January 13, 2003
North Korea and Iraq, U.S. Fighting Two Wars
North Korea called for a holy war against the United States over the weekend, and declared it was ready to resume missile tests and start producing plutonium from its nuclear reactor to make atomic bombs. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered 62,000 more troops deployed in the Persian Gulf while U.N. inspectors complained that Iraq is resisting their efforts to interview key scientists.
From an astrological perspective, these twin developments correspond to the activation of the U.S. Mars, found in Gemini, the sign of the twins. The U.S. Mars in Gemini naturally generates a policy of being able to fight wars on two fronts. Last December Rumsfeld confirmed the Pentagon (July 26, 1947) was ready and willing to confront both Iraq and North Korea as transiting Pluto was opposing the Pentagon's Mars, also found in Gemini.
Transiting Saturn is now retrograding through Gemini as it nears a conjunction with the U.S. Mars, and a square to the U.S. Neptune. The nation's Mars-Neptune square is a dynamic configuration that begins fighting for idealistic reasons, but has a tendency to get bogged down in illusions or misguided plans. Saturn, the taskmaster, tests whether the U.S. can in fact take on two "evil" states.
Saturn doesn't quite conjoin with the U.S. Mars before it turns direct on February 22, but it does spend the entire month of February and most of March in a close square to Neptune. The planet to watch for major military confrontations is Pluto, which will soon be entering the U.S. Mars-Neptune zone. The Korean War is the best example since transiting Pluto was exactly conjunct the U.S. Midheaven when North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.
State Budget Crisis Deepens
Last Tuesday President Bush proposed a $670 billion tax economic stimulus plan that did not directly address the budget crisis faced by most of the nation's individual states. While Bush said that improving the economy would bring in more state revenue, many state governors called for more immediate relief rather than be forced to hike taxes or cut vital services.
While the states are in their worst fiscal crisis in half a century, California (September 9, 1850; San Jose; time unknown) is by far in the worst shape with a staggering $38.9 billion deficit racked up over the last 18 months alone. California's Virgo Sun was pinched by the Saturn-Pluto opposition over the last two years, as the dot-com bust sent state revenues plummeting.
Governor Gray Davis is proposing an austere $96 billion budget plan to try and get through the budget crisis. Austerity is one of Saturn's keywords, and Saturn is now forming an exact link to California's fiscally responsible Virgo Sun*. Taxes are going up dramatically, fees levied, social and health services cut, and financial burdens are being shifted to the cities and counties.
Will it work? California has Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto all in the last degree of their signs. Transiting Saturn passes through 29 degrees Gemini in late May, keeping the pressure on through then. Transiting Uranus will be back and forth across 29 degrees Aquarius throughout 2003, insuring that conditions there remain in a fiscal crisis situation. And as California goes, so goes the nation.
Catherine Zeta-Jones' Balancing Act
On January 19 the Golden Globe Awards will be handed out, and it's a cinch that "Chicago" will be the most decorated film. Critics and audiences alike are heaping praise on the musical, and especially for its top star Catherine Zeta-Jones who plays the diabolical diva Velma. Zeta-Jones, who is now five months pregnant, thrilled viewers with her blistering performance of the film's opening number "All That Jazz".
Catherine Zeta Jones was born with her Sun conjunct Uranus in the partnership sign of Libra (September 25, 1969; 2:40 pm; Swansea, Wales), indicating that she would tend toward the unusual or unconventional in her relationships. Her husband, Michael Douglas, was born on the same day (September 25) but 25 years earlier, and their age difference qualifies as being unusual.
Zeta-Jones' second child is due in April. According to traditional astrological measurements, the transit of Saturn squaring her Moon is the marker, and points to a time of increased responsibility. However, a glimpse at her Ceres, the asteroid associated with parenting, reveals more fulfilling and enjoyable changes (progressed Ascendant is conjunct Ceres in April, and progressed Ceres is trine her Sun).
Saturn's transit also points to a time of increased stress with her husband, since it's in her seventh house of partners. This may become public around the time Saturn turns direct on February 22, right on her Descendant. Saturn then heads into Cancer where it will oppose her Mars and square both his and her Libra Sun by late June. Saturn is testing whether she can balance motherhood, superstardom, and marriage.
* California's birth time is unknown, although sources indicate the Bill of Admission was signed shortly before the President went to lunch. Anywhere between 10 am and noon is reasonable, and puts the Sun at somewhere between 16VI40 to 16VI45. California's progressed Saturn is now at 16AR40, exactly inconjunct the California Sun.
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