This
article, the first of a 3-part series, explores the Saturn transit
to the Sun in the United States chart coming up in June 2004, as
well as other outer planet transits to the U.S. chart. The symbolism
reveals further problems for the Bush White House at this time.
Like the prophetic “Ides
of March” from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, mid June spells trouble
for this already besieged administration.
 There's
an important story to be discerned in the transits of Saturn across
the Sun of the U.S. chart in this Spring 2004 timeframe. The last pass,
about 30 years ago, saw the Watergate scandal unfold, culminating in
the resignation of a sitting president, along with the American foreign
policy black eye represented by the defeat of its plans for Viet Nam.
Today the country faces similar challenges, with a questionable war
of invasion championed by yet another Republican administration. The
transit that is coming up in this 2004 timeframe is exact in the early
hours of June 11th on the East Coast—the only
direct transit to U.S. Sun this time around, although there was a close
station last October 25th that might be regarded as a seeding period
for the current crisis in leadership.
The timing of this last transit pass of Saturn across U.S. Sun was quite
precise: on August 8, 1974 Saturn contacted U.S. Sun for the first of three
times, with the retrograde transit occurring during February 1975. The
last pass of Saturn was on April 22, 1975. Amazingly, August 8, 1974 was
the very same day that Richard Nixon resigned his presidency after Watergate,
while the last pass took place in the same week as the April 25, 1975 fall
of Saigon and the end to the American presence in Viet Nam.
Thirty
Years Ago
The
symbolism of the events surrounding this thirty year transit period
makes sense since Saturn, representing limitations, the lessons of
hardship and scarcity, and tough sledding, was combining with
the Sun in the chart of the United States, representing the national
will as summed up by the office of the chief executive. The chart
of the United States is for July 4, 1776, the date that America
as a country was born. There are various charts currently used
by astrologers, most notably the chart with Sagittarius rising,
the one that I use in this article, a variation of the Sibley
chart for 5:10 pm, which seems to agree best with recent transits.
This chart was rectified to 5:13:55 pm by Dane Rudhyar,
and published in his 1973 book, The Astrology of
America's Destiny.
An earlier Saturn transit took place in
July 1945, shortly after the death in office of Franklin
Delano Roosevelt, one of America 's most beloved 20th century
presidents. The July 1945 transit took place just before
the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a gigantic
landmark in the history of United States military power,
and indeed warfare in general, while the conjunction before
that, in 1915, saw the sinking of the Lusitania, the event
that prepared the way for the entrance of the U.S. into
WW I. Incidentally, the assassination of another popular
president, John F. Kennedy, while not accompanied by the
conjunction to U.S. Sun, was accompanied by an inconjunct
between Saturn and U.S. Sun, as transiting Saturn trined
U.S. Saturn and also aspected the U.S. Midheaven. The Midheaven
of the United States chart represents the executive branch
of government, including its head, the president. It is
interesting that Saturn's natal position in the Midheaven
or Tenth House of this U.S. chart, and square to U.S. Sun,
reinforces the symbolism for the executive office as emblematic
of the will of the country. America is a particularly striking
example of a political system dominated by a strong executive
in a way that many modern Western countries and Japan are
not, a fact that Dane Rudhyar noted in his 1973 study.
So what might we expect this time? As Saturn prepares
to complete its final pass of this generation on the U.S.
Sun degree in June, there are several remarkable similarities
to the situation 30 years ago when the Viet Nam war was
winding to a bloody close and a scandal plagued White
House was trying to hold the line against investigations
into its practices. The symbolism of this transit suggests
that the current administration headed by G. W. Bush is
in for a tough time this spring and early summer. |
The
Current Saturn Transit
Let's
look back to the time preceding the invasion of Iraq . There
was scandal brewing for this White House on at least two fronts
during the run-up to the 2002 election. There were questions
regarding the Enron collapse and its links with Bush administration
energy policy, and as well the issue of pre-9-11 intelligence—what
did the White House know and when did they know it—regarding
the possibility of a terror attack on the United States using
commercial aircraft. Also, a book had been recently published
in France (see
footnote) that stated that in the summer before 9-11 that
the Taliban were under fire from this energy oriented administration
for refusing to grant the rights to American oil giant Unocal
for a pipeline through Afghanistan , necessary for access to
the very rich oil fields of the Caspian Sea region. In August
of 2001, the Taliban were told, “You can have a carpet of gold
or a carpet of bombs,” referring to their participation in the
project. An attack on Afghanistan was planned for October of
2001, an attack that actually took place with the justification
of 9-11, and by mid-2002 the Unocal pipeline project was approved
and is now going through. These questions of scandal were effectively
side-tracked by the distractions provided by a march to war on
Iraq that began in September 2002, but one wonders how many times
that card can be played. There is likely planned some similar
diversion for the coming fall, and the question is whether this
time the American people will buy it.
As the time for the last Saturn pass of June 11 draws closer,
the administration is being put more and more on the spot regarding
both its failed policy in Iraq, and the justification for going
to war there when there was no demonstrable linkage to the September
2001 attacks, as well as the failure of pre-9-11 intelligence
to prevent the attacks, highlighted by the hearings of the 9-11
commission this spring. The 9-11 commission deadline of July
26 will be rapidly approaching at the time of the June 11 transit.
Saturn's
Retrograde Station Last Fall
The
transit of Saturn across the Sun in the U.S. chart was preceded
last October 25 by Saturn’s station
very nearly at the same degree and minute. It might be instructive
to look at the events surfacing at that time.
Although
some astrologers, myself among them, believed that some dramatic
turn of history might accompany this retrograde station, the
fact that Saturn did not actually complete its contact at that
time suggests that the dénouement
might wait until the final June 11 pass of Saturn over U.S.
Sun. An outer planet retrograde transit is felt at a more internal
level, and the October 25 period might be regarded as a seeding
period for what is to come.
It is interesting to note that what did emerge on the weekend
of October 25 was a massive series of protests across the country
regarding the war on Iraq. If the invasion of Afghanistan was
motivated in part by oil company interests, and the invasion
of Iraq turns out to be the same, the Bush administration does
indeed have a lot to answer for. There was another significant
event of October 25, which has not received much press. On
that day the commission into the investigation of intelligence
failures leading up to 9-11 declared its intention to seek
subpoena power to obtain documents from the Bush White House.
Significantly the commission report is due out in July. Perhaps
new information will come to light as that time draws near
that will help to bring down the administration.
Indeed,
conditions are ripe for a collapse. One year ago, when the
U.S. invaded Iraq, the stage was set for disaster. The invasion
of a sovereign country in the absence of any real threat or
justification is a violation of international law, as most
countries of the world recognize. A military quagmire has ensued,
eerily reminiscent of Viet Nam. As the war drags on, it is
becoming increasingly obvious that American soldiers are dying
for a cause that is less and less clear-cut. American GI’s
stationed in Iraq are also more and more disaffected, with
high rates of suicide and psychiatric discharge. Why did we
invade? If in order to prevent terrorist attacks or to remove
weapons of mass destruction, why are we still there? If to
help ourselves to the oil resources that lie under the Iraqi
sand, where is the moral justification? It is interesting to
note that the official date for turning over power to the Iraqi
people is scheduled for the end of this coming June, just after
the Saturn transit to U.S. Sun culminates.
Ides
of June, Part 2
Ides
of June, Part 3 Footnote:
Some
months ago, (in early 2002) a book was published in France
entitled Osama
bin Laden: The Forbidden Truth. The
authors, Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasique, described
a connection between the September 11th terrorist attacks
and a stalled plan to build a pipeline to exploit the vast
natural gas fields along the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan
. Their story pointed damning fingers at American petroleum
companies and the Bush administration, citing instances where
U.S. anti-terrorism efforts were thwarted in order to smooth
the way for the pipeline deal. William
Rivers Pitt - Sentient Times.
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