October 21 , 2006

It’s been 4 weeks since my last show and I am pleased to say I am back in the saddle on this New Moon in Libra that conjoins Venus and Mars. It reminds me of androgyny, as the blending of male and female melt together in union and harmony with each other. I’ll get back to that in a bit but I would like to tell you a little about what’s been happening the past month. It seems that many people have been relying on the negative Libra standard of blaming others and denying the truth. When one has been selfish and taken liberties with others that have crossed the line, then someone needs to stand up and point this out. As there are so many to point the finger at, I don’t even want to begin to go there, so I will go elsewhere first.

My own experience has been rather different as I am not the man I was then, having had hip-replacement surgery a month ago and the rehab is coming along nicely. In fact, the Physical Therapist said she thought I didn’t need any further PT and that she was ending my sessions, which is fine, as I am recovering much of my strength and vitality nicely, thank you very much and have done it without a whole lot of medication, especially painkillers. I have nature’s muscle relaxants to rely on, although my doctor gave me clearance to get a massage, finally! What I have come to realize is the number of people who have helped me along the way, some who are paid and others who aren’t. I have come to see what friends are and what they are not along with how family sees helping out as a responsibility but also as a burden that they at times resent. It may be inconvenient for me to get my hip replaced but the pain I was in was excruciating at times and a constant ache the rest of the time. I have, however, become appreciative of those who do their job with efficiency and diligence, despite distractions and humorous interruptions or astrological comments. I am getting better all the time, have very little pain and a long scar on my ass cheek. I need to get the other one done after Thanksgiving. By the New Year, I'll feel like a new man. I'm hoping the second time around it goes better and it should be easier. I will have experience on my side.

Entry of the Sun into Scorpio happens on Monday with Mars right behind it and Venus the next day. Scorpio is the sign of surgery and I had my first one with the Moon in that sign. My next one will be with Mercury and Mars in Scorpio, which is a good thing, as Mars rules the surgeon’s scalpel and Mercury is his hands. My doctor has his Sun on my Jupiter, which rules the hips and thighs, as well as the haunches; I mean buttocks or gluteus maximus. His North Node is on my Mercury and transit Uranus is on that degree, which could explain unexpected temporary blackouts in response to strong medicinal pot. There are many people who have a problem with the stuff to the point of not taking care of their physical body while in search of the metaphysical. We have the revelation that pot is more effective in preventing or diminishing Alzheimer’s where no anti-psychotic narcotic ever could. Once again, marijuana can be a savior to human suffering and yet they want to keep it illegal. The problem is not with the pot but the people in power who have sold out to the lobbyists and industrialists who would stand to lose a lot to the competition that hemp industries would create. Yet this is the very thing that could get unions employed at American manufacturing plants around the country, since it can be grown in almost every kind of climate. The RRR has been the problem since they made it illegal in the 70’s, when Nixon wanted to keep the pot-smoking hippies in prison and out of his way.

If you want to know the problem in Washington, it’s alcohol. It seems to be blamed for everything these days and I know Jon Stewart has already pointed this out. He’s my hero on TV and if he would only let me have a Hollywood astrology segment, it would be the start of something big. Alcohol is a problem everywhere in this country because they support whatever party is in power, as both sides indulge. If we made it harder to get and more expensive to buy, then legalized pot, we’d have far fewer crimes and instances of domestic abuse. Alcohol leads to more highway deaths in one day than pot has caused in our lifetimes, I would speculate. There are no stats because there are so few instances of pot-caused accidents. Back to Washington, it seems everyone who gets caught with his hand in an illegal cookie jar blames it on alcohol. If I’m with the alcohol lobby, I get mad enough to never support that congressperson again and try to get to the opponent. After all, all the people in congress drink alcohol, don’t they? They won’t legalize pot because of the alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries, primarily, but there are a bunch of others that really don’t want hemp, either; cotton, timber, oil and DuPont, who also backed the original anti-pot legislation in 1937 because they had come up with nylon and had a huge military contract. Once the lobbyists are off the Hill, we can get this through congress.

Libra is the sign of denial, the greatest challenge to accountability and this administration is rife with it, from Bush’s three planets and Chiron in Libra to Bumsfeld’s Moon in Libra and Cheney’s Moon in the 7th house. It is the sign that will project onto others what they deny within themselves…or maybe they know it’s in them and they still blame others because they want to inflame emotionalism for elections. Raise the terror threat, fake a dirty bomb scare, create fear and panic and promise to protect the American people. But it’s just a facade because everything they do is a lie. It’s all smoke and mirrors, lies and fakery, with deceit and dishonesty thrown in for good measure. Libra is usually a good, fair and considerate sign, as it is the rising sign of our last three great presidents who cared about the people; JFK, Carter and Clinton. All of them had a fairness doctrine.

Equal Rights, Gay Rights and Civil Rights are really all about the same as they are Human Rights, as people are spirits having a physical life and can’t be blamed for getting the wrong body. Some souls are transitional and moving from one gender into another and aren’t quite sure where they should really be. It can be a most confusing scene and under the law in many states, transsexuals wouldn’t be able to get married, which is added frustration for the third sex that can’t seem to catch a break. They want to ban gay marriage in more states and it’s wrong of the government to decide whom people can commit to and love in life. There is a liberal backlash due to bring the country back to the center. Why is it so hard for people to let other people be? Why must there be such hatred toward that which has been shamed and debased? It’s the guilt and anger at the guilt we feel that we wish we didn’t.

It seems there are a lot of closet congressmen who would suffer severely, since their sexual secrets scream of sin! The values voters they got to vote for them last time would either stay home or have to weigh whether to vote for a Democrat. All they have to do is take a look at Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee, who is a pro-life Democrat and not the only one. It has to be about politics and not religion when it comes to elections. When you flaunt your faith in the face of freedom and enslave yourself to the master of deceit, you have only yourself to blame when you have no freedom left. Issues like a woman’s right to chose what she does with a pregnancy and what gay people do to have the same rights as others, since we are all human beings, have to be held to the same measure as everyone else. As long as no harm is done to anyone else, why does anyone care? Why do holier than thou people have to watch over others as if they were responsible for their welfare, when we are all the same under the Sun and the Moon on God’s Blue and Green planet. What is wrong with being honest about who you are, for your own sake as well as disclosure to others? Because they live their lives in fear and guilt and shame and are angry at themselves which can motivate anger at others that is projected, often violently.

So much of the anger has to do with the hypocrisy that those who act on the behalf of children are their greatest threat. It is the same with the leader of our country taking away the very freedoms and rights that we are allegedly fighting to defend and promote. Everything they do is opposite of what they say they are doing. It is the world of 1984, Version 2, with updated NewSpeak and Freedom is Chaos and Death. It has a lot to do with the Jupiter square the Saturn/Neptune opposition this year and the Saturn opposition to Chiron last year and back in 2003 it was Jupiter opposite Neptune, so maybe the results of this election will bring retribution. Our rights and liberties have been eroded down to a precious few and we can only hope that there are enough overwhelming Democratic votes on November 7th that we can take back both houses of congress and impeach the bastards. Many talkers, even on the left, have said no to impeachment and I say bullshit. You can smell the stink up and down and there is no more time left. We have to take action, no matter what kind of fear-mongering they throw at us.

We want fairness and justice but when people are treated with no human dignity and haebeus corpus is all but eliminated and we have no more due process and can be detained as an unlawful enemy combatant, then the system has to be changed. We have to balance out our government by getting the lobbyists out of the election picture and away from the lawmaking process as well as out of the lawmakers’ pockets. California has a ballot measure for public financing of elections and I hope other states pass it as well. We can only hope that when the Dems get control of the house they will make it a national law. The things the GOP has done in the name of maintaining power have been deplorable and will take the Democrats years to undo, if they ever can. Free market economics have run rampantly over the rights of Americans as well as those abroad, as Wal-Mart plots to takeover China’s economy. I guess they figure if they already make it there, why not sell it there? I think that’s what made Sam Walton the richest man in America at one point; because he made it here and sold it here. Nixon going to China and Reagan busting unions are two things that helped destroy the US economy.

Relationships are a reflection of one’s own issues, as we seek a harmonious partnership with whom to work out our problems and repressed memories. Far too many marriages end in divorce because the couple fell in love without any determination as to whether they were right for each other in any way. For many years, I have told my clients and students that there are three things you need for a successful relationship; Communication, Common interests and Chemistry. Everyone goes for the chemistry first, it seems, as the sexual interest is often the first thing that attracts people but it is the common interests that keep you together. Common goals, common ideals, common desires and common ground will keep you happy all around.

<Copland – Fanfare for the Common Man>

We on the Left must make our values known…after we define them first. Here they are, as I see them.

LIBERAL FAMILY VALUES

A family is composed of however many loving people wish to live together in harmonious concordance toward higher levels of cooperation and sharing. Jesus was a model for the communal family life with his disciples. Education becomes more varied as more teachers are able to share their knowledge with larger groups of people.

An Individual’s rights must be respected, including the right to believe as they choose and love as they prefer.

Representative government requires public servants to listen to their constituency and take care of them and they shouldn’t come from large industrial businesses.

An environmental protection program that works for the good of the planet

More government revenue for servicing the people with less spending on bigger government

Universal Health Care for those who need it most and assistance for those who need it for major catastrophic illness. Coverage for everyone, with everyone contributing to a medical insurance program based on income.

Less military violence and more intelligence

Legalization of Cannabis/hemp for Medical use and Industrial use, i.e. ethanol, food, fiber, paper, building material, fiberglass replacement, oxygen production increase. We know its ban was a political/economic ploy to benefit the established industries and eliminate competition.

We are a land of many colors and diversity is what keeps a society healthy, alive and productive. Thus there is no discrimination of anyone for any reason. There is no scapegoating or targeting of 'enemies of the people' as it leads to hatred and intolerance.

We, the people, must get along with others, in order to survive. The world needs to be built on cooperation, not just competition, although it is a healthy stimulus to the economy. But the public good must be the first priority of a world leading nation.

No religion is better than the chaos of beliefs we have now, as there is only One God for the entire universe, if many of these religions are to be believed and by dividing and separating from each other, we alienate what should be unified.

Together, we must speak with one voice to liberate our lives from the shadow of tyranny we have fallen under. With an eye to the future and a wary eye on the past, we must progress toward working together to rebuild the constitution and the institutions that made this country great, including the trade unions.

The purpose of life on Earth is to love and create. It's that simple. It is not to hate and destroy, as that is not God's way, nor is it the way of Jesus. Tell your Christian friends that they have not seen the light if they live in the darkness of fear and hate. We need to live with hope, faith and charity in order to raise ourselves up higher. In my life, Hope was an Aries redhead, Faith was a blonde Cancer and Charity was a Gemini brunette but I never lived with any of them.

We are beings of light energy with a timeless eternal soul that travels throughout the universe at the speed of thought. When you settle into an Earth life for a karmic reason, you live out the consequences in future lives.

There is no heaven and there is certainly no hell, as all your lifetimes of experiences create the memories that your mind takes you to in order to re-examine the fears and hopes you have. It's ultimately all in your mind, this heaven-hell thing. You get what you give. What goes around, comes around and as you do unto to others, so comes unto you. All of life is Karma, people. Live it well and you won't feel like hell!

<Instant Karma – John Lennon>

These principles will help to save our country and remedy what ails the world, as well. It’s time to put our actions where our spirit is. The Spirit of America is Liberty and Justice for all and we haven’t seen that for a while. We have to restore the freedom to our own citizens to pursue happiness, not just a paycheck and survival. We needn’t become a welfare state because there are ways of making work for everyone. The FDR administration created the WPA and built many of the highways that are now in need of repair and repaving. Maybe that could be one of the projects. We have to return to our tradition as the greatest nation in the world by acting like the real, hard working Americans we are. We have to show the world that we are not the Bush sheep we seem to be. Our founders directed the American people to grow hemp and that should be the rallying cry. Hemp for prosperity and hemp for victory!!
<Power to the People - JL>

We’re stupid, America! We’re selfish and arrogant and blind to the reality of the rest of the world. If you knew of the suffering and starvation of more than three quarters of the world’s population, you’d appreciate your life a lot more. We know we’re the greatest country in the world and don’t hesitate to prove it in almost every way possible. However, the Olympics show us that we can’t be great at everything…or even involved in everything. Instead of shining a beacon of light on the rest of the world as a shining example of how to live life in the 21st century, we are drawn back into the Dark Age of Wars and violence. American industries run over the Third World countries as Hummer would a VW. By letting giant corporations have whatever trade alliances they want, the US is creating a worse imbalance of power. They go in to a country teeming with natural flora and fauna and they industrialize it, diminishing habitats for many animals, driving them toward extinction. So too, does the pollution from these factories lead these previously unspoiled countries and their people into inevitable extinction. Part of the problem lies in the people who control the majority of the wealth in the world and the impotent old white men with no libido who compensate for it by showing alleged masculinity in the waging of war. An example of this type is Dick Cheney, whose hobby and passion are war histories and shooting friends in the face with birdshot.

Since Halloween is coming up, we could also talk about ghosts or other spooky moments in your life. I can explain that ghosts are real in terms of being disembodied spirits who haven’t moved on to their next life. My position is that reincarnation exists and we are all destined for another chance at getting our lives correct. If you feel uncomfortable about that, I can tell you it’s a better option than being programmed into believing in heaven and hell. I have never been comfortable with those limited choices and did some extensive research when in my twenties, discovering some of my past lives. Now, with the religious right trying to make a stand on the eve of the apocalypse, it seems Western people don’t want to accept this concept, even though most of the world’s people believe in it. The Christian Right will continue to believe that they have the only true American Way, while remaining blind to the corruption of their party.
In so many ways, the Right is wrong but Liberal Family Values will have to be written by the people living them.

<Newsmakers and Earthshakers>
Congrats to the Detroit Tigers and the St Louis Cardinals for making it to the World Series. I was hoping the Mets would pull it out in the 7th game but while pitching and defense keep you in the game and it was tied 1-1 through 8, you can’t win if you don’t score, ask any gigolo. It was only because of the number of former Dodgers on the Mets that had us rooting for the New Yorkers and if they had been able to have a healthy Pedro Martinez, another former Dodger, he would have pitched them to victory. If I were to predict the outcome of the series, I’d say the Tigers are ready this year and well-rested compared to the exhausted Cards.

Elsewhere in the world of local sports, the Lakers coach has also had his hip replaced by the doctor I passed on due to the Inglewood location of the hospital. I was much closer to home by going to Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, an expanding facility with excellent health care workers. But Phil Jackson went for Dr. Larry Dorr, who is considered the best in the west but is an old, fat, Bush-loving Republican. This is the doctor who kept me waiting for a consultation for almost 3 hours, so I wasn’t going to be happy with that kind of neglect. As for the team, they aren’t all that healthy, either, with almost half of the team hurting in one way or another. The benefit is that the rookies and part-timers will get more playing time and learn the system more efficiently, so that when they are really needed, they can get plugged in when and where necessary so they can help out.

In the TV world, NBC will cut back on new scripted programming, which may open the door for an astrology talk show. We can only hope that the vacuum that will be created will not just be filled by only game shows and reality shows.

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills should never have married, as she’s a Capricorn with Moon in Gemini and he’s a Gemini with Moon in Leo and there’s just not a good flow there as her Moon is nowhere near his Sun. The problem is not just in their inter-chart aspects, which shows that she has an addictive personality and has a victim mentality but she is probably the passive-aggressive violent one. Her Mars is on his South Node which does bring up violence issues from past lives but she was the perpetrator. Mars square Neptune is the addict and her Moon opposing Venus squared by Jupiter shows an over-exaggeration of emotional reaction. Maybe Paul said something nasty and it became magnified by her into something physically violent, when no such action was ever taken. Paul has Mars conjunct Pluto in Leo but it has never been used violently in his life, from what I know, just love and performing, as it gives his energy an ever-renewing vitality. Their composite Moon is in Cancer but it squares the Sun/Mercury in Aries, so there has always been some volatile emotional explosiveness between them. But now, her minor Moon is opposite Pluto and is creating such venom in her emotional makeup that she’s projecting all kinds of damaged memories at him that are from her past, I would bet. With her Moon square Pluto, there is a lot of psychological trauma from her past in a way Paul has never experienced.

Before I get into the birthday people of the week, I have an observation about a couple of PA congressmen. Curt Weldon, 7-22 and analyzed this past July, and Don Sherwood 3-5 have committed different crimes but have the same aspect; Mercury retrograde conjunct Venus. It’s repeating past patterns and expecting different results, but they involve other people. In Sherwood’s case, he’s a married man and had a five year affair with a woman in her 20’s while he’s in his 60’s. She called 911 and said he tried to strangle her. Consider his career toast. Weldon’s crime is funneling lobbying work to his daughter, who had no previous experience in the field. He’s going down in this election, as well. Republicans across the country are going to bite the dust and ride off into the sunset of retirement or the private sector to recoup their investments. But with a K Street shutdown proposed by the Democrats, many will be out of work and many will be in prison.

10-22 Marvin Bush is the least known of the Bush siblings as he has flown under the radar and kept mostly out of the public spotlight, for good reason. He hasn’t become entwined in the financial scams his brothers and dad have been involved in, although he made a killing from a deal with the Kuwait-American Corporation. His Libra Sun conjoins Neptune for avoiding issues and attention, as well as his employment of denial, deception and drugs to escape from the harsh realities of life in the Bush clan. After all, his Moon in Gemini is on the South Node opposite his Saturn and square Pluto for a painful and psychologically traumatic family environment that included the death of his older sister before he was born. Only little George was alive when Robin was born and would have been the only one to remember her of all the siblings. Marvin, being the youngest boy, has gotten a pass from the press and no one seems to know anything about him. Let me reveal a little more. Venus conjunct Jupiter in Virgo opposite Mars in Pisces, so he is a financial opportunist that goes after what he wants in a passive but ruthless way. Mercury is inconjunct Mars, so his communication style doesn’t allow for argument or disagreement, which runs in the family. Mercury also squares Juno, so I doubt that he talks much with his wife. His Sun squares Hygeia and that leads me to think he’s chronically getting sick or maybe it’s just a sickness in his soul from the family he’s a part of. With Venus inconjunct Pallas, I doubt that he has any charisma or diplomatic skill with which to advance in government as his older two brothers have done, despite their cheating to get elected.

10-23 Mel Martinez is a double Libra and a senator from Florida, who also slimed his way into office on Bush’s coattails, just barely beating out Democrat, Betty Castor. He’s one of the Cuban right wingers, like those who followed Nixon into the Bay of Pigs invasion and the JFK assassination, and as such, he’s a total lock-step Republican falling in behind Bush. So, Moon conjunct Neptune in Libra indicates his feeling of being lost at sea, a common experience of Cuban children after Castro took over and they fled to the US in flotillas. The need to escape has perhaps been replaced with his need for spiritual faith and direction and that has been supplanted by the instinct to deceive and avoid dealing with the reality of real people with real concerns. It’s interesting that he was born in the same year as his friend, the president. He finds that fear is a fine motivator as his Saturn/Pluto conjunction squares parts of his Sun/Jupiter/Mars/Mercury cluster, which reaches from his Sun in the last degree of Libra to his Mars square Pluto, indicator of a murderous nature or violent temper that tends to implode. He will blame others first, never taking personal responsibility or facing the truth with Jupiter square Saturn. His father was MIA to him when Mel was around 15 and he was staying in foster care housing, so his spirit is very wounded as a result, reflected in his Sun/Chiron conjunction and while he’s all for the family and against gay marriage, his Venus only makes a trine to Saturn, so I wonder if he had anything in common with Mark Foley. Mercury/Mars can be sexual attraction to someone who is a mirror image of you and it would just verify more of the gay old party’s queer attitudes about sexuality.

10-24 United Nations Day signifies the founding of the world body that neither governs, nor enforces any laws or resolutions. I often wonder what its real function is in this world. Well, let’s examine the astrological reasons why it is such an ineffective body. The Sun is in Scorpio in the 7th, which implies the intention of the entity is the transformation of the world from a place of turmoil and violence to a place of peaceful cooperation. Mercury in Scorpio is square Pluto in Leo and that accounts for the place being the most heavily bugged building in the world. Everyone is spying on everyone else in this place of international espionage and intrigue. Moon/Uranus in Gemini is the superficial associations these diplomats form with each other and Jupiter in Libra trines Uranus, so some good comes out of the organization sometimes, but many operatives use the place as an opportunity to advance their own agendas rather than find any common ground with other nations. Oh, there’s Venus exactly conjunct Neptune in Libra but that’s either gullibility or compassionate understanding of what others are experiencing at the hands of a despot. I wish they would save us from our own government. Mars conjunct Saturn is oppressive male-dominated energy with the tenacity and determination from its place in Cancer. That is also the sign of the North Node in the 3rd, so it needs to be the messenger of global protection and providing the starving with food, the homeless with shelter and the naked with clothes. It needs to broker peaceful deals and protect the innocent victims of political and militaristic strife.

10-26 Hillary Clinton has been analyzed astrologically before by me and others, so we should look ahead and see if she’ll be able to get elected president in ’08. As for her Solar Return for ’08 compared to the others, it is the strongest and shows increased popularity among voters, as the collective opinion of her will change. She can’t be the target of the religious right for another two years. Or can she? This year’s solar return shows her magnificent fund raising ability, with 5 Scorpio planets in the 2nd house and Moon conjunct Pluto, the planet of other people’s money. Saturn trine Moon/Pluto is the consolidation of her power and authority in the party, given credibility by her husband, our greatest living president, with apologies to Jimmy Carter.

United Nations Day is rather ironic given these troubled times with no direction and no correction from world leaders. The world is on the verge of disaster and nuclear conflicts that will lead to earlier than predicted end of the world scenarios. Pluto square the Nodes could be nuclear fallout? Maybe not, as it happened in 1998 but we had an impeachment then! Saturn opposite Neptune squared by Jupiter is the gross incompetence of world leaders to avert such a criminal act as to launch a nuke. It is the collective confusion and collusion and even delusion.

With all the planets in Scorpio in the sky these days, be prepared for the psychological onslaught of attack ads threatening your peace and security. Most of them are fabrications and lies about opponents, but many of the threats are historical in nature rather than imminent. Don’t believe the hype and verify the facts.

Mercury conjoins Jupiter early Sunday morning and they square Saturn, so you have a case of too many information outlets that can’t really be stopped by authorities who are losing their grip. We are facing a showdown of the American way of life and if there is not an overwhelming change at the polls in two weeks then there should be a revolution, because it will mean that they stole another election. Pluto square the nodes shows corruption to be rampant and destructive of the normal evolutionary flow of life. We have to see the truth as that is the only thing that will set us free and it will bare itself in front of us and we have to recognize it. With this Libra New Moon, we have to be aware that we share a reality and a world that we have dominion over. Even some evangelicals are siding with the Democrats in support of doing something about global climate change. Bush is an albatross around the neck of the GOP at this time and he’s supporting candidates who can’t win or should be indicted. His approval is so low it would be underwater if the levees were to breech. His head speechwriter quit three months ago and they haven’t got anyone new to replace him, so they are using the same old, tired lines, over and over again, which is Einstein’s definition of insanity. After 6 years of lies, the American people are tired of it and all the fear of queers and tax cuts for the rich. They have nothing to run on, as though their tank was out of gas and they haven’t thought about alternative fuel sources and technologies. This has been the most short-sighted, narrow-minded, dictatorial, secretive administration in the history of our government. The abuse of power is beyond unbelievable and the threat to our own citizens from its own government has become frightening. I will remind you all to read again the Declaration of Independence, as it states that it is the right of the people to overthrow a tyrannical, non-representational government. Remember the roots of your country? It was never about pre-emptive war, but about the freedom and right to be who you are and to live and worship in your own way.

So, how can your life change for the better if the world or the country conspires against you? How can you make more money if the jobs are all being shipped overseas? How can you learn more about your destiny when there is so little information out there to give you validation of who you are? The answer lies in the realm of astrology, where you can get answers to the questions in your life that will help you know who you are, where you’re going and what you need to do or be to get there. It can also remind you of the talents and skills you already have in your soul to succeed without corporate sponsorship or employment.

A final reminder; we just had a New Moon in the last couple of hours and it should be used to begin a new direction in your life, but as it is in Libra with Venus and Mars, it isn’t just about you. We have to learn how to share our lives with others that we may not always agree with but have to allow them space to live. When you consider how the other person was raised and what they went through to get where they are…oh, wait. Does anyone do that? Hmm, okay, perhaps if we can learn to appreciate that what we went through is different than what others have been through, then we might be less likely to judge them. Or, as Barack Obama says, how would you feel if you were in that position? We can get along if we understand that we are all God’s children and are all created equal with a spirit that has its source in the same place. We are all part of one cosmic energy field and are at play in the fields of the lord but if we don’t recognize it, then we will fall from peaceful union and engage in war and conflicts of various types. It is easier to get along if you listen to each other and respect one another, since it’s when you stop talking that you start fighting. We’ve seen enough of that in the last 5 years or so. We can begin a new cycle as individuals in harmony with close intimate friends and associates if we just make an effort.

October 28 , 2006

Happy Halloween and El Dia de los Muertos all you ghouls and goblins; you ghosts and gangsters and you vampires and werewolves, may this be an enjoyable celebration of the dead without incurring more death. I actually enjoy dressing up in costumes and assuming a different persona, as it must be a carry-over from my past life as an actor, a field I pursued early in this one. It is a time for memories for me, anyway, as the Sun and all the Scorpio planets are in my 4th house of the past history and my roots. Appropriately, Mercury goes retrograde after this show finishes airing its first broadcast, at 12:16 pm Pacific Time. So I think I have to mention the important things to remember for this period. First of all, don’t start anything brand new. Instead, go back over things you’ve done before and get better at it or finish it. In my case, I’m finally cleared to go back to the gym and swim, bike at low resistance and work my upper body. It’ll be a challenge hobbling around the gym with crutches but it is part of the healing and strengthening that has to be done before the second side gets done a month from now. Also good activities to do at this time are research and editing, digging deeper into the material this time through. Don’t sign any contracts that are major in length or life-changing. Signing up for a storage locker and that kind of small contract is fine, I would expect. This retro squares Saturn and Neptune, so you’ll run the gamut from depression, anxiety, fear, insecurity and frustration to the Pollyanna world of fiddle-dee-dee, everything will be fine and dandy, but from an illusionary perspective.

Pluto is rising at the start of the original broadcast and five planets are in Scorpio, in this, my first show in the sign. The conjunction of three planets, Sun/Venus/Mars all square Chiron, shows the wounded nature that frowns upon alternative lifestyles. There is a strong pendulum swing that is going to turn things around like the election of 2000 turned things in the wrong direction. In that year, Mercury was also retrograde square Neptune at election time…just as it will be next week! Here we go all over again. The Mercury/Jupiter square Saturn is the voice of truth throwing a gauntlet down, challenging the stodgy old authoritarians who restrict the American people from having the good things in life, instead giving them away to friends with big money. It is in part, an economic revolution, in which people will vote their reality, not their values. We have seen GOP ‘values’ in which sex scandals happen, and those are just the ones we know about to date. There is a guy who is outing gay congressmen ever since the Mark Foley scandal broke and this is a cascading effect that will have major implications.

Five planets in Scorpio and Pluto square the nodes may cause more sex crimes than normal as well as more psychological disturbances, murders, crimes of passion, and many other violent or sexual crimes this next month. Retrograde Mercury will only make the rate of recidivism more prevalent and we’ll also see more financial motives for crimes like robbery and burglary, as poverty has increased and desperation has taken hold of many. Mercury and Jupiter are square Saturn now, so there are already a lot of people anxious about the reality of their finances and their job frustrations. It’s hard to get ahead when the heads of corporations are being told that they don’t have to take care of their employees anymore. What is coming up is the square to Saturn from Venus, then the Sun and finally Mars, although Mercury will do the requisite three pass drill it so often does when retrograde. This will cause much frustration and difficulty for the general population, as times are hard and the money is tight.

By May, when Jupiter squares Uranus, we’ll see a major shake-up in government. It could be revolutionary but it happened in 2000, as well and there was an upheaval in the Stock Market as well as a backlash in the stolen election of 2000. The aspect that brought the people out to vote for Bush will be the same aspect that waves goodbye to him. When the American public finds out all he has done against the very people and constitution he swore to pertect, they will become enraged and demand a change. The people were sold a bill of goods about Clinton through the media hype that he was not an effective leader, when in fact, he was the most effective leader we’ve had since JFK.

Tax cuts do not stimulate the economy for the average working person but the rich executive, who gains on the backs of his employees. This is the most blatant lie that takes supply-side economics to a whole new level and has made trickle-down into flood upwards. It’s a topsy-turvy world in Washington and it’s time to regulate industry again, as we have had close to a total shutdown of the American manufacturing sector. Jobs are abundant in service and hospitality fields but virtually non-existent in manufacturing. Why? Because almost 75% of American goods are outsourced and made overseas in Asia, where people are abundant and labor as well as life is cheap. Business is ruled by Saturn and in the nation’s natal chart it squares the Sun, leading one to conclude that business has been against the interest of the American citizen. Mercury retro opposite Pluto in the US chart shows the tax burden on the shoulders of the American laborer and not the corporate heads. I just read where Chevron just claimed its largest profit in the last quarter and that means gas prices will go back up again. Once again, the corporations make a killing on the American people, reducing the buying power of Joe Average.

Death tolls mount in Iraq but all they can do is change the rhetoric to eliminate ‘stay the course’ and then they have the audacity to say they never used that expression. “I never said Stay the Course,” Bush lied! Then you see and hear time after time where he said it! They are truly a fantasy-based administration, with Bush having his Sun and Saturn in the 12th house and Sun square Neptune along with Cheney having his Moon in Pisces in the 7th house. They forget the magic power of videotape and are in complete denial so often that you’d think the river in Egypt was flooding them every day! Blaming others is what they do and all you have to do is listen to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice to hear this pattern of deflection and deceit. But when Bush says he’s trying to…’pertect the ‘Merican people…’ he’s just showing himself to be a liar and hypocrite in every way possible. People who are critical thinkers and analyze what they say over time and view the bigger picture of history as I have done over the past three years, see that evidence has mounted that this is another Vietnam. We have to wonder what is being smuggled out of Iraq, as well as what they’ve already gotten away with, but we need to investigate. We have invested so many billions of dollars and the future of the Middle East on a bogus war for profit and ostensibly for revenge. We have set back the cause of freedom and democracy several decades unless we have a sudden shift in the political winds after the election.

The topics of Scorpio are myriad and diverse, along with evolution, excavation and paleontology, psychology, research, investments, banking, mining, drilling and sex, death, transformation, torture, taxes, insurance and forensic investigations. There are many ways to characterize this Scorpio stellium and I thought of another way. It is the battle over gay marriage and the marriage issue in general, but that’s not all. It’s also the battle over financial control of estates and inheritances. For some people it is a matter of life and death, while for so many, it the battle against death, itself. Some people actually just wish they would die so they wouldn’t have to be exposed to the negative publicity their own corruption or failure has exposed them to. Some people just like to dig their own grave.
<Dance Macabre – Saint-Saens >

Every election cycle, there always seems to be some who aren’t right for congressional positions in any capacity, as indicated by The Rolling Stone article on the Ten Worst Congressmen. Such a case is The Queen of Gay Bashing, Marilyn Musgrave, R-CO, a Pentecostal congresswoman who seems to typify the dizziness of the ditzy Aquarius airhead space cadet. She has a hard time staying focused on real issues and just hammers away at her anti-choice, anti-gay agenda. A most un-Aquarian person, she has three planets in Capricorn; Moon, Venus and Jupiter, all square Neptune, for her delusional appeal to the religious right extremists. Her ties to corruption are easily seen in her Mercury retrograde/Mars opposition to Pluto, a sure sign that she’s had financial benefits from powerful but shady characters on the fringes of legitimate business. This aspect also leads to arguments and insults, as well as racial and gender digs and other biased invectives. Saturn is square her Chiron, so having no professionalism or self-respect, she’s sold herself out to an ideology, as she has no principles. This could be the result of her Uranus being unaspected, which especially as it is her sign’s ruler, leaves her out in the cold beyond the collective of the citizenry of this great country. Maybe next year, she’ll get some time off to enjoy it, as her services in congress may not be needed much longer and she’ll have vacation time to go have fun and get away from it all with Neptune transiting over her Mercury/Mars.

Jerry Lewis, the corrupt California congressman, just had his birthday last week and I didn’t think about it until this week. I’m sure his retirement years will be very secure, either with all the money he’s squirreled away or in a different way, as in federal lock-up. Why is he so corrupt? Well, for starters, he’s in total denial that he is and would blame others first, but the Sun is closely square Pluto, which makes it his cross to bear. Plus, the Sun is sandwiched in between the money planets, Venus and Jupiter, so he loves to indulge himself in a fancy lifestyle. His Moon in Aries also squares Pluto, so he’s ruthless in his lack of caring about others and can destroy people as well as finance them. He’s a conniving schemer with Mercury in Scorpio square Saturn in Aquarius, which can also make him slow to learn from mistakes or slow to admit them. But he’s not talking, just now, so, no comment, for the record. Sun/Venus trine Saturn makes for success at using others to get his way and if it helps some people who give him money, so much the better. Pallas is the asteroid of diplomacy and his is in Taurus square the Aquarius North/Leo South Nodes, creating a karmic condition of cash over conscience, eliminating integrity and principles along the way. He’s so deep in ethics scandals right now that if he were to get re-elected, the Democrats would investigate and prosecute. Rolling Stone magazine includes him in the 10 worst and calls him The King of Payoffs.

Just as we near the election, Bush announces that we’ll be pulling out of Iraq or adjusting to win, but we’re not staying the course. We are sending more troops to Afghanistan, where we should never have left in the first place. In another manipulative move, he signed a bill for the border fence. What they aren’t telling you is that it won’t get built because they didn’t fund the whole project and they won’t because it’s just smoke and mirrors for the immigrant-haters. These are the appeasers, as the play to their base, whether it’s the religious right, whom the call ‘nut-jobs’ or the Minutemen on the border and all the Americans who want to keep foreigners out, especially Mexicans and Central Americans. Let me tell you that we’d have dirtier houses and messier yards if we didn’t have immigrants from south of the border. We have better things to do with our time and money and don’t need to destroy the environment for wildlife in the Southwest. Besides, building a wall to fence off a portion of our country reminds people of the Berlin Wall and to a lesser extent, The Great Wall of China. This will never happen because of the financial hole the war in Iraq has put us into. We are a nation of immigrants and need to develop a better way of dealing with people who want to come into this country for economic opportunity or political refuge.

Speaking of elections, with an eye to the next presidential race, Cheney says Hilary Clinton would win in ’08 but he’s just saying that to scare his base into voting against her but the Republicans have no one who hasn’t been indicted or investigated. The much wounded John McCain may have to be their standard bearer and he’s about the 4th most conservative in the senate. Despite what has been said, there is another alternative, as I have mentioned before. If we take the House and Senate and get enough truth from the investigations, there will be grounds for impeachment, even though Nancy Pelosi said they wouldn’t impeach. She would be president if Cheney and Bush were to be impeached. I’m not sure if she doesn’t want the job or she’s just dodging for now. She’s an Aries but has Mercury retrograde in Pisces.

In California, Tan Nguyen has denied, even with evidence proving otherwise, that he sent out letters to Hispanic surname voters who were born out of the country and threatened them with criminal charges if they vote in the election. His opponent is Loretta Sanchez and she’s made an issue out of it. It is a major crime, punishable by imprisonment, to tamper with elections. This is a blatant criminal act and he has to be arrested and put on trial, along with Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio and Katherine Harris in Florida. Perhaps with a Democratic administration, we can get that done. If the greatest democracy in the world is suffering through a period of election fraud, then it has to go all the way to the top. Who benefited from the electronic voting machine debacle in Ohio in 2004? Kerry would have won if Blackheart hadn’t had those Diebold machines rigged to elect Bush and his GOP cronies. Ohio has always been a hotbed of corruption, anyway, for at least a century, as scandal and graft have saddled the state with a reputation that it won’t live down for years to come. The way it’s looking now, barring any unforeseen cheating or vote-fixing, the Democrats will take over at least the House and very likely the Senate, too. Our nation will see once again, why the Democratic democracy works, while the fascist repression of the Neo-Con Republicans has been the biggest mistake in our political history.

Kenneth Blackwell is a Pisces with Moon in Scorpio and possibly Scorpio rising, so he has a double dose of sneakiness. His Mercury retrograde in Aquarius opposes Mars/Saturn/Pluto, attracting him to cold and evil destroyers of worlds. He has Venus in Aries, so he really doesn’t care about anybody but his own greed and while it makes a lot of good aspects, it’s just an indication that he has benefited from being in the right place at the right time and compromised his values enough to fit in where black people usually don’t; the GOP. Listen to these aspects; Jupiter in Sag sextile Mercury in Aquarius, which in turn is sextile Venus in Aries, which is sextile Uranus in Gemini and that, in turn, is sextile Mars in Leo. He has a grand trine in Fire from Venus to Mars to Jupiter but he’s not all Peaches and Herb. His Mercury/Mars opposition is square Chiron, so his arguments are coming from a wounded place in his own psychological makeup. Maybe a hint is the fact that he majored in psychology in college, which is most often done by people who come very screwed up, dysfunctional families. He’s pro-guns and anti-abortion, even when the mother’s life is in danger, as well as being homophobic, wanting to ban any possibility for gays to even have civil unions! This all might have a lot to do with his Chiron in Scorpio being so afflicted. He could have been molested by a minister but there is no record of Blackwell having a childhood. He may have been hatched by an alien mutant baby farm.

Gov. Arnold is bitching to Bush about his pollution policy and the emissions standards that are set. Pollution is a destructive side effect of the cost of living and Arnold wants to go green. Bush has been so bad on the environment and Arnold wants to make the most populous state in the country into a green environment but it won’t really work if Bush derails federal cooperation. This state has so much potential and if we could ever get it together and make more and greater results by using less and fewer resources, we’d emerge as the number one economy in the world, not just in the USA…well, number two, as nobody can beat China right now. Arnold has Jupiter in Scorpio, which is where it is now, so he will win this election but he also has Chiron in Scorpio and it squares his Sun, which is currently opposed by transiting Chiron, giving him a deep, personal wound. That can be seen in his Sun/Saturn/Pluto stellium in Leo, with a strong, powerful example of male authoritarianism but little feminine nurturance. The sad Moon in Capricorn and the unaspected Venus in Cancer shows a cry for emotional attention that has been satisfied by Maria Shriver, whom he married in 1986, at age 39. Her Moon/Uranus on his Sun gives him both security and freedom to be himself and do what he needs to do. She has Sun/Saturn in Scorpio, giving his Moon a sense of completion, as well. Her Venus is exactly on his South Node, so I’m sure he felt that they were connected immediately, as his Mars/Uranus desires an instant connection. That has been a problem for him in the past. She has infused him with her liberal Kennedy background and inspired him to become a better Gubernator.

Health care costs are rising and Medicare benefits will be reduced and some meds will no longer be covered in part D of the Bush plan to kill off old and sick people. At this point, 52% of Americans are disgusted with the rising cost of health and 51% of Americans want to impeach Bush, so I’m wondering of there is a connection. This is another advantage for the Democrats in this election and an indication that Hilary was just about a decade shy of being right on time with health care reform and why it could help her win in ’08. In North Carolina, health costs have risen 7 and a half times faster than income for working families and gave them less coverage. That’s what you call Republican Family Values; the destruction of the middle class and the return to poverty for millions who had worked their way out during the 90’s. You have to wonder who is running the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and if they got all their funding cut. The answer to the last part is an emphatic yes.

Students are falling behind in college with their finances, as they have to borrow more for tuition, books and living expenses than ever before. This is another effect of the education budget reductions those Righties have made to pay for their dirty war in Iraq, as well as the benefit to credit card and loan companies, who contribute big to the lawmakers, who let them write the laws the way they want them. There has been a lot of rhetoric about having better education and yet, they have made it less affordable than at anytime in history! The rising tuition and housing fees are staggering our kids and their parents with debt that will take years to pay off, especially with federal cuts to Pell Grants and other scholarship programs.

<The Plow that Broke the Plains – Devastation - Thompson>
The battle for the heartland is being engaged. Red Middle America states are now in play, as the farm subsidy cuts the GOP proposes would destroy many family farmers and small business farmers. Speaking of small biz, millions of funds have been diverted from the intended small businesses into the pockets of Fortune 500 companies, who don’t need it. The Stem Cell initiative in MO has gained national attention thanks to Michael J. Fox and stupid, fat blowhard, Rush Limburger. Once again, values are the issue of the day and the Republicans have shown their values to be severely lacking in principle, ethics or legality.

My Libra friend, Melissa, whom I have known for as long as I have been seriously studying astrology and who was a study partner in those early days, passed away this past Tuesday. She had four planets in Scorpio; Mercury, Saturn, Moon and Venus so has a very occult and metaphysical side but with Sag rising, she had such an enthusiasm and optimism about life. I suppose it was fitting that Jupiter was in Scorpio at the time of her exit from the physical plane. When it comes to time, there’s no planet like Saturn to tell you what time it is. Transit Saturn was on her Pluto, the two biggest players in the mortality department. Transit Pluto was trine natal Pluto for the relative ease of transition once the soul had accepted the verdict. She slipped into a coma and died in her sleep, as it were.

What really hammered her, in the first place, was the transit of Saturn opposite Neptune, as they were both square her Moon, which rules the end of life and her house of death, the 8th. Saturn was also playing its part elsewhere, as transit Saturn was on her Pluto and minor Saturn was on her ASC with minor Moon just conjoining it. Mars rules the 4th, which also has to do with end of life issues, as it is the gestational placement for the seed of the subsequent incarnation to take root. Minor Mars opposed the natal Moon/Venus, square minor Chiron and progressed Mars. She was fighting with everything and everyone she could to get treatment that would help her heal but it was a battle that ultimately failed. Her progressed Moon in Libra had come into a square with natal Mars and inconjunct minor Mars, so stress and conflict were happening, but it was where the Sun doesn’t shine, so it wasn’t obvious to anyone else, or in Scorpio terms, it was a secret in a secret place. Another example of the battle for life is her minor Sun coming into a square with her progressed Sun; from Leo to Scorpio; signs of life and death. If that isn’t archetypal, I don’t know what is!

This woman was an Egyptian High Priestess of the Temple of Isis and probably had a hand in writing the Book of the Dead, with her Jupiter/Uranus conjunction in the 8th house. She’s always been very powerful and autonomous but in the month before she crossed over, she certainly disturbed my sleep. I couldn’t get more than 4 hours at a time and usually less than two. Up and down all night, partly in sympathy and partly due to my body flushing out medications stored up in my liver. It turns out that I was not alone in receiving visitations, as her young boyfriend from NorCal, with whom she had a 7 year, on-and-off relationship, was also not sleeping well until she crossed over. Of course, there are some astrological reasons, as well, but I’ll spare you those particulars at this time. Our fates and the fates of nations are in hands greater than ours. We have free will, up to the point where we have to face the karmic music and dance to the beat of a different drummer.

I am not afraid of death, so much as I want to delay it as long as possible, but that’s because there is still much I would like to contribute to the collective body of knowledge, wisdom and humor. We each have our own way to leave a legacy and it’s usually indicated by your 8th house. I have the Sun and Mercury along with the North Node there, so it is my destiny to create some body of work that has significant evolutionary influence upon future generations, provided we survive that long. Death is merely a portal to another life, either here or on another world or another plane of existence. In my Father’s house, there are many mansions, Jesus said, and he should know, since he has been there.

<Newsmaker and Earth Shakers>
T.R. Knight plays Dr. George O’Malley on Gray’s Anatomy and he just outed himself. Oh, sure, he’s got some hot women around but he’s also got hunky and sexy men, like McDreamy, McSteamy and Burke. Let me tell you a little about his chart and we’ll see why he’s got a bit of a decision problem…or it could just be a karmic issue. He isn’t the first gay celebrity I’ve seen with South Node in Cancer or Moon in Cap square Venus in Aries, both in their detriment, so he has no good views of women. Oh yeah, and Sun/Venus opposite Pluto and square the Moon, so death, sexual abuse and trauma plague him regarding women in his life. He also has Mercury retrograde in Pisces square Saturn in Gemini, associated with halting speech or stuttering, even stopping himself from speaking, as his character has a tendency to do. It stems from fear and insecurity, so that instead of rising to the challenge; one is beset by psychological traumas that cause one to repeat old patterns out of habit. His Mars/Jupiter trine Pluto and Sun/Venus opposite Pluto are aspects that show why he likes hunky men for anal sex. The Sun/Venus trine Neptune indicate his acting abilities and sensitive, impressionable qualities that mask the Aries personality. Neptune is the planet of illusion as well as acting!

Naomi Campbell was arrested and charged with assault again but I’m not surprised when I look at her chart and see Moon in Sag opposite Mars squared by Pluto. This gives her a bad temper with a propensity toward over-reaction and confrontation. She has Virgo South Node with its ruler, Mercury, conjunct Saturn and that makes her picky nature way too demanding, especially of people she sees as servants or beneath her. Her Sun opposes Neptune, so she can’t help but live in a delusional world of fantasy and high drama. Her Chiron in Aries shows issues with anger and impatience and it conjoins Juno, so she’s exposed to it all the time in her dealings with other people in a one-to-one relationship. Ceres is also in Aries and makes no aspects, so she never really got the kind and caring nurturing she might have needed. Moon in Sag is a mother running around all the time with too much to do and not enough time to devote to her kids. So, Naomi takes out her rage on other women, never on men, it would appear. Having Pallas on the Pisces North Node, she needs to develop an understanding and diplomatic acceptance of others in order to grow or evolve. By the way, transit Pluto is on her Moon square her Pluto, so it has to do with her mother, as I figured.

<Beethoven – Turkish March>
10-29 Turkey has some issues with the Kurds in the East and South, near the Iraq border. They didn’t seem to have a problem with Saddam killing so many of the Kurds. The current government in Turkey was formed in 1923 and the chart has Pluto on the ASC in the first house in a square to Mars and opposing the asteroid of diplomacy, Pallas. This shows anger, rage and even genocide and as there are no other aspects to Mars, there are few other ways of getting that energy out. The stern dictates of authority are measured in the Mercury/Saturn conjunction and the receptive country folk accept their laws and rules with a certain responsiveness indicated by the Moon in Gemini trine Mercury/Saturn. One could guess that freedom isn’t the most precious thing there, as Uranus is on the South Node, although it trines Pluto in Cancer and Venus in Scorpio and can energize changes for the people and their economy. Addiction may be a big problem in this country but in Turkey, situated right along the Heroine Highway, it might be a massive problem as Venus/Jupiter square Neptune and they have Pisces South Node, to boot.

10-31 - Kinky Friedman is a Jewish country singer-songwriter who is known for his humor and is running as an Independent for governor of Texas. He’s closing in on his incumbent opponent, so he stands a decent chance and has a lot of popular support and could win if people don’t take his ticket as a joke. Jesse Ventura made a difference in Minnesota when the two party system didn’t offer a decent alternative. As for the chart, here’s a dynamic Scorpio Sun/Mars/Mercury all trine Saturn, so he gets the job done. They all oppose the Moon in Taurus, for the sensuality of his pleasures and need for challenge or conflict, but he’s also drawn to women with a strong nurturing nature and big boobs. Maybe that blonde in Alabama who is running as an Independent for governor there will have something to bring to the table. He’s got a good sense of humor due to the Moon trine Jupiter and his Venus in Sag opposite Uranus in Gemini for having a lot of interesting things to say because of the experiences he’s had with so many different kinds of strange people. The truth is he writes detective novels with a character loosely based on himself as the P.I., allowing him to use some of his own personal humor and reflections in his fictional work. In a race like this, you can’t win by bringing up past personal or professional problems because the arenas are totally different. The world of politics exists to serve mankind and it only seems like it’s a cookbook for our end. Back to the chart; he has good managerial and professional organizational ability with his Scorpio planets trine Saturn, although with Pluto square them as well, he may have sabotaged himself in the past. This is a guy who has learned from his past and has a strong urge to help others, as his Jupiter in Virgo would suggest. He also has Chiron and two asteroids in Virgo, so he does want to serve his fellow man. I hope the guy wins.

10-31 South Africa was established in 1910 and its wealth of diamonds and other resources are indicated by Mars/Jupiter/Mercury/Venus all in Libra trine Pluto. The Moon is also in Libra, and as such, there is a lot of blame to go around. The Libra stellium squares Neptune opposite Uranus, so victimization led to violence and imprisonment for the leaders of the perceived Black uprising and revolution is the result. Saturn in Taurus opposes all the Libra except the Moon, but it also opposes the Sun. This is the oppression of the masses of black people by white authoritarians with money and power. So many of the negative Saturn forces were put into motion; fear, intimidation, control, domination, limitation, bondage and torture. By rights, Pluto might actually rule torture, so I pondered. My first thought was a Mars/Saturn/Pluto configuration but I wondered if there were more basic indicators of torture. AG Alberto Gonzales has Sun/Mars in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio and his Pluto isn't all that far from the Sun/Mars, just a little wider than an orb should be. He is the one who signed off on torture as a valid interrogation tool, so there's some evidence as to what kind of mindset it takes to want to torture. Mars/Saturn is about control and restraint and domination with physical force. Pluto brings up the sexual and psychological elements that make it more threatening to the deeper level of the soul.
<Biko>

11-3 Panama wants to widen the canals…could the transit of Jupiter over their Sun have something to do with expansion? Well, 76% of the Panamanian voters want to widen the canal to bring more business through their country. Now Nicaragua wants to build an even bigger canal to allow the supertankers and large luxury liners through. Panama is a Scorpio with Moon in Aries, so there’s a lot of strength in these people but I don’t think they always know what they’re doing. The Moon in Aries is the closest body to the South Node, so they don’t look out for the collective good of the people and it squares Chiron, so they haven’t been feeling all that secure there for a long time, until the late 80’s when Oscar Arias helped bring stability to Central America. There has been social unrest there for a long time, as Venus in Virgo squares the opposition of Uranus and Pluto, causing political upheavals stemming from corruption and drug-trafficking. That last issue was dealt with by an American invasion of 25,000 troops because Noriega wouldn’t yield power after he lost the election, plus the fact that he was a criminal. Mars opposite Neptune would explain the attack over drugs. Sun square Hygeia shows the nation’s health care isn’t what it should be. The Sun square Saturn is another reason powerful leaders don’t fare well there, as it is an international and active thriving culture with foreign trade being quite stimulating. In fact, it has the largest free trade market in the Western Hemisphere, although with Venus square Mars, you might have to fight for what you buy, or at least haggle. However, with Mercury and Sun square Saturn, not a lot of information about the pace gets out, so let me share some of the good things about Panama. The country has the Sun trine both Jupiter in Pisces and Neptune in Cancer, so has been a friend to sailors and mariners of all types, except those hardy adventurers who want to take the long and dangerous route around Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego.

Its northern neighbor, Nicaragua, which I did last month, is poised to ban all abortions in their country. It would impose sentences of 6 years but they wanted it to be 30 years for a woman who aborts her baby and for the doctor who performs the procedure. Why? The Catholic Church had a lot to do with it and both the far left and the far right who control all but one of the seats are in favor of the measure. Apparently, they are all men and have no clue about a woman’s body, just like Bill O’Reilly, who said that nothing ever goes wrong during pregnancies. The country was established in 1821, so it has its deep roots firmly entrenched against women, as the Moon and Venus in Scorpio are squared by Mars, so women are always under attack.

South American News Report: Dug up from a rock outcropping in Argentina was the head of the largest bird ever discovered. Standing about 10 feet tall with a head larger than a horse and weighing around 400 pounds, it was a predator that ran rather fast. It lived around 15 million years ago and they call it a terror bird, so they better be careful Bush doesn’t wage war on it, as he has been known to go after imaginary objectives. The high school boy who found it has changed his major from psychology to paleontology, which figures, as both are fields natural to Scorpio.

There are many things buried; in the earth beneath us; in the souls within us; in the universe beyond us and it is up to us to unlock some of those mysteries. On this spook-infested weekend and into next month, as well, we should listen to the voices of the dead as they are opening up to us, if we but listen. We can all see dead people and we can all hear them if we pay attention.
<Respighi – Butantan – from Brazillian Impressions>