April 29, 2002
The Clash of Civilizations
Last week several media reported that the Al Qaeda terrorist network is building a “dirty bomb,” the name given to a crude atomic bomb that can spew radiation into the U.S. atmosphere. The information comes from the recently captured Abu Zubaydah, Osama bin Laden’s chief of operations. Zubaydah is now being “interrogated” at an undisclosed location.
Astrologically, this major terrorist threat arrived as transiting Mars triggered a critical point in the U.S. horoscope (see April 8, 2002). Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a general warning to U.S. citizens, although unless the two major railroad disasters (April 20 and April 23) were caused by terrorists, no actual attack took place. However, the Pentagon takes Zubaydah’s information seriously since he also indicated that Bin Laden is hiding out in Pakistan where for the first time U.S.-led military forces are conducting raids (see NewsScope December 24, 2001).
Over the next week Mars is entering a major celestial danger zone. This zone is described by the distance between Saturn and Pluto’s exact opposition. Mars will be conjunct Saturn on May 3, and then opposite Pluto on May 8. The Mars-Saturn conjunction tends to bring major turning points in geopolitical affairs, and astrologers may notice the main fractures are taking place on religious fronts.
Pluto in Sagittarius refers to religious or ideological extremism; Saturn is empowering and restructuring. Watch wherever Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, and Christian political regions interface for the most dramatic confrontations. Now that Mars is activating the Saturn-Pluto polarity, we are in the midst of the clash of civilizations.
Saturn and Pluto Shake Investor Confidence
Even a rosy 5.8 percent increase in GDP for the first quarter couldn’t prevent the U.S. stock markets from their worst week since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Financial analysts blamed weak earnings reports and lower consumer confidence for pushing the Dow below the benchmark 10,000 level.
The pending Saturn-Pluto opposition, exact on May 26, is especially significant for the U.S. financial picture since these planets occupy the second and eighth houses (the money houses) in the Scorpio Rising U.S. horoscope. Saturn-Pluto aspects are by nature a celestial force leading to institutional restructuring. The specific restructuring relates to financial institutions, a process now well under way with the accounting firm Arthur Anderson scheduled to begin trial on May 6.
Some of America’s biggest corporations have plunged in value due to accounting practice fears, including IBM, General Electric, and AOL. They in turn have brought the rest of the market down, a selling process likely to continue when transiting Mars enters the Saturn-Pluto axis over the coming two weeks. The only way for this market to regain its footing is when investor confidence returns.
Last week the Securities Exchange Commission joined forces with the New York attorney general to investigate Wall Street analysts who tout weak stocks to drive up prices. This is the actual restructuring process taking place, as dictated by Saturn’s passage through the eighth house of corporate finances, and Pluto in the second house of the nation’s assets. The second and eighth houses, in a more metaphysical sense, are about trust and confidence, and as they grow secure and strong, wealth naturally increases.
Robert Blake Arrested
Ex-Baretta actor Robert Blake pleaded not guilty last week to charges that he murdered his wife Bonnie Lee Bakely. Police investigators took nearly a year before accumulating enough physical and circumstantial evidence to make the arrest. His motive appears to be revenge for Bonnie Lee’s getting pregnant to force him into marriage.
Robert Blake was born a worried Virgo (September 18, 1933; 8:30 am; Nutley, NJ) with his Sun located in the twelfth house of secret activity. The astrological key to this sordid tale can be found in his seventh house, the house of partners, where the parenting asteroid Ceres is found. Ceres here is under tremendous planetary stress by the square to Pluto. The activation of Ceres-Pluto aspects often evoke life’s most difficult passages, including birth and death.
The entire sequence of events can be correlated to the major transits of Ceres to Blake’s Pluto. First, Ceres in the seventh house describes his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakely, and the fact that they married shortly after she gave birth to their child out of wedlock. Rose Blake was born on June 2, 2000 when transiting Ceres was conjunct Blake’s Sun, and sextile to his Pluto.
Then Robert married Bonnie Lee on November 19, 2000 when the Sun and Ceres were conjunct in intense, vengeful Scorpio, and forming a trine to his tenth house Pluto. She was murdered on May 4, 2001 when transiting Ceres was turning retrograde, and opposing Blake’s Pluto. He was arrested on April 18, 2002 when transiting Ceres was in wistful Pisces and trine to his Pluto. The court case should reach a dramatic turning point when Ceres turns retrograde in mid-August.
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