April 21, 2003
Pluto Demands an Islamic Iraq
What happens if the Iraqi people, if they are allowed to choose their own leaders and shape their own government, decide to create an Islamic theocracy? Last Friday tens of thousands of Iraqi demonstrators poured into the streets of Baghdad to demand an end to the U.S. presence in their country. Sunnis and Shiites alike clamored for a united Islamic state to replace Saddam's dictatorship.
Iraq's national horoscope (August 23, 1921; 6:00 pm; Baghdad) reflects the current of popular sentiment now challenging the Bush administration's idea for Iraq's future. On Friday, the day these mass protests began, transiting Pluto was forming an exact-to-the minute hard aspect to natal Venus in Cancer. The demonstrations were largely a request for peace in the homeland, which is what Venus (peace) in Cancer (homeland) symbolizes.
Pluto passing through the fourth house of domestic affairs is an indicator for a profound transformation of the nation's infrastructure. Pluto in the fourth house also unearths links to the distant past, and with the connection to Venus, refers to the valuable artifacts looted from the Baghdad National Museum.
Since Pluto is in religious Sagittarius, a return to authoritarian, Islamic rule becomes a popular option for self-governance. Pluto will soon by forming a trine to Iraq's Moon in Aries (exact on May 24), further empowering the people to express their desire for independence from the U.S. presence. All this takes place as the Bush administration prepares to unveil its "road map to peace", the plan to bring democracy to the Middle East, and theoretically, secular governments.
Mars and the Military Industrial Complex
The U.S. Mars, natural ruler of the nation's military affairs, is being activated in a big way over the next month by the progressed Moon*. The progressed Moon is one of the most widely accepted and reliable indicators in making astrological forecasts, and in the U.S. horoscope will be conjunct Mars on May 16. Will it lead to the next war?
In the U.S. Scorpio Rising horoscope, Mars is found in the eighth house of corporations, contracts, and deployable assets. Mars is modified by a square to Neptune, which adds an element of idealism, but also potential scandal. Mars here represents what President Eisenhower called the military-industrial-complex, and includes the world's largest bureaucracy (the Pentagon), and its network of embedded corporate contractors such as Boeing, Bechtel, and Halliburton.
A look at the historical record shows what the progressed Moon conjunct Mars typically brings. The most recent occasion was in February 1976. At the time the media reported that arms manufacturers were making stunning profits while the rest of the country was in recession. Within days of the exact conjunction Lockheed publicly admitted to bribing foreign officials to secure huge military contracts.
The previous cycle occurred in October 1948 when the U.S. military was airlifting tons of supplies into Berlin over a Russian blockade. Then, one cycle before that was in June 1921, and featured the presentation of a $33 billion war debt Germany owed the Allies. In each case we can see that huge military contracts and finances are what the U.S. Mars is most about. From this, we can tell that the current astro-event is about the restructuring process in Iraq, and will bring lucrative, potentially scandalous projects to the Pentagon's corporate contractors.
Madonna Takes on Motherhood, Marriage, and the Kabbalah
Even though Madonna's latest movie "Swept Away" was a flop, she remains cozy with her director husband Guy Ritchie. The two share a mansion in Beverly Hills, a 1,200-acre estate in England, two children, creative projects, and an enduring interest in the Kabbalah. The relative stability is a departure for Madonna, who in the past changed boyfriends as easily as hairstyles.
Madonna was born a dramatic Leo (August 16, 1958; 7:05 am; Bay City, MI) with a Ceres-Moon conjunction on her Virgo Ascendant to emphasize her image as "madonna", and as an actual mother. Of course Madonna is anything but the virginal image traditional religion associates with the madonna archetype. For this we can thank her Mars-Uranus square, a combination that thrives on flaunting an unconventional lifestyle.
Guy Ritchie was born on September 10, 1968 with his Virgo Sun conjunct easy-going Jupiter. These two planets are favorably aligned with Madonna's Virgo planets, and represent one of several dynamic links between their two charts. Also, his Mars is conjunct her Sun, so that he promotes her star quality. Her Saturn squares his Sun, making her the boss, the dominant partner.
At the moment transiting Pluto is forming a long-term conjunction with her Saturn in religious Sagittarius. At the same time, transiting Pluto squares his Sun, giving rise to some serious control issues. However, Pluto here is also allowing Madonna to re-invent herself as an advocate of the Kabbalah, which as she says will be "the glue that holds us together."
* The progressed Moon advances at the rate of about one degree per month, and makes one complete cycle around the zodiac in about 27 years. This is #4 on the top 5 astro-events list for the first half of 2003. See NewsScope January 6, 2003 for more info.
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