NewsScope for December 16, 2008

Illinois Politics
 
Last Tuesday at 6:00 am, federal prosecutors arrested the governor of Illinois at his home. He was charged with conspiracy and soliciting bribes, or essentially, for selling his appointment of Barack Obama's successor to the highest bidder. For a state long accustomed to political corruption, even this case astounded locals, as Governor Blagojevich denied any wrongdoing in the face of recorded conversations.
 
Illinois entered the union on December 3, 1818 (noon, Springfield), and the horoscope set for this time gives astrologers insights into the state's psychological dynamics. The Sun-Mars conjunction in Sagittarius squares Saturn in Pisces, a combination that reflects the inherent toughness (Mars-Saturn) assumed by Illinois leaders (Sun). The planets in the philosophical, spiritual signs of Sagittarius and Pisces underscore the morality issues at play.
 
Mercury is much afflicted in this chart: it's poorly placed in Sagittarius (its "fall"), and sandwiched between Uranus and Neptune while squaring Pluto. Mercury is associated with commerce and negotiations, and with these outer planet pressures, is open to influences that go well beyond consensus legality (Saturn). Mercury here signifies all the backroom deals that move Illinois politics.
 
Rod Blagojevich (December 10, 1956; Chicago; time unknown) has his Sun at 18º Sagittarius, where it conjoins Illinois' Uranus. His Moon in Pisces is very near Illinois' Pluto in Pisces, so that he naturally personifies the Mercurial dynamic that peddles political influence. Last week, transiting Uranus was exactly square the Governor's Sun, putting him into this legal peril. Watch over the coming year as the ongoing Saturn-Uranus opposition activates the state's Mercury complex and exposes more of Illinois' seedy underside.
 
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus
 
Since the U.S. Senate was founded in 1789, only 35 women have held senate seats, with the very first serving for one day in 1922. Women were first elected in significant numbers in 1993, and when the Senate convenes in 2009, 17 will be women. If Caroline Kennedy replaces Hillary Clinton in New York, that number will remain at 17 and the highest total ever. 
 
Astrologically, the trend is clear when progressing the U.S. horoscope (July 4, 1776; 2:21 pm; Philadelphia, PA). By secondary progression, Mars has recently turned retrograde* for the first time in the nation's history. Over the last month, as transiting Uranus has made a direct challenging aspect to the U.S. progressed Mars, the U.S. Labor Department announced that 1.9 million jobs have been lost since last December.
 
The vast majority of those jobs belonged to men, who worked in the Mars-related sectors of manufacturing and construction, as well as in financial services. Women have actually gained 12,000 jobs over the last year, since they work mostly in the growing health care and services industries. In the U.S. horoscope, progressed Venus is in the Sixth House of Health and Service, and is placed in assertive Aries.
 
In July 2009, as progressed Venus opposes progressed Mars, this gender gap should become apparent. The trend of women assuming ever more social, economic, and political power should increase steadily over the next century, since progressed Mars doesn't turn direct until 2086. The fact that 60 percent of college students are women, and the food supply is flooded with endocrine disrupters* suggests that the U.S. society is steadily becoming more feminine.
 
Twilight and the Dracula Archetype
 
This holiday season the perennial vampire flick returns with Twilight, a modern-day love story between a teenager and a young vampire. The film is based on the pop-phenom book of the same name, but the story has its roots in Dracula, written by Bram Stoker in 1897, and making its first appearance when the author read the book as a play to a mesmerized audience.
 
The moment of Dracula's debut (May 18, 1897; 10:15 am; London, UK**) describes the blood-sucking archetype—elegant and sophisticated as well as a shadowy, evil predator. The clashing archetypes of propriety and eccentricity—Saturn and Uranus—were conjunct, and fused into the personality of the Transylvanian Count, as shown by the Taurus Sun exactly opposite Saturn-Uranus.
 
Venus at the Midheaven describes the romantic themes involved in the Dracula legend. However, Mars is hidden away in the Twelfth House and squares Venus, revealing the discreet, repressed nature of the sexual interactions. Dracula was an instant success, as it managed to dramatize the Victorian era's repressed sexuality in terms of good and evil. After all, only undead monsters could be so depraved.
 
At the foundation of this horoscope is Chiron in Scorpio. This placement reiterates the theme of sexual woundedness. When Nosferatu, the first vampire film, appeared on March 4, 1922, Dracula's progressed Venus was exactly opposite natal Chiron. Bela Lugosi's classic Dracula appeared on Valentine's Day 1931, as transiting Chiron opposed Dracula's natal Chiron. Americans are fascinated by Dracula because this Chiron sits right on the U.S. Scorpio Ascendant. Dracula represents the U.S. projected shadow.
 
 
 
*See www.neptunecafe.com/mars.html for more on the progressed U.S. Mars. Google "endocrine disrupters" for more info on this subject, or for a recent article, see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/its-official-men-really-are-the-weaker-sex-1055688.html
 
**Source: The Mammoth Book of Dracula by Stephen Jones.
 
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