Trade Centers, Pentagon Hit by Terrorist Attacks

In what is already being referred as the Second Pearl Harbor, at least four hijacked Boeing passenger jets were commandeered Tuesday morning and sent crashing into the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. The twin towers collapsed, the FAA grounded all domestic flights, and President Bush, leading politicians and military personnel went into seclusion while the nation went on full alert.

From the astrological perspective, the outer planet opposition between Saturn and Pluto represents the fundamental celestial tension leading up to the current situation. The last time that Saturn and Pluto were in a dynamic aspect to each other was also when the World Trade Center was first hit by a car bomb on February 26, 1993. In each case, both Saturn and Pluto were making near exact links to the U.S. Scorpio Rising horoscope (2:21 pm; July 4, 1776; Philadelphia).

The technical numbers: In the 1993 event Saturn was only one half degree from an exact inconjunction to the U.S. Neptune, and Pluto was only 3 minutes from exactly squaring the U.S. Moon. The current catastrophe shows transiting Saturn only 3 minutes from an exact trine to natal Saturn, and transiting Pluto only5 minutes from an exact octile (semi-square) to natal Pluto.

The sheer magnitude of the disaster has a vast array of additional planetary indicators to underscore the seriousness of the event, especially to the U.S. horoscope. Venus is the natural representative of the financial centers, and the transiting Lunar Node axis was perfectly aligned with the U.S. Venus. Transiting Mercury conjunct the U.S. Saturn activated the near exact trine from transiting Saturn already in place. Saturn represents the nation's institutional structures. Transiting Jupiter, nearly conjunct the U.S. Sun was also inconjunct transiting Pluto: Jupiter-Pluto aspects have a notorious link to terrorism based on a religious or ideological agenda.

Perhaps most importantly, transiting Uranus in the Fourth House of the home territory has brought a regular cycle of domestic unrest and violence. This 84 year cycle last came to fruition in 1917 when the U.S. was off to war, and the worst influenza epidemic in history was initiated, some say due to terrorism.

At the moment, transiting Uranus is in the Fourth House and trine to Mars, the planet most commonly seen in such violent events. Transiting Uranus and natal Mars are in air signs, and reflect the incident's relation to the airline industry. Uranus takes several years to complete its passage through a house, and by February 2002 reaches the U.S. Moon where it brings the most disruption. Uranus will pass back and forth across the U.S. Moon throughout 2002, filling the upcoming year with intense national anxiety and urgent, emergency actions.