May 20, 2002
The Next Cuban Revolution
Former President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba last week where he delivered an
historic speech carried live and uncensored on state-run radio and
television. The Bush Administration is preparing a political hardening of
their position to counteract Carter's support for lifting the 40-year trade
embargo on Cuba.
The current political situation between Cuba and the U.S. has powerful
astrological resonance with the Spanish-American War of 1898. Saturn and
Pluto were opposing each other in that year, just as they are now. Not
coincidentally, Saturn and Pluto then were in virtually the identical degrees
of Gemini and Sagittarius, but reversed 180 degrees.
Cuba was granted its independence from Spain on December 10, 1898, and on
that same day (at 12:30 pm) U.S. forces raised the Stars and Stripes over the
City hall in Havana. Uranus, the planet of independence and revolution, is
particularly relevant in this chart and is located in freedom-loving
Sagittarius. Many of the most important interactions between the U.S. and
Cuba coincide with major transits to this Uranus.
The beginning of the Castro regime on January 2, 1959 (1 am*) took place when
transiting Pluto was exactly squaring the 1898 Uranus. Also, Uranus during
this event was conjunct the U.S. Midheaven, signaling the impact Castro's
revolution would have on U.S.-Cuban relations. Then, the tense Cuban Missile
Crisis of October 1962 occurred as transiting Uranus in Virgo squared the
1898 Uranus. Astrologers may anticipate a similar political upheaval in 2004
when Uranus enters Pisces and forms a square to the 1898 Uranus.
Stephan Wolfram's Insight
Saturn and Pluto's opposition in the intellectual signs of Gemini and
Sagittarius is having profound, revolutionary impact on the world's
institutions, with daily headlines featuring the radical changes in
religious, political, and military thinking. Wherever institutional strength
is based on ideological assumptions, the foundation is being challenged.
Last week within the ivory towers of theoretical physics another revolution
in thinking began with the publication of Stephan Wolfram's "A New Kind of
Science." The 1200 page book** boldly proposes to redefine the rules of the
universe by challenging the underpinnings of several scientific disciplines,
including biology, chemistry, computers, and physics. The basic premise
argues that simple computational mechanisms can produce all the complexities
of life, from galaxies to seashells to the patterns in the stock market.
The genius behind this much-anticipated book is Stephan Wolfram who was born
with a Sun-Pluto conjunction in analytical Virgo (August 29, 1959, London;
time unknown). This powerful combination can get lost in personal obsessions,
but with the harmonious trine to stable Saturn, his intense drives are
channeled into productive transformations. This is the celestial signature of
the individual who leads a successful scientific revolution.
Wolfram's earlier versions of this theory made important contributions to
fractals and chaos theory, all of which fits neatly into a scientific basis
for astrology. How do simple planetary forces create the complexity of human
experiences from the individual to the national level? Wolfram's insight is
that any self-organizing system can produce complex, random patterns using
simple computational rules.
Woody Allen Receives the Palm of Palms
Last week filmmaker Woody Allen received a standing ovation and a special
achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palm of Palms. The
comedian-director has never been to glitzy Cannes before, but went this time
to thank the French for their many years of support, and to promote his
latest film Hollywood Ending.
Woody Allen was born with his Sun in philosophical Sagittarius (December 1,
1935; 10:55 pm; Brooklyn, NY) next to Mercury and Jupiter, also in
Sagittarius. This triple conjunction is found in the fourth house of the home
and family roots, and consequently, many of his film themes have a Freudian
spin. Indeed, even his personal life has a Freudian spin.
The Sagittarius planets, already prone to moral considerations, square Saturn
in spiritual Pisces, giving an urgent and lifelong demand to resolve ethical
dilemmas. Jupiter and Saturn are expansive and retentive, outgoing and
reclusive, good and evil. With Mercury, the ruler of his shy and proper Virgo
Ascendant, forming a close inconjunction (150 degree aspect) to quirky
Uranus, Allen has developed a neurotic persona constantly polarized between
moral obligations and sinful opportunities.
At the moment, the ongoing Saturn-Pluto opposition is forming a perfect
square to his Neptune, the natural ruler of cinema. Until this year, Allen
has always preferred to let others promote his films, and he has generally
avoided film festivals and ceremonies. This year Allen's progressed Midheaven
forms a very favorable trine to his Jupiter, bringing his mutual love affair
with the French into the open.
* See Nicholas Campion's The Book of World Horoscopes
** For an often-quoted discussion of the author and his work, see the Forbes
magazine article, which can be found online at
http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/1127/162_print.html
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