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For the week of November 16, 1998

NewsScope

by WolfStar

 The Saturn-Pluto Cycle of Power
For the second time this year, the Pentagon has spent $1.5 billion in sending troops and high-tech firepower to the Gulf, hoping to end Saddam Hussein’s defiance of U.N. inspections. Once again, Saddam backed down at the last minute.

Astrologically, this crisis does not appear to be over. Saturn is now 90 degrees (square) to the U.S. Pluto, a developmental phase always significant in geopolitics. The cycle begins with the conjunction of Saturn to the U.S. Pluto, and about every seven years forms a dynamic angle to this starting point. Saturn was exactly conjunct the U.S. Pluto on January 17, 1991 when U.S. troops began Operation Desert Storm.

Saturn is within effective range of squaring Pluto from now through late January, an extended phase which describes a celestial climate filled with ultimatums, power plays, and hardball politics.

This Saturn-Pluto cycle has been in effect since the U.S. emerged as a global superpower in World War II, and marks some of the boldest exercises of American military and political willpower against perceived enemies. The previous hard Saturn aspect to the U.S. Pluto witnessed the birth of Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars program in 1982.

The earlier Saturn-Pluto conjunction (the strongest link) before the Persian Gulf War occurred during the bungled 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion under JFK. This Saturn-Pluto cycle reflects a learning curve on how the U.S. expresses its military and political clout in the global village.

Saturn and Public Health
Saturn’s square to the U.S. Pluto has an immense impact on domestic politics. These two planets in tense aspect represent the struggle for dominance in every sector of American life, but is especially significant in 6th house* affairs, where Saturn is currently transiting.

In addition to the armed forces, the sixth house governs public health issues. Saturn has spent the last 16 months in this house, during which time the tobacco industry has grappled with a conclusive settlement of the many current and potential lawsuits on the table. Now that Saturn is forming its square to the U.S. Pluto, the four top tobacco companies have finally reached an agreement, which they are expected to announce this week.

The U.S. sixth house is tenanted by Chiron, known to govern so-called alternative health remedies. Since Saturn entered the sixth house, alternative medicine has come under intense scrutiny by the protectors of American health. Congress sent an initial $20 million grant to the National Institutes of Health to study alternatives, and the results were favorable enough to justify a $50 million grant under the most recent budget deal.

Over the past week JAMA, the most prestigious American medical journal, has been publishing results on the effectiveness of common herbal therapies, such as Echinacea and St. John’s Wort. To the medical establishment’s surprise, some of these herbs work very well, but some don’t at all. In complete accord with the reality testing function of Saturn, JAMA’s editor stated that “There is no alternative medicine. Treatments either work or they don’t.”

 Saddam's Reign
While the current military crisis in Iraq seems momentarily defused, the CIA has recently been given $100 million to covertly organize and arm Saddam Hussein’s many enemies. A coalition of Kurds, Shi-ites, and other opposition parties is now preparing for a post-Saddam regime.

Saddam Hussein (b. April 28, 1937; 8:55 am BAT; Tikrit, Iraq) is the perfect tyrant. His Sun-Uranus conjunction in Taurus straddles the U.S. Descendant (the cusp of the seventh house of Open Enemies), making him the ideal personification of evil. Then, his Jupiter-Pluto opposition is in the same zodiacal location as the U.S. Mercury-Pluto so that when American power (Pluto) is poised for action, Saddam is most likely seizing opportunities (Jupiter) for his own advancement.

The cat-and-mouse game played between Saddam and the Pentagon has a distinct astrological ebb and flow. When Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, transiting Jupiter was exactly conjunct his natal Pluto. When Saturn hit this same axis in January 1991, the cat attacked, and the Gulf War ended. Advance and retreat, Jupiter and Saturn.

The latest opportunity for creating an international spectacle occurred when transiting Jupiter was right on Saddam’s Midheaven. He achieved his objective of publicizing the harsh economic sanctions against his people. Now that Saturn is heading into Saddam’s critical Jupiter-Pluto axis, his punishment is not yet completed. Saturn still has another two months of strict enforcement, and while the U.S. armada is on hold, the covert ops are stepping forward.

* The sixth house, according to a Scorpio Ascendant for the U.S. horoscope. Reader feedback is welcome. Email: [email protected]

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