December 30, 2002
The North Korean Distraction
The Bush administration's focus on Saddam Hussein hit a detour last week when North Korea booted out U.N. weapons inspectors and reactivated a nuclear plant to produce bomb-grade plutonium. The Bush doctrine that the U.S. can no longer tolerate rogue nations with weapons of mass destruction is, for the time being, letting the crisis play out through the United Nations.
On January 2 Mercury turns retrograde, initiating the beginning of a three-week phase of re-thinking, re-planning, and re-organizing. Mercury's present zodiacal location is very near the U.S. Pluto in Capricorn, which in the Scorpio Rising horoscope is the ruler of the chart. Pluto in Capricorn represents U.S. force, whether corporate, military, or political.
Any major transit to the U.S. Pluto leads to far-reaching, often historical events. For example, the Persian Gulf War began on January 17, 1991 as transiting Saturn was exactly conjunct Pluto. Mercury's retrograde station near this Pluto infers a major change of plans. Watch over the next week for a variety of manifestations, including changing business, political, and military agendas.
North Korean President Kim Il Jong (February 16, 1942) has the Sun square Uranus in fixed signs, accounting for his belligerent, stubborn behavior. Currently, transiting Uranus in Aquarius is right on his Sun, aggravating any tendency to buck global authority. The most dangerous time frame is January 9, 10, and 11 when Mars squares Uranus, energizing Kim Il Jong into radical action. Simultaneously, we can expect rebellious conflagrations and explosive events across the global village.
Institutional Breakdown in Venezuela
Oil prices rose above $30/barrel last week on war fears in Iraq and the general strike in oil-rich Venezuela which entered its fourth week. Over the last month Venezuela's state-run oil company has lost over $1 billion in revenue due to a national showdown between socialist President Hugo Chavez and his political opponents, a coalition of business owners, labor unions, and oil workers.
Venezuela's national horoscope may be set for its Declaration of Independence on July 5, 1811 (Caracas, Venezuela; time unknown, use noon*). The Sun in Cancer trines Uranus, the planet of independence, and reflects a continental movement away from European colonialism and toward establishing a new home base. However, the Capricorn Moon describes a people accustomed to patriarchal rule and strong authority figures, such as the Catholic Church and military regimes.
Venezuelan institutions have always been under tremendous pressure, a fact that can be measured by its 41 different constitutions created since Independence. Astrologically, the besieged institutional framework is shown by Saturn's weak position. Saturn is challenged by moral issues through its opposition to Jupiter, and frequently gets overthrown by coup or other deep social upheaval, as seen by the square to Pluto.
The recent troubles in Venezuela have coincided with transiting Saturn aligning with Venezuela's natal Saturn-Jupiter-Pluto configuration. President Chavez survived a U.S.-backed military coup on April 12, 2002 (as progressed Mars was conjunct Pluto), but his troubles were just beginning. Transiting Pluto is now entering the same danger zone. The first big hit is this coming week as transiting Pluto squares natal Pluto.
Eve and the Raelians
In a CNN press conference most commonly referred to as "bizarre", Clonaid CEO Brigitte Boisselier announced the birth of the world's first cloned human being, a seven-pound, healthy girl named "Eve". Clonaid was founded by a religious group that believes humanity was genetically engineered by extraterrestrials. The religious group is known as the Raelians, named after their spiritual leader Rael (September 30, 1946; Vichy, France).
Rael's Libra Sun is given a mystical or spiritual bend through its conjunction with ethereal Neptune, a combination which produces a tremendous drive for peace and harmony. The sextile to practical Saturn allows the often unrealistic idealism of Sun-Neptune a creative outlet. Rael was born as Claude Vorihlon, and until the alleged encounter with the ETs in 1973, he fancied race-car driving.
His Mars-Jupiter conjunction in Scorpio describes this penchant for adventurism, but the square to Saturn often manifests as recklessness and impatience. The Sun-Neptune conjunction wants peace and harmony, and the Mars-Jupiter-Saturn combo wants it now. Rael's life was changed forever on December 13, 1973 when he allegedly was first contacted by extraterrestrials.
At the time transiting Pluto was exactly conjunct Rael's Sun, indicating that something profoundly transformative did occur on that day, but whether it was an external event or an internal process the astrologer can't say. Eve was born on December 26, 2002 at 11:55 am (place unknown) with her Sun square Ceres, the asteroid governing the parent-child relationship. Ceres is in the pioneering sign of Aries, exactly aligned with Rael's Sun, marking Eve as the product of Rael's 1973 evolutionary experience.
* Many political astrologers use September 22, 1930 for Venezuela's national horoscope, though this chart shows little correlation to historically important events. Other dates are in use, but the Declaration of Independence works well in practice. For example, note that tertiary progressed (P3) Saturn was exactly, to-the-minute conjunct Pluto on April 12, 2002 during the coup to overthrow Chavez. Also, the progressed (P2) Lunar Return occurred just before the general strike began on December 2. Marc Penfield rectified this Declaration of Independence to 8:47 am AST, giving 17LE56 Leo Rising, which is exactly where transiting Jupiter turned retrograde as the general strike begin. P2 Saturn is now conjunct the 8:47 am Capricorn Moon.
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