October 27, 2003
Saturn and the Long, Hard Slog
The eternally optimistic Donald Rumsfeld sent out a memo last week saying that the war in Iraq will be a "long, hard, slog". The strategically leaked memo was meant to counter a growing suspicion among Americans that the Bush administration was being unrealistically rosy. Meanwhile, Saddam loyalists dramatically stepped up their attacks on the American troops based in the Sunni Triangle.
Astrologers know that Saturn tends toward the bleak, hard-nosed view of events, and developments last week certainly reflected transiting Saturn's conjunction with the U.S. Sun. At the international donor's conference in Madrid, American officials issued appropriately low expectations for meeting their financial goals to reconstruct Iraq. Saturn's cautious approach paid off, as international pledges topped $13 billion.
Saturn's transit to the U.S. Sun can be likened to a celestial checkpoint, a kind of astrological State of the Union message. Saturn's emphasis on slow growth found resonance in the major stock market indexes which reached 18 month highs based on improved corporate earnings. Now, as Saturn turns retrograde on the U.S. Sun we might expect a correction phase as investors take profits and make sure that prices haven't risen above the fundamentals.
Saturn will return to this degree area in June 2004, and so all assessments made now are of the "wait and see" variety. International donors won't pony up funds for Iraq until the situation on the ground is secure. President Bush's foray into international relations was perfectly timed (see NewsScope June 30 and February 17), though whether opinion remains in his corner will be tested when Saturn returns to this area at the height of the election season.
The Astrology of Obesity
As transiting Saturn arrived on the U.S. Sun, a flurry of studies were released warning that Americans of all ages are becoming more overweight and obese. The Sun, representing the nation's vitality and well-being, is under the watchful, critical eye of Saturn, and the usual suspects - a lack of exercise and poor eating habits, were quickly targeted by school and health task forces.
While environmental and genetic forces have an undeniable influence over excessive body weight, the astrologically-minded might want to look into the more metaphysical reasons for putting on pounds. Astrologer Donna Cunningham in her book The Moon in Your Life describes compulsive overeating as a response to emotional stress, and specifically to the Moon's conditions or planets in Cancer which thrive on the feeling of belonging.
At the beginning of life food and companionship are the same, and so one can substitute for the other. When relationships go stagnant or feel empty, and repressed rage or repressed sexuality is also factored in, overeating becomes a defense mechanism against loneliness. Food fills the void of feeling emotionally starved, but can never satisfy what is really missing.
One's Moon and Cancerian planets can help illuminate healthy ways to find emotional nourishment. Primarily, it means building more satisfying personal relationships. Now, as transiting Saturn in Cancer is challenging the American sense of well-being (conjunct the U.S. Sun), the goal of building more honest and fulfilling family relationships can become a practical, weight-reducing program.
The Conspiracy to Kill Princess Diana
In a stunning letter written ten months before she died, Princess Diana expressed her fear of being assassinated. The handwritten note was addressed to her confidante Paul Burrell, who released a censored version last week, and which said in part, "XXXX is planning an accident in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for Charles to marry."
Princess Diana was born with the restless, wandering sign of Sagittarius Rising (July 1, 1961; 7:45 pm*; Sandringham, UK). Her broad appeal in the U.S. can be seen in her Sun and Moon positions, which are in Cancer and Aquarius, just as in the U.S. horoscope. Her Neptune is exactly conjunct the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant, so that she personifies the mystique and allure Americans expect in a princess.
The tell-tale letter was written in October 1996 as transiting Pluto had just entered Sagittarius and was squaring her natal Mars. Pluto to Mars often manifests as enemy action, and since Pluto was heading into her twelfth house of hidden enemies, she was justifiably paranoid. At the moment of her fatal car accident on August 31, 1997 transiting Pluto was just past squaring her Mars and entering her twelfth house.
Why did Paul Burrell (b. June 8, 1958) wait until now to reveal this prescient letter? Transiting Pluto has been edging its way through Diana's twelfth house for the last six years, as whispers of a conspiracy were roundly pooh-poohed by authorities, but would not go away. Now transiting Pluto has arrived on Diana's Ascendant as it opposes Burrell's Sun, bringing to light their close relationship and its murky, taboo secrets.
* Astrologers debate her exact birth time, though Liz Greene and others have made a solid case for 7:45 pm, and this is the time used here.
Data corrections: last week's birth data for Mother Theresa is controversial, and rated C. It may be based on her baptism rather than her birth, which other sources cite as August 26, 1910.
Also, thanks to NewsScope reader Alixx for pointing out the Halle Berry feature in the November 2003 Ladies Home Journal. The article makes it clear that she was born on August 14, 1966 at 11:59 pm (Cleveland). Stay tuned for an update on this horoscope.
