October 20, 2003

God and Country

A senior Pentagon official, who is also a re-born Christian, issued an apology last week for many controversial remarks he made about Islam, including the provocative statement that the Bush administration's war on terrorism is a conflict between Christianity and Islam. Muslim diplomats were enraged by Lt. Gen. William Boykin's comments, and openly questioned his position as the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary for intelligence.

Transiting Saturn is now very close to the U.S. Sun, and turns retrograde this coming Saturday (October 25) while exactly conjunct the Sun. This powerful alignment represents an important, historical turning point for the nation and its leaders as symbolized by the Sun. In the Scorpio Rising U.S. horoscope the Sun is in the ninth house of religion and foreign policy, areas now in a crucial testing phase.

To be successful, Saturn requires persistent, hard work. Last week under Colin Powell's leadership the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved the U.S. reconstruction plans for Iraq, a major breakthrough in international relations. In the religion department, the Supreme Court will decide if school children may pledge of allegiance to "one nation under God", and General Boykin's retraction is a timely retreat in face of Saturn's discipline.

As Saturn heads into its retrograde phase, the armchair astrologer will note critical juxtapositions between the nation's religious and political trends. Other examples: last week reports that Pope John Paul II's health is rapidly failing represents an important change for American Catholics. In Iraq the provisional government is forming an Islamic Republic, a development likely to rankle Christian fundamentalists, and fodder for intense debate.

The Saintly Mother Theresa

On Sunday the Vatican beatified Mother Theresa (August 27, 1910; 2:25 pm; Skopje, Yugoslavia), moving her one step closer to sainthood. The Vatican's saint-making department said the withered nun from Calcutta possessed heroic virtues for her services to the poor and homeless. Mother Theresa died in 1997, and then was put on the holy fast track to sainthood, a process that usually takes many years.

Mother Theresa was born a duty-conscious Virgo with her Moon in the sixth house of work, a combination that easily falls into a workaholic mindset. With the religious sign of Sagittarius Rising, Jupiter becomes the ruler of her horoscope. Jupiter is found in the ninth house of religion, along with her Mercury and Mars, underscoring this sector as a major life emphasis.

Her image as a pioneering mother figure is perfectly depicted by the Great Mother asteroid Ceres, which is in the adventurous sign of Aries, and is prominently placed by being conjunct her fourth house cusp. Ceres here represents the sanctuary she gave to the homeless, and the personal care she gave to the unwanted and unloved.

Neptune is also prominently placed in Mother Theresa's chart by squaring Ceres and the Midheaven. Neptune issues are frequently about abandonment, and an endless yearning for spiritual union. Since Neptune is in the seventh house of others, she most often dealt with abandoned souls and social outcasts. But Mother Theresa herself often felt abandoned by God, as her private writings* are now revealing.

Joss Stone, Soul Arises in the Strangest Places

Does a singer have to be black to have soul? When record producer Betty Wright played some deeply soulful tracks from Joss Stone to some all-star Miami musicians, she asked them to imagine what the singer looked like. They described her as being black, and that to have a voice like that she must be a large woman, maybe 300 pounds, and 30 or 40 years old.

Actually, Joss Stone is a skinny white teenager from Devon, England, and born under the serious sign of Capricorn (January 1, 1987; time unknown). Although only 16, Joss has a powerful voice and stage presence that belies her youth and ethnic background. Her Sun forms close aspects to the outer planets Neptune and Pluto, indicating that she can act as a channel for the collective in some way.

Joss has her Venus in sexy Scorpio favorably trine Mars in sensitive Pisces, adding tremendous charisma to her presentation. At five feet ten inches with long blond hair, she looks more like a pop queen than a soul singer. The strong Neptune influence (which is also conjunct Mercury) shows that appearances can be deceiving.

Joss won a British talent contest when she was 14 as transiting Saturn opposed her natal Saturn. Last month her debut CD "The Soul Sessions" was released as Saturn opposed her Sun. This young star knows how to work with Saturn, the taskmaster, as it has brought her the unexpected challenge of managing her own extraordinary talent. Saturn often represents older people, and she's become successful by working with the 1970s soul masters.


* For example: "I am told that God lives in me – and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul." Or, "I feel just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing."
-from Richard Ostling, AP 10/18/2003.