May 27, 2006
It was a New Moon in Gemini last night as we begin a new monthly cycle of energy, only this time it’s mental. With the square it makes to Uranus, it can cause things to go really screwy and wacky, taking unpredictable turns and twists in directions you don’t expect. It can make you crazy, have accidents, breakup with someone or quit something. Changes may seem very challenging, yet are just what you need now. The third sign of the zodiac is about ideas and communicating them in a variety of different ways. My own chart as an illustration is a perfect case in point. I have Virgo on the cusp of the third house and Saturn in Libra in there, which rules the 6th house, Virgo’s house. I should have been a doctor, but I hated the confines and constraints of school. I can use the chart to diagnose as the equal of House and without so many mis-steps. So in the 6th house is my Chiron in Capricorn, square Saturn, causing problems with my knees and hips, as Saturn rules the knees and Libra rules the hips. No prolotherapy for my hip, the doctor says. I need a (gulp) hip-replacement surgery. Oy! I suspected as such for a while now, though, so I was prepared…another attribute of Saturn.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, we went from having a blast in Bali to meeting my siblings in Vegas and going to see Erocktica, a topless review with rock music sung live. It objectified the women in a way natural to Vegas. I have coined a new term for the many tourists of Las Vegas – Quadraddictives. You see them sitting there at the slot machine, mesmerized by the glowing, spinning colored lighted things, drinking something alcoholic and smoking some tobacco of sorts, having just returned from the buffet where they had eaten for breakfast and dinner the night before. These are those who render unto Caesar what is property of Caesar’s Palace. So tied into the material that no matter what they profess to have as a faith, they are the godless ones.

New Moon in Gemini, time to think, to talk, write and plan the next phase. In the 5th, it’s good for writing and painting.
Gemini Moon and Mercury square Uranus and it causes temporary insanity because there is a repeating of things that don’t work. There may be accidents with food or slips of the tongue, although slipping on some tongue in a deli might be a little less likely.
Venus just past a trine to Pluto has exposed some new revelations of corruption in high places and it may finally benefit the people to find out who did it and what is going on. This is the satisfaction of the Ken Lay trial and the Rove soon-to-be indictment.
Mars inconjunct Pluto is unresolved anger and intense desire to express some kind of passion. It could be sexual or a dark mood of some sort but it operates deeply beneath the surface and it’s hard to openly determine the cause. It could also be a high death rate for a few days, especially from firearms and violence.
Venus approaching a square to Saturn may lead to frustrations over money or material gain, as well as straining relationships with demands and control issues. Don’t take it too personally, as it’s affecting everyone. It’s also the economic pinch of things costing more but you aren’t making more, so you decline in assets and increase in debts. On the relationship side, it’s frustrating when people don’t know how to love or have had no experience with it, so they don’t understand what it is when it comes along. There’s also a fear factor, which cautions one to be slow to open up and reveal anything.

Mercury trine Neptune could be the Spiritual Word that flows like honey from the hive. In the nature of the Gemini duality, there are multiple ways in which the word can be expressed or communicated, just as there are many different languages on this world and many dialects within those languages. There are also many ways in which to interpret different idioms, concepts, thoughts, ideas or messages. The sheer variety of meanings can contribute to the ease with which we can be deceived and confused. You mis-undertake my meaning.
In the beginning there was the word and the word was of God and the word was God and God almighty, what has happened to the power of the word? Religions have bent it out of shape so severely that it’s impossible to recognize the real message. They, like politicians, have made fund-raising and getting the political message out so important that they have forgotten that their true message is so completely opposite what they stand for. As I was re-reading the Essene Gospel of Peace, I was struck by the truth of the word. In the Ten Commandments, the first is to love the lord God and have no others and make no graven images of Him, all of which have been violated by the Church built upon his name. The second commandment he gave was to love they neighbor as thy self. If you did that, the rest are irrelevant because from love, you would consider your relationship and interdependence with all that is. You have animal neighbors as well as human. And when I talk about love thy neighbor, it isn’t the lustful and carnal nature of love I’m talking about. You really shouldn’t shit where you eat.

I want to talk about the Gemini nature of free speech and how it seems to have lost its inherent power in American Life. It used to be that you could say what you wanted whether the president was speaking there or not. Now, in order to hear Bush speak in a small venue, you have to sign a loyalty oath and have no message opposing the president in any way. If you oppose him, they put you in a fenced up enclosure called a free speech zone. Dissent made this country what it is and that is all disappearing now. This nation is becoming a totalitarian state of Gestapo and KGB-like tactics, wherein the leader of the free world has declared war on all forms of evil, except his own reflection. There are wars being fought against things, not people that have and will continue to drain our resources and result in little or nothing good. These are the wars on terrorism and drugs. On what fronts have we secured a stable foothold? The alleged war in Afghanistan is an organized retreat and Iraq is a civil war with us as the dual target and policeman. The war on drugs is a scam to hide armed robbery and mount counter-socialist coups as there has been no abatement of the flow of drugs from South and Central America. Peruvians need the coca leaves to endure the environment and the altitude.
<El Condor Pasa – S & G>

Whatever happened to the war on poverty? We must have run out of money for that one. If you think you’re broke, it stays broke. There was a war on ignorance, until it was elected into the White House. Excuse me, selected by the Supreme Court, since he lost the election. That is the turning point in the time-space continuum, as history will show. It will be known as the Oil War and the Secret Government. There was always an agenda to go into Iraq and take out Saddam and as much of the oil as they could pump before an overwhelming insurrection would cripple them. I’ve talked about the PNAC and the Neocons involved before, so I would refer you to look for yourself. It’s all about the oil and nothing else, hence the shifting reasons for invasion in revisionist terms. WMD’s? No, we went there for the freeing of the Iraqi people. Did they ask us to make their lives worse? No, they didn’t. Am I talking like Rumsfeld? Could be! Some local people in Taos, NM, declared war on him moving into their neighborhood and forced him to sell off his ranch he had just bought.

There is also a war on free speech that began in the last decade but has accelerated to an unbelievable degree. It has become a war against truth and justice as well as the American way of thought and life. This is a nation of immigrants who came here to flee the persecution and narrow constraints of their national religion. So now they set up their own sect that developed into an intolerant and arrogant religion that seeks to define God and His truth in their own way. That should be everybody’s right, anyway, with no religion ramming their brand of theology down a person’s throat. If you look at what the RRR has been doing, one piece at a time, is trying to marginalize and disenfranchise minorities and other perceived undesirable groups. This is very close to what Hitler did in the 30’s before his “Final Solution” in the form of death camps. Gitmo and Abu Ghraib might be the modern equivalent, however. How much a real threat are gays, whether they marry or adopt, if they offer a good and loving home, shouldn’t that be enough? These wedge issues are an election year attempt to distract people and politicians from what really needs to be resolved; the high price of gas and the massive government/corporate hybrid that’s controlling our lives. Big Brother is now sponsored by Halliburton, because they need the money and Halliburton stole plenty of it in Iraq.

The chart for today has Leo rising with Saturn on the ASC in the 12th house, such an illustration of the secret government police wanting to put people in prison and keep them there with no rights. The square to Jupiter approaches and will hit next month, as congressional people are up in arms at the raid on the office of Rep. William Jefferson by the FBI. Is it because he’s a Black Democrat who is accused of taking bribes? Because they didn’t raid DeLay or Cunningham’s offices, so it has to be a racial profiling thing, as I would expect it from these bastards. Bill’s been in congress for 15 years and has an influential seat on the Ways and Means committee and that means power and connections. Abuse of the public’s trust and welfare is one reason bribes are so prevalent in Washington but is the guy really so naive as to stash 90 G’s in the freeze? Jeez! It sounds like a sting operation and they didn’t really have enough evidence so they planted it…I really don’t know, but what we had was a virtual storming of the Bastille, so that it is time to really rise up against an unfolding police state. You do it politically and elect politicians who are of the people, not the big money. Good luck to us all trying to find them.

Power abuse is the greatest sin against liberty and those who stand by watching without acting or speaking up are almost as guilty as the assholes who are committing the crimes. These would be the Neo Cons, who have been operating with an agenda since the times of Nixon in the middle of the last century. They have merged with various inter-related industries and their lobbies are very powerful. The money behind the power is fueled by the oil and gas industries as well as the Coal and Nuclear industries. You might remember Cheney’s secret energy meeting and who was there was never revealed, having claimed executive privilege. Congress has let him slide and as his ratings have followed suit, it should be investigated. We should have it laid out to the world that these guys came in prepared to go to war against Iraq one way or the other. It’s time for the checks and balances against the administration running away with all the control be checked like a hockey player and bashed into the boards to be examined in the clear light of day. Why is it the most secretive administration in history? Because if anyone knew what they were really doing, they would be busted in a heartbeat and impeached, drawn and quartered, then shot as traitors. It’s only fair and maybe it’s Laura who drove Bush nuts because she is a two pack-a-day smoker, I heard, which is another industry giant hand-in-iron-fist with the president and his peeps.

Laura is a Scorpio and in true self-destructive fashion, she is killing herself gently with every puff she takes, just as you who also smoke tobacco are doing. It could be the Sun/Jupiter square to Saturn/Pluto and it would make perfect sense, since it has to do with overcompensating for sexual incursions by older men when she was young. She has Moon in Pisces square Mercury in Sag on the South Node and Venus retrograde right there, too. Moon inconjunct Neptune is the enabler and the redeemer in one, but it’s also blind and confused faith, too. Addiction, escapism, a Pollyanna approach to problems and other inabilities to deal with truth and reality are the reason she can sleep at night, unless her father-in-law has provided her with a lifetime supply of Prozac and a sleeping drug, too. I believe she got a bunch of preaching to while growing up in Midland, since they didn’t have any real culture out there on the plains of West Texas. I’m not sure how she can live with herself knowing what hypocrites she and her husband are regarding education and the welfare of our fellow countrymen. He finally admits that saying ‘bring ‘em on’ or ‘wanted dead or alive’ sent to wrong message. What would you think would happen when you put an alcoholic drug addict behind the desk of the most powerful nation on the planet? This is the crash that people drive by very slowly and shake their head at the sheer awesome stupidity of the driver. There are people all over the world who can’t believe we re-elected the dodo and many in this country who know that both elections were stolen.

The Senate has passed the immigration bill but all they had to do was enforce the laws that were already on the books and this would have been unnecessary. Now it goes to the House and they want tougher punishment and no path to citizenship. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is a Capricorn with Jupiter in Gemini in a square to the karmic indicators, the nodes. His chart is not actually very powerful, so when the FBI raided a congressman’s office, he wanted to be sure he wasn’t going to be next, not that he has anything to hide. I mean, his Venus square Saturn suggest that he’s very worried about the money; where it came from and where it went; bribes and hookers may be the answers. He’s probably not as fundamentalist as some of his pals, but he’s bowed to them more than a few times. Hastert is feeling a bit like the German people after Hitler wiped out the Gypsies and the Jews from Germany and started coming after them. If you make a deal with the devil, you’ve already lost your soul. He’s gotten a rude awakening and don’t be surprised if he changes his tune about some of the things that come up for a vote. It’s the majority leader, John Boehner, who gets these bills to a vote, and he’s in the DeLay camp. He’s a Scorpio with Neptune on the South Node with a close conjunction of the Moon. So he has no understanding or compassion for other people, especially with a different skin color or religion. It would be a better world if we had a lot more understanding of each other. Imagine that.
<Imagine>

I’m telling you, the very thing that unified this country early on is the thing that’s tearing it apart. In the beginning, we were a nation of many different kinds of religions that were thrown out of Europe after the inquisition and this was a refuge from religious persecution. We were tolerant of each other because circumstances made us bond together in a spirit of cooperation and mutual acceptance. The RRR has polarized our country from within as they have singled out different groups to attack. Since the 70’s, it has been an anti-gay, anti-abortion agenda. In the 80’s it was anti-union. The 90’s it was anti-Clinton. Now it’s become anti-immigrant and they have no idea what they are unleashing. It will greatly burden an already over-loaded bureaucracy that will be under-funded and over-taxed, all while finding no revenue to support it. You have to get over this concept of a White Christian America because it started off as the Red Man who lived here for a long time until the Whites invaded and occupied it and then they brought over the Black people from Africa and followed a couple of centuries later with Yellow people from China. Now we have the perceived invasion of Brown people from south of the border after another Brown people from Iran and other Arab nations began arriving in the late 70’s and early 80’s. There are more different nationalities and religious sects living in LA or NY than in almost any country in the world. Until those Nazis in Washington get a clue that this as a melting pot country as it has always been, they should never be allowed to vote on anything. Maybe we citizens need to school our representatives in town meetings a lot more and see if they really know what this country is all about and if they adhere to its principles.

Kenny Boy Lay and Jeffrey Skilling who both made a killing on energy rip-offs are now going to spend the rest of their lives in the federal pen. Lay is an arrogant Aries, with Sun/Moon and Mercury all conjunct plus the fact that Venus in Pisces is on the South Node, so has no compassion for others and no understanding of their financial hardships, perhaps even to the point of wanting to deceive those people and steal their money. Aha, so this is an aspect of larceny. But I had a very dear friend who has that aspect, except that she’s a Capricorn and a far more responsible person. I think the heart of his problem is the corruption and soul destruction that selfish obsession has on a person who has the luminaries both square Pluto. A profile of Kenny Boy can be found on my web site, Leofish.com on the PDB, Political Dart Board.

<Newsmakers and Earthshakers>
5-27-68 Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell are two soon-to-be hall of fame 1st basemen born on the same day and year. With 5 planets in Gemini, you can bet quickness of eye, mind and hands, arms and shoulders, all things Gemini, are well integrated into their being. Mercury sextile Jupiter in Leo is an excellent athletic aspect, as it takes the outdoors of the Jupiterian wide-open spaces and combines it with the intellectual interactivity necessary to play a game with other people. Mercury square Uranus is the intermittent injury that plagues many professional athletes. Moon and Mars square Pluto can make for explosive emotions and a temper that can erupt violently. Imagine a volcano that lies dormant for a long time and then starts spewing all manner of shit. But with Saturn on the Aries North Node, that fiery blast happens at the plate due to the discipline and patience they were taught by beneficial mentors and teachers, given Chiron sextile the Sun/Venus. Venus is square Jupiter causing high expectations, which are enabled by Neptune opposing Venus, so he attracts glamorous women who need rescuing. The Saturn/North Node conjunction in the 7th house led to his marriage, and Saturn rules the 5th of children, so he’s proud of his kids, too. He has Virgo rising with Uranus on the ASC, giving him a strongly athletic-oriented work ethic and a high degree of self-criticism, expecting perfection of himself. I still have his rookie card along with that of Frank Thomas and believe they will be worth some money in the future.
5-27-44 Senator Chris Dodd D-CT He has four planets in Leo, explaining his compelling interest in the betterment of children’s lives. Sun and Venus trine Neptune, revealing his compassion and wish to help the disenfranchised.

5-28 John Fogarty, from Credence Clearwater Revival, has his birthday tomorrow and his chart has Saturn exactly on his North Node. This would suggest that he came into this life with the intent to manifest goals in order to evolve. He’s an inventive guy, with Sun conjunct Uranus, always reinventing himself, and with a sextile that they make to Pluto, intensifying his desire to transform his life. His Mercury exactly trines Jupiter, giving innate wisdom and humor as well as making for a good storyteller. The Moon in Sag is adventurous and travels a lot and the trine to Venus and Mars conjoined in Aries made for getting it on with a whole lot of groupies regularly. The Sun/Uranus trine Neptune is the natural musician and performer, as it allows the ego to express the poetic imagination and rhythmic impulses it needs to perform. The Moon square Chiron shows the emotional wound that drives many creative artists to suffer for their art and experience the pain of the process.

5-28 is the birthday of the legendary athlete, Jim Thorpe, who won an Olympic Gold Medal in Ballroom Dancing, of all things. He had careers in Football and Baseball and probably could have played basketball, had it been a pro sport in his day. His chart shows his competitive drive with Moon in Leo on the North Node, for his courage and talent and he had his Sun/Mercury/Pluto conjunction trine Uranus, giving him superlative eye-hand coordination, and rhythmic agility, so he could have been a good juggler. There is also power there with the Pluto on his Sun. Mars conjunct Neptune made for the fluid energy that helps a dancer but is also excellent for an athlete but Pluto is on that, increasing the intensity. In fact, these five planets comprise a Taurus/Gemini Stellium. No squares, but the Mars/Neptune forms an inconjunct to Jupiter, so he felt he had to be better than everyone else, owing to his humble Native American status at a time when Indians were still scorned, for the most part.

5-29 JFK and Annette Benning celebrate birthdays Monday, so let’s look at their charts today. Kennedy was the second of four brothers with political futures laid out by their father, Joe. Junior died in WWII and John was almost lost at sea, but went on to be the most influential president in the second half of the 20th century, or would have been had he not been assassinated. His Libra rising is common to the other Democrat populists, Carter and Clinton, comprising the charming trio of Democratic presidents. His Gemini Sun and Venus are in the 8th house along with his Mercury and Jupiter, so if you think Clinton’s Moon in the 8th was bad enough, there may have been a Marilyn-gate had he survived…but he wasn’t going to be allowed to survive. That’s why there were three gunmen in Dealy Plaza on that November day, just in case.

Kennedy had his Moon in Virgo in the 11th house, hence his sensitivity toward humanitarian causes but it squared his Venus, so his personal relationships were difficult, as he see-sawed back and forth between factions and opposing forces, attractions and flirtations. His loyalties could be called into question regarding commitment in intimate relationships, with the scheming and con jobs he had to pull to bullshit his way past Jackie’s Leo but she was screwing around, too. It was the swinging 60’s, after all and they were the leaders of the pack. They helped liberate American culture and society. Her Mars right on his Moon and her Venus conjoining his are reason enough for a relationship but his Mars on her North Node and her Jupiter on his Sun made things a lot better, though Mars put a bullet in his brain. His Taurus stellium of Mercury Jupiter and Mars made for his quick wit and the square to Uranus made shit up to throw reporters off the scent of the reality, just like the liars in today’s political cesspool. His Chiron in the 6th shows him suffering from chronic pain and Neptune in Leo, conjoining Saturn in the 10th, made his pain involve the spinal column as a result of injuries sustained in the war and playing sports. His Mercury/Jupiter square to Pallas indicates diplomacy to be a challenge and he found that out the hard way and he wasn’t really lacking in appreciation of the arts, as the aspect might infer. Jackie made up for any disinterest by getting some of the greatest musicians to play in the White House. The Uranus square to his Taurus Mars in the 7th is the radical group of CIA/Right Wing Cubans that Nixon authorized and was carried out by another former president. The death chart shows it all and by November 22nd, I’ll have the whole forensic astrology analysis laid out for you to read on my web site.

Annette Benning is the actress married to Warren Beatty, but she has talent in her own right, as instincts are powerfully strong with the Moon/Neptune conjunction in Scorpio. Her attraction to older guys is likely her Venus in Aries (Warren is an Aries) trine to Saturn in Sag and Pluto in Leo. Her Sun exactly sextile to Uranus in Leo is her inventiveness, originating a unique character, while on the other side, Mercury in Taurus is square Chiron, so she may have had to overcome some speech problem. Venus near the Taurus South Node opposes Jupiter in Libra and the Moon/Neptune in earliest Scorpio, all of which indicates some heavy relationship karma. Well, with Mars in Pisces square Saturn, it could be fear of authority figures. Hmm, didn’t Annette play the girlfriend of Michael Douglas’s The American President? Yes, she did and the next year, she was the First Lady in Mars Attacks. She played opposite Warren in two movies, Bugsy and Love Affair, one good, one not so much.

5-30 is the day Christine Jorgensen was born, she was the first American to get a sex change operation. Her chart is near identical to Marilyn’s because they were born four days apart; Christine having Moon in Capricorn and MM had Moon in Aquarius. This causes CJ to have Moon square Venus, an aspect of troubled relationships and difficulty sustaining them. Her North Node in Cancer shows the sex change with Pluto on it but that also has to do with natural birth cycles, too. So with the Moon on the South Node, she went back to being a woman after having been born male. But a Gemini is always seeing multiple possibilities and a variety of solutions. Moon quincunx to Neptune made it hard for her as a woman making the transition for people in the 50’s to really understand where she was coming from. Saturn square Neptune might be a lack of understanding on her part but it’s also the absent father, either due to alcohol, drugs or sexual escapades.

5-31 Walt Whitman had his Moon in Virgo, so you know he was a picky sort and he also has Saturn square Neptune, but Uranus is conjunct Neptune and Saturn is conjunct Chiron and Pluto, so there is a whole lot of psychological damage due to his father, in all likelihood. Sun square Moon is the identity crisis aspect and his Mercury squared Jupiter, making him a storyteller in his works. But his personal planets, like Moon trine Venus, gave him some security and the Moon trine Mercury gives a good memory. Talent is a gift you work on and his Moon in Virgo made him work.

5-31 Clint Eastwood was born on the last day of this month of May, sharing the birthday with the great poet, Walt Whitman. First, Clint is the man with no name from his early films by Sergio Leone; the Spaghetti Westerns, but he had done Rawhide, the TV show in the 50’s. He later showed his versatility as he directed and wrote both dialog and music for some of his movies. This should be expected of a Gemini with Mercury retrograde in Taurus. Moon in Leo is the drama that he chooses to play and milks it in a very understated way, with the smoothness of Mars trine Neptune and the dedication of Venus opposite Saturn, aware of the commitment to other people in the production and how to use them efficiently is part of his stock in trade. That polarity also includes Pluto square Uranus, which squares the two in opposition, which is why he would prefer to remain independent as possible and have as much creative control over a project as possible. Mars sextile Jupiter shows him playing the good guy, even if it gets complicated, as it usually does.

6-1 Morgan Freeman is one of the best actors we have on screen today as he immerses himself in every role he plays, even as God in Bruce Almighty. His Mercury conjunct Uranus makes him brilliant and innovative in each character’s expression and the trine to Neptune an innate artistry and spiritual depth and insight into his characters. His Sun on the South Node has him repeating things, over and over again, but that’s the life of an actor, which he was in past lives. Moon in Pisces gives an additional attunement on an emotional level, so that what he can’t logically figure out, he reaches into a deeper place and comes up with something profound intuitively. He has a T-Cross of Venus in Aries squaring the Jupiter opposition to Pluto, so he has seen a lot of people die, both in life and in the movies. His Sun squares Neptune, which along with the Moon in Pisces fits the redeemer nature, so starring in the Shawshank Redemption was a nice bit of divine justice.

<How to Marry…>
6-1 Marilyn Monroe, as nobody knows her, is revealed in her chart with the elusive Neptune in her 1st, coloring her personality with fantasy, sex appeal and desire, which every male in America felt about her. The Moon/Jupiter in Aquarius in opposition to it expanded her popularity and brought her on a worldwide stage. With Saturn in a square to the opposition her depression and insecurity were heavy on her shoulders and she felt alone and confused in the world. Mars trine Pluto and Saturn used the sexuality to achieve success but was bitter because she was typecast and wanted to show that she could really act, which she did, before the end. With Moon/Jupiter in the 7th and Venus/Chiron in the 9th, she was always looking for a teacher/father figure who could mentor her or heal her wounds. Her death chart shows she was the victim of a home invasion by possible Secret Service.

6-2 Wayne Brady is one of the most versatile and exceptionally talented entertainers in the business today, like a modern Sammy Davis Jr. He was on Whose Line is it Anyway until its cancellation and had his own variety talk show until recently. His athleticism and agility are attributable to his Moon in Aquarius trine Uranus, which in turn trines his Sun, Saturn and Mercury. In fact, the Gemini stellium is opposite Neptune, so he sings, dances, does impressions and is very intuitive, which a good improv artist is able to be. He does have Venus retrograde in Cancer opposite Jupiter, which is a rags-to-riches kind of story, I would expect, but it could be rough on the partner with his expectations and demands. Mutual generosity, honesty and good humor compensate for that, however. His Venus is square Pluto and his Mars in Cancer is square Uranus, so my guess would be that he flips for the kinky stuff and gets a little on the down low from a transsexual hooker on Sunset Blvd.

With the New Moon in Gemini just behind and Memorial Day just ahead, we might think about the past and remember the future is where it all pays off. We have had heroes sacrifice for future generations from the Revolutionary War until this very moment but we have to think about what we have and what we have had stripped from us. We need to think in revolutionary terms because we are being subjected to the most tyranny ever foisted upon the American people. We have to read and remember the words of the Declaration of Independence, which was written at this time of year two hundred and thirty years ago. Don’t let the great work of the great and good men of that time be for no ultimate and lasting good upon the face of this Earth. But rather, let it lead the way towards democracy for people all over the world, but not at the end of a gun barrel.

May 13, 2006
I have been to paradise and have returned rested, inspired and a bit transformed by the experience. There is nowhere on Earth like it, nothing can compare and if you want to go to the tropics in an exotic locale and be swept off your feet, go to Bali. It is now my favorite place on Earth, right after my house; in fact, I wish I could put my house there.

We left in the wee hours of Friday morning, the 28th and after twenty hours of air travel from LAX to Taipei to Denpasar, Bali, I was exhausted! Hot, humid heat greeted us that Saturday afternoon as we walked through the most elaborate architecture of an airport as I have ever seen.
Our guide for the trip, Mantage, like Manday, was there to take us to the hotel with Maggie, the leader of the group.
We were welcomed at a private dinner for the Gaia Yoga group…13 women and me. I had a nice piece of salmon…

Day one: Sunday
Sunrise yoga on the beach in Nusa Dua
Big tour day
Rice field
Monkey Temple
Temple on the beach at sunset
I got a blister!
Moonset seafood dinner on the beach

I was fortunate for Kay the Leo with Pisces ASC and Moon in Scorpio, who gave me some moleskin, or my foot would have been much worse. As it was, I couldn’t do yoga as it was the ball of the foot on the side that would have hurt with every downward dog.

Day 2: Monday
Ride to the Batik factory
Bali Museum of History
Dragon Temple at the Mother Temple
Traditional village
Bat Cave Temple carving volcanic rock into artistic ornate columns
Dinner at the hotel restaurant with strolling musicians singing American rock and roll

Day 3 Tues
Swimming pool
Bus to Ubud
Lots of arts and crafts shops in Ubud

Day 4 Wed
Balinese Massage
Pool
Nidra Yoga

Yoga Nidra inspiration:
Power of Love, not a love of power
Power of Life, not a life of power
Love of life and a life of love.

Thursday
Bike ride through rice fields and villages and Bali dogs all look alike
Cooking demonstration and lunch
Balinese Massage and foot massage

Finished Politics of Truth and began reading the more appropriate book by Huxley, Island.

Friday
Took it easy and celebrated Maggie’s birthday in the morning, went for swim and called Seth to check in.
Thai Massage

Saturday
River rafting on the Ayung…the steps and the sculptors on the cliff, splashing each other and waterfalls cascading over us as we careened over rocks and along quiet stretches of river. It was poetry in motion, with a little rock and roll thrown in.
< River and Forest Music - Hovhaness>

Bali is a Hindu haven in a Muslim country and you can’t miss the fact because there are temples everywhere. Not a mosque anywhere. Village temple and family temple, meeting hall and major theme temples abound and they have holidays all the time, like twice a month and big ones twice a year, at the Solstice times and the change of the seasons.

Balinese population control…you can only have afford to have as many kids as you can carry on a motorbike. Three or four is rather common, as I have seen families of five on one motorbike. They use them to transport everything except large stone sculptures, although you would be surprised at some of the things they haul on two wheels because the roads are so damn narrow!

Final dinner at the hotel restaurant and I did everyone’s ASC and Moon and wrote them on my cards for all the ladies. They were the three in ’47, Bess Pisces, Maggie Taurus and Kay the Leo, the older Scorpio, Jackie, the mother-daughter, Rochelle Gem/Cap/Scorpio and Autumn Virgo/Scorpio/Scorpio, BJ the Aries/Libra rising, Karen the Virgo/Scorpio, Candy the Taurus, Meg the Sag, Kinga the Aries, Jamie the Gemini, Jane and me. So there were three I didn’t need to do, since Maggie had a lot of years studying and practicing astrology, although with Mercury square Saturn, she can’t explain charts as easily as I can.

Sunday was departure day
Everything was fine there and there were no bombings and no tsunamis or earthquakes that we could feel. It was just a gorgeous tropical rain forest with a couple of tropical rainfalls to add a little coolness to the experience. Tonga may have had a 7.9 quake but our volcano was dormant and the ground didn’t shake as much as our ceiling when the upstairs Russian couple was going at it.
The long flight of two sunsets on the same day, from Taipei to LA
Getting the book nearly finished on the plane was satisfying, since I was like the stranger in a strange land, though not shipwrecked.

The Planets
Where are the planets right now and what do they mean?
We’re just after the Scorpio Full Moon
The Sun and Mercury are square Neptune
Mars inconjunct Neptune could diffuse impulses

Next month is Jupiter square Saturn and that will have an effect until the end of the year. This will yield some serious political consequences and have global implications. Here are some of the things that are already straining the limits of our world.

Saturn will oppose Chiron as Jupiter squares them and you’ll see how many lies a wounded leader can tell, spread or cover-up. So many!
Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan and Al Quada has moved back in as we have withdrawn American forces. Now we’ll have to go back in and clean it up all over again, only now with battle fatigue from Iraq. Rumsfeld and Bush and the rest of the PNAC are to blame for that strategic blunder along with the rest of them.
The White House ordered a report to be done on whether there is climate change and it came back in the affirmative. Now that they know it’s happening, will they actually do anything about it? Oh wait…they knew on September 10, 2001 that global warming was the greatest threat to our world, so they went and had a couple of wars to distract us from the fact and then drive up the price of gas to allow all his friends in the oil biz to get rich before it’s all gone.
Yet, we still hear that the bird flu is coming, even though there is no credible evidence that it could transfer. It’s just another fear tactic. Keep the people in fear and they are easier to control.
The economy sucks for everyone who isn’t in the top 5% of income earners. Many of those on the bottom have bottomed out and are out on the streets. There are more homeless people than ever and many hospitals dump those who are back on Skid Row, although there are efforts to curb that practice. Shelters aren’t enough, as we have to have some form of communal living situation for them to get medical and mental help, as well as get some job training. Some of them have skills they just need help remembering.
They aren’t the only people who are neglected. The situation of the FLDS morons has become more revealed. I last reported that they were dumping their young boys who were entering adolescence or mid-teens for fear of competition for their young girls and women in this polygamous community. There is rampant abuse, rape and molestation but it goes unreported to the authorities because it is so widespread. They have exploited religious freedom to a point beyond the laws of the land in which they dwell. Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ are the enclaves where this tragedy plays out. If you know of any solution or suggestion to alter this situation, please tell someone in one of those states who can get it done.

I am shocked that Fox and Rupert Murdoch would host a fundraiser for Hilary Clinton, since they are worlds apart politically…or are they? Her Bill of Lefties crusaded for a ban on soft drinks in schools and got it done. But that’s the nature of the former president…he likes to make sure the job is done. The soda companies have accepted the ban and are looking at other drinks to put in schools like water and non-sugared sports drinks.
Dateline: Kathmandu, Nepal – The evil and corrupt King has fallen and the peace process has begun, as the rebel leader comes to the table. Can Bush be next?
Guatemala…an 1800-year-old tomb of a Mayan leader was unearthed in tact, one of the earliest periods of Mayan activity.
Macchu Picchu is crumbling under the weight of tourists and commercial exploitation.
<Sensemaya>

In politics as usual, Bush is at his normal disconnect with reality or thinks people are too stupid to not scrutinize the evil that his men do. After a federal judge was given the lowest rating ever to a nominee, the Bush administration want to disagree with the results and say he’s a fine choice to judge others, since he’s never been a judge before. After Porter Goss resigned amid allegations of prostitutes supplied by the same defense contractor as Duke Cunningham used. Ew, sloppy seconds! So someone has to take over at the CIA. Why not a General who reports to the Pentagon? Nothing like cross-pollination of intelligence. Or is there? They are spying on everyone! You, too, you know.
Gen. Michael Hayden has always has distain for the truth, justice and the American way of civil liberties, inalienable rights and freedom our country is supposed to represent. His Jupiter in Virgo opposition to his Pisces Sun reveals his antithetical response to these higher principles and the lack of wisdom in his application of government service. Sun square Saturn indicates insecurity, fear of being himself and inadequacy, for which Jupiter overcompensates to meet out his vindictive, invasive, prying eyes type of justice that is in violation of the constitution.
Venus square Pluto shows a passion for secrets, lies and death squads, along with torture and secret prisons for torturing prisoners without anyone knowing, except now they know. Saddam has this aspect.
Moon square Mars is anger at the mother for being too busy to nurture him properly. Moon trine Jupiter is her activity that led him into the military and the lack of nurturance is Ceres opposite Venus and inconjunct Uranus as well as square Pluto, so it has had very corrosive effects on his associations and relationships.
Saturn square Neptune is the absentee father for which there tends to be problems with alcohol and drug addiction as well as depression and a failure to live up to one’s responsibilities. Often a lack of structure is a source of the issues with authoritarian domination and a failure to establish appropriate boundaries and roles.
Good aspects allow him to do a particular job effectively, so consider that Mercury trine Pluto with both sextile Uranus is electronic surveillance on the president’s “enemies”. He would have fit in nicely with Nixon’s crowd, and it fits that many in the administration are from Nixon’s crowd in one way or another.

When Casey beats Santorum in PA, they’ll have a Dem pro-lifer and a GOP pro-choice senator. That’s PA for you. Lots of working class and the Amish live there and yet big corporate types inhabit the place. Remember Heinz 57 and Hershey’s chocolate and Bethlehem Steel all originate from the Keystone state. They still sell alcohol in state stores where it is highly regulated.

<People> Fanfare
5-13 Stephen Colbert is the host of the Colbert Report and he has his extremely funny moments and if I have the correct birth date for him, I can see why. He is a Taurus with Mercury/Mars/Jupiter all conjunct in Taurus trine Uranus in Virgo, which oppose Saturn in Pisces, which, in turn is trine Venus on the North Node in Cancer. His Moon in Gemini is the rapier wit and intellectual acuity as a matter of instinct. His Sun is opposite Neptune, so he can live in the fantasy world of fake news reporting and now, commentary for as long as he wants to and I will laugh because even though you can’t make this shit up, what he makes up to go along with it is often wildly entertaining.
Stevie Wonder

5-14 Senator Byron Dorgan is from North Dakota and Ed Schultz likes him a lot, not that they are an item, mind you. He has been active on the policy committee and sets the agenda for the Democrats in the Senate. His Sun and Moon both conjoin Uranus, leading him toward the future with progressive ideas that humanity needs and they all trine Neptune, so he’s a spiritual man who really cares and understands the plight of the downtrodden. Saturn is also conjoining this little ensemble, increasing his sense of duty and responsibility. Venus in Aries is in a trine to Pluto, which could make the temptation of illegal contributions attractive but he gave back the Abramoff money, which was from Jack’s clients, not Jack directly. Mercury sextile Venus considers the impact his actions have on others, yet with Venus square Mars he was under pressure to act on impulse and take the money. Jupiter is square Neptune and that may have created a pervasive culture of corruption and he got accused along with many others.
George Lucas, David Byrne and Bob Zemeckis same year

5-15 Madeline Albright was Sec’y of State under Clinton in the 2nd term and has been seen and heard on TV but not much by the Bush administration. It seems that they would rather be like ostriches than be aware of how to deal with real governments in the world. What’s a bit funny is that she’s born one month after her successor, Colin Powell and less than three weeks after Saddam Hussein, in the same year! This reflects the power she wielded and it shows in her Moon in Leo conjunct Pluto trine Saturn and her Sun/Mercury/Uranus in the 10th house. Mars in Scorpio opposite her Sun shows the kind of men and people in general she had to deal with and yet she’s managed to acquit herself and fulfill her duties in a turbulent time. Mars trine the Moon/Pluto adds the assertive intensity and depth of feeling to the whole affair.
Prescott Bush, Brian Eno

5-16 Senator Ben Nelson is the conservative Democrat from NE who has a similar chart to Byron Dorgan but oh, what a difference a year makes! Nelson has Saturn on the Sun, seven degrees away but he still has four planets in Taurus and likes the money aspect of politics and doesn’t mind the suspension of our civil liberties as they can be bought with the right congressional credit card. Moon in Aquarius conjunct Mars in Pisces makes for a fighter but also one who has a hard time going 16 rounds. Perhaps the Neptune trine to all his Taurus planets has allowed him to accept his faith as part of his nature. I actually think he’s got a compulsive side to his nature, so let me explore that tack. His Mars in Pisces can flow into addictive patterns with the erratic emotional instincts on the Moon and he could flip out and surprise someone in not a good way. Fear and loathing in Washington DC, would be a title for his life.
Janet Jackson

5-17 Erik Satie was an eccentric freak even by gay French standards. His Moon in Cancer conjoined Uranus and the square to Mars/Neptune shows his passion for bizarre but brief musical forms. Jupiter brings abundance and it just happens to be in Aquarius in squares to Mercury in Taurus and Saturn in Scorpio, making for a liar and a fool to many people, his father included. Mars and Neptune in Aries on the South Node makes for a blithe disregard for consideration of the feelings of other people, especially the virtually unaspected Venus in Gemini, widely square to Chiron, making for relationship wounds and non-commitment. It was just as well, since with Mars on the South Node square the Moon, he would have had major issues and an arrogant irritability that would drive most people nuts. I would guess that the Saturn opposition to Mercury could have strained or suspended communication with his father and it could also be one of the reasons his ideas were limited in scope, as the expression says, brevity is the soul of wit.
Dennis Hopper was born two days after Madeline Albright and has Moon in Virgo, hence his crabby nature, and Dennis Brain was the greatest French Horn player in history.
<piano music>

5-18 Frank Capra was one of the great movie directors of the silver screen but everyone just remembers It’s a Wonder Life. His optimism and enthusiasm for life are reflected in the Sag Moon and his Venus in Taurus trine Jupiter in Virgo, an abundance of people, money and things he might want to own. Mars trine Saturn and Uranus gives the director support in getting the job done with innovations and new ideas, while Mars sextile the Sun in late Taurus and Mercury in early Gemini, activating the mind and will to progress mentally and personally. He’s one of the generation that has Neptune/Pluto in Gemini and his are in a wide conjunction. In his case, he could be said to have transformed some of the many ways movies were being produced in those days.
Bertrand Russell was the anti-religious philosopher

5-19 Malcolm X, Pete Townsend and Ho Chi Minh conclude our week, with Ho taking the final analysis spot, as I was just near Vietnam on my trip. Although a triple Taurus, his four planets in Gemini made his mind mercurial, adaptable and curious but readily programmable and subject to brainwashing. Mercury retrograde conjunct Pluto made for murderous thoughts hammered in, especially when they opposed Mars in Sagittarius. That’s a lot of projected anger and hostility! Jupiter in Aquarius on the MC in a trine to Mercury/Pluto and sextile Mars in Sag and Venus/North Node trine Uranus are part of the revolutionary’s code of qualities needed to beat the perceived enemy. Underlying all this is a deep sense of insecurity, fear and guilt from Saturn square his Sun/Moon, with Ceres in Scorpio, completing a T-Cross. He wouldn’t have gotten much in the way of nurturance.

This is actually the last week of Taurus as the Sun will enter Gemini next Saturday, but not until nightfall, so I may wrap up some thoughts on the Bull at that time but here’s the thing. Take your time, since the universe has all of eternity to unfold and you’ll be able to do much that you haven’t as it unfolds. That which you have wanted to see and do is already in your memory as stored information and you just have to remember that you were there when it was hip. Speaking of hip, I’m looking into prolotherapy for it and my knee. If you’ve heard of anyone having success with it, let me know.