preponderance of the various Law and Order shows is quite striking. Just in the past week, I counted 43 episodes on three different stations. These fascinating and tangled crime dramas, as well as a myriad of others in which good triumphs over evil in a neat 60 minute package, offer a vicarious thrill to a justice-starved audience. By plucking an unerring resolution out of the jaws of chaos and corruption, they throw a few crumbs to our unsatisfied craving to see the criminal perpetrators of the past four years reap their deserved harvest. Indeed, in the reality based world, the criminal negligence that left us defenseless on 9/11 has been ignored, the country was aggressively pushed into a costly war on false pretenses, those who are poisoning the environment are increasingly unregulated and getting richer, there is ample evidence of fraudulent election results in three successive elections, and the US Treasury has been robbed to benefit the corporate elite and the wealthiest of the wealthy. But, to hear the punditocrisy and the administration spokespeople, the sun is shining brightly in the Land of Oz and all is well. And so, we who sense the gaping chasm between honor and integrity on the one hand and the grotesque corruption in high places on the other, wander around with this gnawing, righteous hunger and nothing to fill the ache but a few TV shows on the Yellow Brick Road.

The latest revelations in the ongoing saga of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Capital City swirl around the person of House Majority Leader Tom Delay. Every day seems to bring a new revelation of sordid schemes that trespass moral decency: expensive junkets paid by lobbyists; fraudulent campaign finance shenanigans in Texas; threatening judges who disagree with the Rabid Right; and other manifestations of power gone wild and totally unaccountable. But with Republicans in control of both Congress and the White House, and with most Republicans in the House beholden to Tom Delay for all kinds of smelly favors, will the rest of us need to just suck up another one and watch Delay blithely dance his way through all the controversy until some big event or soap opera-like scandal steals the stage once again?

Like a malevolent cyclone whirling across the land, mowing down all we hold dear, the destructive forces inherent in Bush administration policies are wreaking havoc in the nation. We all know the litany: tax policies that are transferring wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy; a crippling of environmental regulations that is destroying our national heritage; a sea of red ink that will take future generations decades to overcome; an aggressive and militant foreign policy that is not only counterproductive but is devastating our armed forces; and many other examples too numerous to mention. In fact, these policies and their harmful consequences generate so much controversy and ire that it has been difficult to focus on constructive alternatives. Instead, we are constantly thrown into a defensive posture, attempting to ward off the bulldozing onslaught of a radical agenda and the politically motivated character assassinations that accompany it.

As an alternative to our perpetual and self-defeating (though justified) outrage, let us consider the transformational potential of energized, focused thought. In other words, the concept that what your mind focuses on will grow. From this line of thinking, an argument could be made that by angrily focusing on the radical GOP agenda and its dark consequences, we have actually been empowering that to which we are vehemently opposed. On the other hand, what has been largely missing from progressive discourse, and what it is now time to create, is a crystal clear vision of the path we choose for America in the years ahead.

When a cancer begins to grow somewhere in a person’s body, initially it is easy to think it is a pulled muscle or an upset stomach or some other minor ailment. But after a while, hopefully a short while, denial becomes impossible and correct diagnosis with appropriate treatment must begin. If not, the malevolent cancer will stealthily, but persistently, spread and parasitically devour more and more of the health of the organism.

The avoidance of truth handicaps a person from effectively dealing with events, just as the wrong or ignored diagnosis leads to ineffective treatment in an illness. The false justification used for the Iraq War provides a recent example. Remember the mushroom cloud and the thousand tons of sarin gas? Remember the yellow cake from Africa and the aluminum tubes? Well-hidden underneath all the frightening rhetoric, of course, was a neoconservative plan for American global hegemony and the desire for greater control of the oil-rich Middle East. Had we known what the war-mongers really intended, had we known that there was no imminent threat to America, there would have been no war. But we were handicapped by the misinformation campaign, always directed to look in the wrong direction, while our fate was sealed in a deadly and seemingly endless quagmire which is now hemorrhaging the strength of the nation.

With the advent of the Bush 2 Regime, and especially since 9/11/01, the cloak of militarism has settled ever more firmly on America’s shoulders, wrapping itself tightly around the national psyche. The painful emotions born on that fateful September day were the initial fuel for this rampant mood of aggression, igniting a legitimate urge to strike back and defeat those who had attacked us. Skillfully manipulating the fear and outrage of that dark hour, however, the Bush administration quickly inflated the War on Terror to embrace preemptive strikes on nations that one day might pose a threat or might give weapons to terrorists. The besieged and occupied Iraq is, of course, the primary example of this recipe for never-ending war, but murmured threats now include Syria, Iran, and anyone else who might get in our way.

On the news shows and from the punditry, we hear constantly about “the enemy” and what this omnipresent force might do to us if given half a chance. We are kept in a state of continual vigilance by the administration’s spokespeople, always reminded of our need to destroy those who are “evil” and attack them “there” rather than “here”. The increasingly lucrative, mega-billion dollar defense industry, using some of its war-profiteering loot, saturates our media with slick ads about how it is helping us “defeat the enemy” with its cutting-edge technology. And meanwhile, a larger and larger share of our hard-earned tax dollars is going to the bloated defense department budget for building increasingly lethal weaponry, for creating the exorbitant and non-functional anti-missile system, for maintaining over 700 military and intelligence bases worldwide, for developing a new, improved form of bunker-busting nuclear weapon that can be used in combat situations, and for meticulously planning the military and technological mastery of space. Summing up this grim martial reality in one succinct image, Doonesbury’s Garry Trudeau has depicted George W. Bush, since early in his first term, as the garish helmet of a conquering Roman emperor-general.

In the engrossing children’s tale of Tyrone the Horrible, the author Hans Wilhelm tells the story of a young dinosaur named Boland who is tormented by the bully Tyrone, a nasty, juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex. Every day, Tyrone takes Boland’s sandwich for himself, often roughing Boland up in the process. On the advice of his friends, Boland attempts many strategies. He tries to be nice, he tries to hide, and he even tries confrontation, but nothing works. Finally one day, Boland comes up with a winning scheme. He fills his sandwich with burning hot peppers and lots of hot sauce. As usual, at lunchtime that day, Tyrone steals Boland’s sandwich and stuffs it into his big mouth. A few minutes later, a long, loud scream is heard throughout the swamp where they live, and Tyrone starts running wildly around with his mouth on fire. From that moment on, Tyrone never steals another sandwich from Boland nor bothers the smaller dinosaur in any way. Moreover, Boland has become a something of a hero in the swamp.

The Republicans of today bear a striking resemblance to the mythical Tyrone. They seem to have perfected the role of the bully right down to the penchant for trapping an unsuspecting victim in a back alley all alone and then beating the #*&% out of him. The recent examples of Governor Howard Dean and Senator Dick Durbin bear witness to this sad reality. But the Democrats must also carry some of the responsibility for the blooding here. Had we heard a chorus of support from our multitude of Democratic leaders, had they taken the GOP’s own words, infusing them with rhetorical “hot sauce” and thrown them right back, the outcome would have been far different. In all fairness, Dick Durbin attempted to hold his own amidst the cacophony of Republican demagoguery, but he was so outgunned that retreat became the only recourse. Where were his fellow Senatorial soldiers? Did they abandon their comrade in an ambush? We should have heard 50 different news interviews loudly quoting the most damaging portions of the FBI report on torture, calling it shameful, irresponsible, and harmful to our soldiers and their potential treatment if captured. By the way, shameful, irresponsible, and harmful to our soldiers is what the GOP said about Durbin’s speech.

Often, it is the stories we are told in childhood that imprint within our souls the values we carry for a lifetime. Biblical stories, mythology, fairy tales, and simple anecdotal tales out of the lives of those who have walked tall and heroically in our nation’s history all offer kernels of wisdom and guidance for us in our struggle with modern life. We all remember hearing how George Washington, the general who led us through the American Revolution and later became our first president, could never tell a lie, even when, as a child, he was caught chopping down that famous cherry tree. And Abraham Lincoln, the president who led us through the American Civil War, was affectionately known as “Honest Abe” for his scrupulous attention to honest dealings with the customers in the country store he managed as a young man. But times have changed, and instead of the heroic person of integrity and courage we long for in a president, we are faced with a Chief Executive so immersed in the lies and deceptions upon which his policies and decrees are based, that virtually nothing he says can be taken at face value or without some suspicion of its dishonest or manipulative underpinnings.

In fact, the Bush administration has moved governance to a whole new paradigm. In the way of sociopaths everywhere, the rules that restrain the rest of humanity are not seen as applying to the Bush administration, whether involving election law, prisoner’s rights, acknowledging the restraints of Congress on the executive branch, international law regarding war and war prisoners, or simply the treasonous act of outing a CIA agent. Instead, under the Bush Doctrine, a plan is determined and then reality and the rules are manipulated to make it happen. The administration decided to win the election and then manipulated the voting circumstances of the opposition and the voting machines to create a victory. They decided to deregulate the corporate polluters and then twisted the science to cover up the dangers. They announced that the air in Manhattan was clean after 9/11, and so it seemed, except for those who breathed it and developed chronic lung illnesses.

Like the albatross that hung heavily around the neck of the Ancient Mariner, the second Gulf War, borne in deceit and managed with criminal stupidity, hangs mercilessly around the neck of the Bush administration. In Coleridge’s famous poem, the albatross appears as a divine messenger, sent to a ship of suffering sailors in the ruthless, icy-winded North, to bring them back to their true path on a warm and friendly sea. In a moment of thoughtlessness and hubris, however, the Ancient Mariner shoots and kills the albatross, bringing instead a long nightmare of death and destruction to the hapless ship.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the goodness of the world rose up, like the heavenly-sent albatross in the poem, to bring its blessing to America during her darkest hour, offering a window of opportunity for healing and for the furtherance of worldwide unity and justice, as well as a possibility for a united stand against the viciousness of terrorism. But George Bush shattered that window with his invasion of Iraq just as surely as the Ancient Mariner shot the albatross with his crossbow, and now he, like the Mariner, carries the choking weight of his misdeeds amidst the death and destruction of what he has wrought.

Although technically summer ends with the Autumnal Equinox in late September, in reality, summer in the United States is over around Labor Day, when the pools close, the schools reopen, and families are back from whatever far-away escape they managed to conjure up during the heat and haze of July and August. Closing the door on the season of warmth and play and moving us into the structured rhythm of the working world, the advent of September brings with it a decided shift in our lives. In the coming days, George Bush will return from his extended dithering in the Crawford playpen to reluctantly encounter a worsening morass of dysfunction and failure of his own creation; Congress will return to the vicious and bloody frontline of the Culture Wars; and Iraq, having missed the memo about summer vacation, will continue as it has been, only worse.

The seeds have long been planted for much of the tension we can expect this fall, a time of bitter harvest indeed. Foremost on people’s minds is Iraq, undoubtedly the biggest foreign policy debacle in US history. The arbitrary deadline for the Iraqi constitution set for August 15 has been repeatedly postponed. The Kurds and Shiites have now completed a preliminary constitution to be voted on in the October 15 referendum, but the Sunnis, already desperately opposed to the growing power of the Shiites, stand in opposition to much of its contents. As violent struggles erupt between warring factions within the Iraqi nation, both within the various religious and ethnic groups and between them, the country seems to be moving inevitably towards civil war. The big danger, as events spin more and more out of control, is the possibility of Iraq’s neighbors actively entering the fray in order to determine a more promising outcome for their own strategic goals. Iran is already helping the Shiites in various covert ways. There are rumors of Syria helping the Sunni insurgents. Saudi Arabia is ruled by Sunnis who do not want an increase in Shiite power in the region or any agitation among the Shiites on their own turf. And Turkey feels threatened by the possibility of an independent Kurdistan fostering rebellion among its rather large Kurdish population. In short, a full blown civil war in Iraq could very easily morph into a regional conflagration, as many of the unheeded dissenters suggested prior to the initial invasion

It is not uncommon to hear someone tell of how a crisis – perhaps an illness, the loss of a job, or even a loved one’s death – impacted his or her life in an unforeseen way, blending tragedy with an unexpected and beneficial shift on life’s pathway. Often in these cases, the person is forced to draw upon little-used strengths or overcome personal weaknesses in such a way that new and promising avenues open up, problematic relationships are resolved, or the person’s life is reshaped in some significant way. Of course, these unexpected opportunities are not always recognized, and one can just as easily drown in sorrow, loss, bitterness, and blame. These “interventions” of the Universe can indeed be quite painful, even when they manage to lead to a growth spurt of the soul.

The word “no” is the most difficult word in the English language. It is the most treacherous to say and the most stressful to hear. No one likes to have limits set upon their wants, which is what “no” is really about. And no one enjoys the angry or abandoning reaction that setting those limits can engender. But those who are unable to tolerate these uncomfortable emotions have not successfully graduated to a state of true emotional maturity and psychological health. Such dysfunction extends across a broad continuum, from minor neurosis to major psychopathology. But it is inevitably this inability to tolerate the setting of limits or to set limits that is at the source of most of the problems in the world today.

Whether it be the relationship between parent and child, husband and wife, or an individual and the law, the capacity to honor and respect the appropriate boundaries defines the health of the relationship. Those who manipulate and bully because they cannot tolerate a refusal, those who are frightened to stand up for themselves because they fear abandonment and anger, and those who rape or steal because the laws of society do not hold them back are all examples of the enormous dysfunction that can come from a lack of healthy boundaries and the confident inner self that maintains them. In the workings of today’s Republican-dominated government, there are numerous examples of an inability to set or tolerate limits, a pattern which has led to an increasingly massive amount of government dysfunction at the highest levels.

As I listened to Congressman John Murtha on Sunday’s Meet the Press, I realized that a nascent idea was coalescing in the collective consciousness about how to bring our troops home. Murtha’s courageous words hung starkly in the air as the beginning of a viable alternative to the daily blasting from the administration of how “staying the course” was the only way to prevent “disaster.” The congressman made several significant points. Among the most interesting, he said that we cannot judge Iraqi troop capabilities by our own military standards, which estimate only 700 Iraqis are combat ready. He added that as long as we are there, the Iraqis will depend on us to do the work for them, reminding me of a parent who can’t step back enough to let his child fill in the required tasks with his or her own capabilities and sense of responsibility, leaving the child dependent, resentful, and weak. Clearly, Murtha’s words have set off a firestorm in Washington, where Republicans fought with all the viciousness and dishonesty of which they are capable to impugn Murtha’s reputation and misrepresent his ideas.

As I have written on my blog, this dramatic battle in Congress sparked by Murtha’s courageous speech was one fierce skirmish within the larger battle between Democrats, along with some moderate Republicans, and the administration over the manipulation of pre-war intelligence and the course of the war, represented by the potent Mars/Saturn square that is with us throughout November and December 2005. It is worth noting that this aspect will also be enshrined in the Winter Solstice chart of December 21, 2005, that describes the quality of events for the entire winter season until the Spring Equinox chart takes over in late March 2006. As we have seen, the fierce battles represented by this aspect are not limited to the halls of Congress but also play out in the deadly violence that has been escalating daily in Iraq. As the Mars/Saturn square waxed to exact on November 18 and 19, the lethal attacks in Iraq grew in both ferocity and impact.

The birth of winter in the Northern Hemisphere comes at the moment of the Winter Solstice, when the long hours of night begin to lessen and the sunlit days once again begin to lengthen, drawn inexorably toward the languorous days of summer six months hence. At its root, this festival celebrates the annual rebirth of the Light as it overcomes the Darkness, bringing renewed hope to humankind. Most religious traditions commemorate it with their own symbolism and mythology - the birth of the Christ on Earth, the miracle of the candles that burned for 8 days without oil, etc. – but underneath, there is a similar motif in them all, based on the theme of the Light, shining with some kind of divine presence, defeating the threat of encroaching darkness.

It may be that an even deeper mystery pervades the Winter Solstice, one which derives its meaning from the fact that this is the moment when the Earth is passing through the perigee of its annual rotation around the Sun. In other words, the Earth is, for this brief moment, at its closest point to the Sun in the entire year. In ancient times, the Sun was worshipped as the source of all life and a divinity in its own right. In our modern scientific consciousness, by contrast, we think of the Sun as merely a ball of various gases, just as we think of ourselves as merely a physical body. But if we can grasp the concept of a deeper spiritual presence within ourselves, who are we to say what may or may not inhabit that ball of gases at the center of our solar system? And is there some momentary communion between the Earth and the Heavens, in this time of nearness between them at the birth of winter, that also contributes to the theme of the Light overcoming the Darkness? Such is the profound mystery surrounding the Solstice.

Back in the political Paleolithic era before the advent of George W. Bush on the national scene (a veritable Garden of Eden by some standards), the only news about Iran was that the spirit of reform was burgeoning despite the sclerotic mentality of the mullahs. Hope was on the horizon.

Then came the Antagonizer-in-Chief and his monotone foreign policy in which bullying was the only card in the deck. Iranians did not warmly embrace their new membership in the Axis of Evil, nor were they enamored by the threatening stream of rhetoric that followed. The military takeover of Iraq on their western border also did not serve to sweeten the pot. Perhaps not coincidentally, the conservative, anti-Western forces gained surprising strength in the summer election of 2005, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took over the reins of the country in August.

One way of looking at the world these days is through the lens of globalization. Although our earthly home retains its physical dimensions, the evolving human experience is of a planet that keeps shrinking, with each of its various parts ever more inextricably interconnected. Not many years back, who would have thought that wages in Indonesia would impact employment in North Carolina? Who would have imagined that growing car exhaust in Houston might influence the thickness of ice in Greenland? Or that diminishing ice in Greenland might threaten a radical shift in the weather in London and Paris? And who could have guessed that a small newspaper item in Denmark might inspire riots and embassy burnings throughout the Muslim world? Today, news flies around the globe like it flew around the neighborhood in yesteryear. First radio, then TV, and now the lightning-fast internet, with its blogs, e-mail alerts, and instant reporting, have exponentially augmented the power of a single story once it has been launched by only a motivated few.

In Jean Paul Sartre’s torturous version of hell, described in his play No Exit, three completely incompatible people are bound together forever in a room with no escape. Likewise, we live in a world where we are bound ever more tightly with other people whose cultures, religions, and world view are often very different from and often contradictory to our own. It seems that the challenge presented to us in our newly globalized world, where there really is no retreat from our interconnectedness, is simply to learn to get along together, whether it be the red states and the blue, the fundamentalist right and the liberal left, the industrialized nations and the Third World, or the secular, democratic nations and the Islamic theocracies. And yet, in reality, this is anything but simple. It is hampered by the universal disinclination of humans to accept responsibility for their own contribution to their difficulties. It is hampered by our tendency to think in stark terms of black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, and not inwardly stretch to recognize the innate humanity of our adversaries. Much like a troubled marriage, the opposing parties will never progress if they cannot take responsibility for their own participation in the conflict. But unlike in a troubled marriage and more like the torment described by Sartre, there is no possibility of divorce.

Like the crumbling power of the failing king in a Greek tragedy, the credibility of the Bush regime is deteriorating by the day along with its poll numbers. And also much like in a Greek tragedy, there is a fatal flaw in the main character of this story that is the cause of his demise. George W. Bush is unable to deal with reality; he neither perceives it clearly nor is he able to act rationally and expeditiously upon relevant information. Instead, he dwells in a delusional world in which he is the hero in a great unfolding drama, imagining that he brings democracy and freedom to the suffering masses of the planet and compassionate conservatism to the hungry at home. When caught in the contradiction between his world and the facts on the ground, he clings to his superhero myth, claims complete innocence over any misdeeds, and blames others for their incompetence or deception. Some people call this lying.

Without the Sun, our life on Earth would cease to exist. It is the ultimate source of all heat, light, food, and even the air that we breathe. In ancient times, many civilizations equated the Sun with the central Being in their pantheon of gods. In some modern esoteric writings, the Sun is seen as the physical plane manifestation of a divine spiritual presence of Love and Light that streams unendingly to Earth. In certain Christian esotericism, the Sun forces are understood to have actually incarnated on Earth in the birth of the Christ and, since that time, are seen to potentially permeate the Higher Self that dwells within each human being.

Astrologically, the Sun corresponds with the heart in the individual, just as our physical Sun is the heart of our solar system, without which we could not continue to live. Additionally, the Sun’s position in a birth chart speaks of a person’s deepest goals in life, the path of his or her destiny, and his or her higher purpose in being here. If we allow for the possibility of the esotericist’s views, it may be that there is some deep connection between a person’s striving to fulfill his or her life path and a celestial guidance or strength that streams in from the spiritual Sun forces.