February 11, 2002
Sherron Watkins, Whistleblower
Last week New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd described a gender schism in
the Enron debacle: the men were electronic cowboys who cared most about
inflating their assets, while the women were unearthing and deciphering the
scam's complexity. One of the central female figures in the Enron escapade is
Sherron Watkins who wrote the legendary memo to Kenneth Lay last August.
Watkins was born with a powerful Sun-Pluto conjunction in the workers' sign
of Virgo (August 28, 1959; Tomball, TX; 10:30 am*). Adept at minutia, this
Virgo worked for the Andersen accounting firm before joining Enron in 1993.
Her Sun is also trine staid Saturn, which is comfortably placed in corporate
Capricorn. This combination supported her ambitious climb to become an Enron
Vice President, but just outside the exclusive boys' club of top executives.
Her Moon-Saturn opposition was aligned with last year's Summer Solstice Solar
Eclipse, guaranteeing that her life's meticulously planned path was about to
change dramatically. With a mentally sharp Mercury-Uranus conjunction,
Watkins spotted major irregularities, and sent a warning to Kenneth Lay a few
days after Jeffrey Skilling resigned as CEO.
Watkins' Chiron is tensely configured with precise, dynamic aspects to
Jupiter and Mars. Here the astrologer can see an alternative label for
Chiron, moving from "Wounded Healer" to "Whistleblower." Last week, as
transiting Uranus was conjunct her Chiron, the House Energy and Commerce
Committee revealed the contents of her August 22 letter, which said in part,
"I am incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting
scandals."
The Awakening of the Goddess
At the insistence of First Lady Laura Bush and other American politicos,
Afghanistan's new government must include at least a few women. From the
outsiders' point of view, the Taliban were cruelly oppressive toward women as
they enforced a divisive lifestyle that led to a horribly dysfunctional
culture. The remedy seemed obvious, get women involved at the highest levels.
In the U.S. horoscope transiting Uranus is rapidly approaching a conjunction
with the Moon, located in egalitarian Aquarius. This aspect becomes exact on
February 24, but due to retrograde cycles, will also be conjunct the Moon on
September 27 and December 10 of this year. In political astrology the Moon
generally symbolizes the nation's people and their security needs, but can
also represent the nation's women.
As transiting Uranus approaches the U.S. Moon, we can expect a rise in
nationalism since this Moon is found in the fourth house of roots and the
home. We can expect a great deal of emotional nervousness about security
issues, as the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City so aptly reminds us. We may
also expect that the people will demand that something be done to fix the
dysfunctional corporate culture.
Last week transiting Venus and Ceres joined with Uranus in Aquarius to
produce some gripping congressional hearings. On February 12 and 13 the
transiting Sun, Moon, and Uranus will be conjunct, and very near the U.S.
Moon. These should be two days of spectacular surprises, not the least of
which is Kenneth Lay's scheduled appearance before the Commerce Committee.
U2's Bono, Financial Expert
In an odd mix of radical chic and conservative politicians, rock-star
activist Bono was the surprise hit last week at the annual World Economic
Forum. After sharing the stage with Bill Gates to discuss AIDS prevention and
debating U.S. Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill about debt relief for the
world's poorest nations, Bono joined his rock group U2 as the main attraction
for the Super Bowl's halftime show.
Bono was born with his Sun in mellow Taurus (May 10, 1960; Dublin, Ireland;
time unknown) and closely trine to conservative Saturn in Capricorn. This
combination instills patience, ambition, and seriousness, qualities that have
helped Bono study the problems of third world countries to the point where he
is now widely regarded as a world-class expert.
Bono's Sun also squares Uranus, giving him a restless, defiant streak that
makes the status quo unbearable and a personality that demands immediate and
fundamental change. Taurus is naturally interested in financial matters, and
with his Mercury and Venus in Taurus opposed to sensitive, empathetic
Neptune, debt relief has become his personal crusade.
During the Super Bowl and WEF transiting Pluto was exactly trine Bono's
Uranus, allowing a creative and far-reaching outlet for his revolutionary
ideas, "not wildly and rebelliously, but with a clear plan in mind and a
comprehensive view of the whole."** Bono warned that there could be "plenty
more Afghanistans" if poverty is not tackled now. He will visit Africa in
March with Paul O'Neill, one of the strangest partnerships imaginable, but
potentially one of the most transformative.
Reader feedback is welcome. Email: [email protected].
* Many thanks to data sleuth and NewsScope correspondent Justin Smith for
tracking down Watkins' birth data which was relayed to him from Sherron's
husband Rick. Read the entire Aug. 22 letter at www.itmweb.com/f012002.htm.
** from Robert Hand's classic Planets in Transit.
